Skip to main content

Full text of "The Modern language review"

See other formats 


1IFDING  LIST  NOV  1  5  1924 


'r 


THE 
MODERN  LANGUAGE  REVIEW 


VOLUME  XVIII 


1923 


CAMBRIDGE  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 

C.  F.  CLAY,  Manager 

LONDON:  FETTER  LANE,  E.C4 

CHICAGO :  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO  PRESS 

(agent  for  the  united  states  and  Canada) 

BOMBAY    CALCUTTA  AND  MADRAS :  MACMILLAN  AND  CO.,  Ltd. 

TOKYO :   MARUZEN-KABUSHIKI-KAISHA 

ALL   RIGHTS   RESERVED 


■S 

m 


THE 


Ky 


MODERN  LANGUAGE 
REVIEW 


A  QUARTERLY  JOURNAL  EDITED  FOR  THE 
MODERN  HUMANITIES  RESEARCH  ASSOCIATION 


BY 

J.  G.  ROBERTSON 
G.  C.  MOORE  SMITH 

AND 

EDMUND  G.  GARDNER 


VOLUME  XVIII 


CAMBRIDGE 
AT  THE  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 

1923 


P6 


M6e 


PBINTED  IN  GREAT  BRITAIN 


CONTENTS 

ARTICLES.  page 

Allen,   Hope  Emily,   Some    Fourteenth    Century    Borrowings  from 

1  Ancren  Eiwle ' 1 

Allen,  L.  H.,  Plagiarism,  Sources  and  Influences  in  Shelley's  'Alastor'  133 

Baum,  Paull  Franklin,  Judas'  Sunday  Rest 168 

Bell,  Alexander,  The  Single  Combat  in  the  •  Lai  d'Haveloc '  22 

Bell,  Aubrey  F.  G.,  The  Seven  Songs  of  Martin  Codax        .        .        .  162 
Butler,  E.  M.,  Heine  and  the  Saint-Simonians.   The  Date  of  the  Letters 

from  Helgoland         ..........  68 

Chappell,  A.  F.,  Rabelais  and  the  Authority  of  the  Ancients        .        .  29 

Chappell,  A.  F.,  Voulte's  Rupture  with  Rabelais 293 

Clark,  Ruth,  Les  Deux  Demoiselles  Maitteland 427 

Constans,  Antony,  and  G.  L.  van  Roosbroeck,  The  Early  Editions  of 

Gomberville's  '  Polexandre ' 302 

Dodds,  Madeleine  Hope,  Gondaliand 9 

Dunstan,  A.  C,  The  German  Influence  on  Coleridge.   II.               .        .  183 
Entwistle,  William  J.,  The  Adventures  of  '  Le  Cerf  au  Pied  Blanc '  in 

Spanish  and  Elsewhere 435 

Everett,  Dorothy,  The  Middle  English  Prose  Psalter  of  Richard  Rolle 

of  Hampole.   Ill 381 

Fiedler,  H.  G.,  Goethe's  Lyric  Poems  in  English  Translation        .        .  51 
Green,  F.  C,  A  Forgotten  Novel  of  Manners  of  the  Eighteenth  Century : 

1  La  Paysanne  parvenue '  by  Le  Chevalier  de  Mouhy        .        .        .  309 

Greg,  W.  W.,  On  Editing  Early  English  Texts 281  * 

Krappe,  A.  H.,  The  Legend  of  Amicus  and  Amelius      .        .        .        .  152 

Legouis,  Pierre,  Andrew  Marvell :  Further  Biographical  Points  .        .  416 

Lindelof,  U.,  A  New  Collation  of  the  Gloss  of  the  Durham  Ritual       .  273  ♦ 

Peers,  E.  Allison,  Later  Spanish  Conceptions  of  Romanticism    .         .  37 

Richardson,  Margaret  E.  A.,  Wilhelm  Miiller's  Poetry  of  the  Sea      .  323 

Robertson,  J.  G.,  The  Genesis  of  Wagner's  Drama  'Tannhauser'          .  458 
Sandbach,  Francis  E.,  Karl  Philipp  Moritz's  'Blunt'  and  Lillo's  'Fatal 

Curiosity' 449 

Simpson,   Evelyn    M.,   John    Donne    and    Sir    Thomas    Overbury's 

'Characters' 410 

Sisam,  K.,  An  Old  English  Translation  of  a  Letter  from  Wynfrith  to 

Eadburga  (a.d.  716-7) 253  • 

Waterhouse,  G.,  An  Early  German  Account  of  St  Patrick's  Purgatory  317 

Welsford,  Enid,  Italian  Influence  on  the  English  Court  Masque .         .  394 

Wrenn,  C.  L.,  Chaucer's  Knowledge  of  Horace 286 

MISCELLANEOUS  NOTES. 

Ashdown,  Margaret,  '  The  Owl  and  the  Nightingale,'  11.  385,  389-90  .  337 

Bell,  Aubrey  F.  G.,  The  Year  of  Fray  Luis  de  Leon's  Birth         .        .  87 

Bigongiari,  Dino,  Notes  on  the  Critical  Text  of  Dante's  Epistles.         .  476 


VI 


Contents 


MISCELLANEOUS  NOTES  cont.  page 

Day,  Mabel,  The  Word  '  Abloy '  in  'Sir  Gawayne  and  the  Green  Knight'  337 
Entwistle,  W.  J.,  A   Note   on  Fernan  Perez  de  Guzman,  'Mar  de 

Historias,'  cap.  xcvi  ('  Del  sto  grial ') 206 

Goffin,  R.,  Notes  on  Chaucer 335 

Gough,  Charles  E.,  '  Cfriden '  in  '  Meier  Helmbrecht,'  1.  428        .        .  88 

Howie,  Margaret  D.,  Kosegarten's  '  Legenden '  and  Sebastian  Brant  .  89 

Laborde,  E.  D.,  Grendel's  Glove  and  his  Immunity  from  Weapons       .  202  • 

MaoKellar,  Walter,  Milton,  James  I,  and  Purgatory         .        .         .  472 

Mackie,  W.  S.,  The  Mid  Front  Vowel  in  '  Steak,5  '  Great,'  '  Break '         .  473 

Priebsch,  R.,  Two  Charms  in  Low  German 479 

Sedgefield,  W.  J.,  Old  English  Notes 471  • 

Stenberg,  Theodore  T.,  Blake's  Indebtedness  to  the  '  Eddas '      .         .  204 

Swaen,  A.  E.  H.,  « The  Knight  of  the  Burning  Pestle,'  Act  v,  11.  193-5  .  338 

Tuttle,  Edwin  H.,  Romanic  Etymologies 474 

Wright,  Elizabeth  M.,  The  Word  '  Abloy '  in  •  Sir  Gawayne  and  the 

Green  Knight,'  1.  1174 86 


REVIEWS. 


Alfreds  Soliloquien  des  Augustinus,  Konig,  herausg.  von  W.  Endter 

(S.  J.  Crawford) 

Antologia  Castellana,  door  G.  J.  Geers  (W.  J.  Entwistle) 

Ashton,  H.,  Madame  de  la  Fayette  (F.  C.  Johnson) 

Bell,  Aubrey  F.  G.,  Benito  Arias  Montano  (W.  J.  Entwistle) . 

Bell,  Aubrey  F.  G.,  Portuguese  Bibliography  (W.  J.  Entwistle) 

Bell,  Aubrey  F.  G.,  Portuguese  Literature  (W.  P.  Ker)  . 

Boas,  F.  S.,  Shakespeare  and  the  Universities  (G.  C.  Moore  Smith) 

Bolwell,  R.  W.,  The  Life  and  Works  of  John  Heywood  (Arthur  W.  Reed) 

Borowski,  B.,  Zum  Nebenakzent  beim  altenglischen  Nominalkomposi 

turn  (Henry  Bradley) 

Cabanyes,  M.  de,  The  Poems  of,  ed.  by  E.  Allison  Peers  (A.  F.  G.  Bell) 
Chambers,  R.  W.,  An  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Beowulf  (Allen 

Mawer) 

Charlemagne   (The   Distracted  Emperor),   ed.   par  F.  L.  Schoell  (H 

Dugdale  Sykes) 

Curme,  G.  O.,  A  Grammar  of  the  German  Language  (J.  G.  Robertson) 
Dante  Alighieri,  La  Divina  Commedia,  a  cura  di  S.  A.  Barbi  (E.  G 

Gardner) 

Dante  Alighieri,  The  Divine  Comedy,  transl.  by  M.  B.  Anderson  (E.  G 

Gardner)  .         .        .         . '      -.    : 

Dechamps,  J.,  Sainte-Beuve  et  le  Sillage  de  Napoleon  (Louis  Brandin) 

Ekwall,  E.,  The  Place-names  of  Lancashire  (Allen  Mawer) 

Enterlude  of  Welth  and  Helth,  An,  herausg.  von  F.  Holthausen  (S.  J 

Crawford) 

Essays  and  Studies  by  Members  of  the  English  Association,  III,  ed.  by 

G.  C.  Moore  Smith  (H.  B.  Charlton)         .... 
Gild  of  St  Mary,  Lichfield,  The  (A.  Hamilton  Thompson) 
Gothaer  Mittelniederdeutsche  Arzneibuch  und  seine  Sippe,  Das,  herausg 

von  S.  Norrbom  (R.  Priebsch) 


481  o 

229 

350 

502 

502 

359 

487 

106 

341 

500 


214, 


370 
365 

119 

354 
223 
219 

483 

349 
104 

230 


Contents 


vn 


REVIEWS  cont.  page 

Grierson,  H.  J.  C,  Lord  Byron,  Arnold  and  Swinburne  (Oliver  Elton)  .  Ill 
Guernes  de  Pont-Sainte-Maxence,  Vie  de  St  Thomas  le  Martyr  (Claudine 

I.  Wilson)^ 491 

Hauvette,  H.,  Etudes  sur  la  Divine  ComeMie  (Edmund  G.  Gardner)      .  224 
Havens,  R.  D.,  The  Influence  of  Milton  on  English  Poetry  (G.  C.  Moore 

Smith) 345 

Henriquez  Urena,  P.,  La  Versificaei6n  irregular  en  la  Poesia  castellana 

(W.  P.  Ker) 226 

Holmqvist,  E.,  On  the  History  of  the  English  Present  Inflexions  (Henry 

Bradley) 339 

Holthausen,  F.,  Altsachsisches  Elementarbuch  (R.  Priebsch) .        .        .  230 
J    Jespersen,  O.,  Language :  its  Nature,  Development  and  Origin  (W.  E. 

Collinson) 91 

Kellner,  L.,  Shakespeare- Worterbuch  (W.  W.  Greg)        .        .        .        .  213 
Kluckhohn,  P.,  Die   Auffassung  der   Liebe  in  der  Literatur  des   18. 

Jahrhunderts  (W.  Rose) 503 

Laws  of  the  Earliest  English  Kings,  The,  ed.  by  F.  L.  Attenborough 

(K.  Sisam) 98  *> 

Lucas,  F.  L.,  Seneca  and  Elizabethan  Tragedy  (H.  B.  Charlton)    .         .  110 

Ltideke,  H.,  L.  Tieck  und  das  alte  englische  Theater  (J.  G.  Robertson) .  234 
Menendez  Pidal,  R.,  Poesia  popular  y  Poesfa  tradicional  en  la  Literatura 

espanola  (William  J.  Entwistle) 357 

Morf,  H.,  Aus  Dichtung  und  Sprache  der  Romanen,  III'(A.  H.  Krappe)  490 

Morsbach,  L.,  Der  Weg  zu  Shakespeare  (G.  C.  Moore  Smith).         .        .  486 

Owl  and  the  Nightingale,  The,  ed.  by  J.  W.  H.  Atkins  (G.  G.  Coulton).  342 

Pecock,  R.,  The  Donet,  ed.  by  E.  V.  Hitchcock  (J.  H.  G.  Grattan)         .  105 

Pepysian  Garland,  A,  ed.  by  H.  E.  Rollins  (A.  E.  H.  Swaen).        .        .  215 

Pollard,  A.  W.,  The  Foundations  of  Shakespeare's  Text  (E.  K.  Chambers)  484 

Reul,  P.  de,  L'OZuvre  de  Swinburne  (C.  H.  Herford)      ....  346 

Rhodes,  R.  Crompton,  Shakespeare's  First  Folio  (E.  K.  Chambers)        .  485 

Rhodes,  R.  Crompton,  The  Stagery  of  Shakespeare  (E.  K.  Chambers)    .  485 

Schiller,  F.,  Die  Rauber,  ed.  by  L.  A.  Willoughby  (Marshall  Montgomery)  363 
Schreiber,  A.,  Neue  Bausteine  zu  einer  Lebensgeschichte  Wolframs  von 

Eschenbach  (M.  F.  Richey) 360 

Sir  John  Van  Olden  Barnavelt,  The  Tragedy  of,  ed.  by  W.  P.  Frijlinck 

(G.  C.  Moore  Smith) 343 

Stammler,  W.,  Mittelniederdeutsches  Lesebuch  (R.  Priebsch)        .        .  230 

Studi  danteschi  diretti  da  M.  Barbi,  VI  (Edmund  G.  Gardner)      .         .  354 

Torraca,  F.,  Nuovi  studi  danteschi  (Edmund  G.  Gardner)      .        .         .  354 

Torraca,  Studi  di  storia  letteraria  (Edmund  G.  Gardner)        .        .         .  354 
Winstanley,  L.,  Macbeth,  King  Lear,  and  Contemporary  History  (C.  H. 

Herford) 209 

Ysopet-Avionnet :  The  Latin  and  French  Texts,  ed.  by  K.  McKenzie 

and  W.  A.  Oldfather  (John  Orr) 112 

MINOR  NOTICES. 

Atkins,  E.,  The  Poet's  Poet 507 

Bald,  M.  A.,  Women  Writers  of  the  Nineteenth  Century        .         .        .  506 

Baum,  F.  P.,  The  Principles  of  English  Versification      ....  367 


r< 


viii  Contents 

MINOR  NOTICES  corU.  page 

Bruns,  F.,  Modern  Thought  in  the  German  Lyric  Poets  from  Goethe  to 

Dehmel 369 

Damon,  S.  F.  and  R.  Hillyer,  A  Book  of  Danish  Verse  ....  370 

Dante  Alighieri,  La  Vita  Nuova,  ed.  by  K.  McKenzie    ....  508 

De'  Lucchi,  L.,  An  Anthology  of  Italian  Poets 368 

Fischer,  W.,  Die  Briefe  R.  M.  Milnes'  an  Varnhagen  von  Ense       .         .  237 

Foligno,  C.,  Dante  the  Poet 238 

^ -Galimberti,  A.,  Dante  nel  pensiero  inglese 368 

Gartner,  Th.,  Ladinische  Worter  aus  den  Dolomitentalern    .        .        .  509 

Gayley  Anniversary  Papers,  The 240 

Geijerstam,  G.  af,  The  Book  about  Little  Brother 370 

Greene,  R.,  A  Notable  Disco  very  of  Coosnage  ;  the  Second  Part  of 

Conny-Catching 504 

Gudde,  E.  G.,  Freiligraths  Entwicklung  als  politischer  Dichter      .        .  510 

Guyer,  F.  E.,  The  Influence  of  Ovid  on  Crestien  de  Troyes    .        .        .  240 

Hallstrom,  P.,  Selected  Short  Stories 370 

Harvey,  G.,  Foure  Letters  and  certeine  Sonnets 504 

Hauptfragen  der  Romanistik 240 

Hurtada,  J.  J.  and  A.   Gonzalez  Palencia,  Historia  de  la  Literatura 

espafiola 369 

^**     Hutton,  E.,  Some  Aspects  of  the  Genius  of  Boccaccio    ....  238 

Hyamson,  A.  M.,  A  Dictionary  of  English  Phrases         ....  238 

^      Idealistische  Neuphilologie 240 

Johnson,  E.  F.,  Weckherlin's  Eclogues  of  the  Seasons    ....  369 

Kelly,  J.  A.,  England  and  the  Englishman  in  German  Literature  .        .  239 

Koster,  A.,  Die  Meistersingerbuhne  des  16.  Jahrhunderts  .  .  .  239 
Lamborn,  E.  A.  G.  and  G.  B.  Harrison,  Shakespeare :  The  Man  and  his 

Stage 505 

Lee,  Sir  S.  and  F.  S.  Boas,  The  Year's  Work  in  English  Studies    .        .  367 

Morgan,  B.  Q.,  Bibliography  of  German  Literature  in  English  Translation  509 

Paues>  A.  C.,  Bibliography  of  English  Language  and  Literature,  1921    .  120 

Schuchardt-Brevier,  Hugo 240 

Schiicking,  L.  L.,  Character  Problems  in  Shakespeare's  Plays        .        .  236 

Serra,  R.,  Esame  di  coscienza  di  un  letterato 238 

Shears,  L.  A.,  The  Influence  of  Walter  Scott  on  Theodor  Fontane         .  510 

Sisson,  C.  J.,  Le  Gout  public  et  le  Theatre  Elisabethain         .        .        .  505 

- — Soffici,  A.,  Sei  saggi  di  critica  d'arte 238 

Toynbee,  P.,  The  Bearing  of  the  '  Cursus '  on  the  Text  of  Dante's  '  De 

Vulgari  Eloquentia' .  508 

Uhrstrom,  W.,  Pickpocket,  Turnkey,  Wrap-rascal 238 

Vaganay,  H.,  Lodge  and  Desportes 504 

Watson,  F.,  Luis  Vives 239 

Weekley,  E.,  An  Etymological  Dictionary  of  Modern  English        .        .  121 

~~ —  Willey,  B.,  Tendencies  in  Renaissance  Literary  Theory.        .        .        .  240 

NEW  PUBLICATIONS 122,  243,  371,  511 


Volume  XVIII  JANUARY,  1923  Number  1 


SOME  FOURTEENTH  CENTURY  BORROWINGS 
FROM  'ANCREN  RIWLE' 


The  Chastising  of  God's  Children  is  a  well-known  Middle  English' 
theological  treatise  addressed  to  a  nun,  which  was  printed  by  Caxton  and 
exists  in  various  manuscripts  (Brit.  Mus.  Harl.  MS.  6615,  Trin.  Coll. 
Camb.  MS.  305,  Magdal.  Coll.  Camb.  Pepysian  MS.  2125,  etc.).  It  was 
early  brought  to  notice  because  of  its  reference  to  the  use  of  the  Scrip- 
tures in  English,  and  Miss  Margaret  Deanesly,  in  quoting  the  section  in 
question1,  points  out  that  the  work  is  cited  in  the  Clensing  of  Mans 
Soul,  of  which  a  copy  belonged  in  1401  to  an  abbess  of  Barking2.  The 
Chastising  therefore  was  written  before  that  date.  She  also  points  out 
that  it  was  bequeathed  to  the  Carthusians  of  Shene  by  the  first  recluse 
there  about  1415 :  she  lists  two  later  legacies  in  which  it  occurs3.  It 
was  therefore  apparently  a  work  of  some  popularity  in  its  time. 

It  has  escaped  notice  that  the  Chastising  of  God's  Children  takes  its 
theme  and  title  from  a  section  of  the  Ancren  Riwle.  This  it  incorporates 
in  the  first  chapter,  with  no  sign  that  it  is  quoting.  With  the  Ancren 
Riwle*  should  be  compared  the  Caxton  edition  of  the  Chastising  as 
follows : 

Ancren  Riwle:  Chastising; 

Ure  Louerd,  hwon  he  iSoleS  |>et  we  Also,  whan   our  lord  suffreth  vs  be 

beoff  itented,  he  plaieS  mid  us,  ase  pe  tempted  in  our  beginnynge,  he  playeth 
moder  mid  hire  3unge  deorlinge,  vlihft  wyth  vs  as  the  moder  wyth  the  chylde, 
from  him,  and  hut  hire,  and  let  hit  sitten  whiche  somtyme  fleeth  away  and  hideth 
one,  and  loken  3eorne  abuten,  and  cleo-  her,  and  suffreth  the  chylde  to  wepe  and 
pien,  Dame  !  dame  !  and  weopen  one  crye ;  and  besely  to  seke  hir  wyth  sob- 
hwule,  and  J>eonne  mid  ispredde  ermes  byng  and  wepyng,  but  thenne  cometh  the 
leapeS  lauhwinde  uorS,  and  cluppeS  and  moder  sodenly  wyth  mery  chere  and 
cusseS,  and  wipeS  his  eien.  Riht  so,  ure  laughinge,  beclippyng  her  chylde  and 
Louerd  let  us  one  iwurSen  oSer  hwules,  kyssyng  and  wipeth  away  the  teres.  Thus 
and  wrSdraweft  his  grace,  and  bis  cum-  fareth  our  lordewyth  vs,  as  foratymehe 
fort,  and  his  elne,  J?et  we  ne  iuindeS  swet-      wythdraweth  his  grace  and  comfort  fro 

i  The  Lollard  Bible,  Cambridge,  1920,  p.  338. 

2  This  is  Bodl.  MS.  923  (27,701).  The  note  appears  at  the  end :  '  Iste  liber  constat 
Sibille  de  ffeltoun  Abbatisse  de  Berkyng.'  A  contemporary  hand  writes  above:  'Anno 
domini  1401.'  On  f.  145v  of  this  volume  appears  the  mention  (first  pointed  out  by  Mr 
Madan,  in  his  catalogue) :  '  Of  this  mater  $e  baue  in  a  boke  of  englisch  I  trowe,  which  is 
cleped  amonges  30W  >e  chastising  of  goddes  children.' — The  catalogue  of  the  Harleian 
MSS.  notes  that  Harl.  MS.  6615  differs  from  the  text  of  the  Chastising  printed  by  Caxton. 
'Vernacular  Books  in  the  14th  and  15th  Centuries,'  Modern  Lanquaqe  Review. 
Oct.,  1920.  " 

4  Camden  Society,  1853. 

M.  L.  R.  XVIII.  1 


2  Some  Fourteenth  Century  Borrowings  from  ' Ancren  Riwle' 

nesse  in  none  binge  t>et  we  wel  doft,  ne  vs,  In  sornoche  that  in  his  absence  we 
sau  ur  of  heorte. . .  And  six  ancheisuns  beoS      ben  al  colde  and  drye,  swetnesse  have  we 

hwi  God,  for  ure  god,   wi5drauh"5  him      none,  nesauour  in  deuocyon  (Fol.  1) Of 

ofcerhwules :  bet  on  is,  bet  we  ne  bicumen       vi  pryncypal  causes  why  our  lorde  wyth- 

prude,  etc (pp.  230  ff.).  draweth  his  comfortes  fro  his  chyldern... 

One  cause  maye  be  that  the  louer  sholde 
falle  not  by  pryde,  etc.  (Fol.  2) — 

The  Chastising  goes  on  to  enumerate  the  six  causes  given  in  the 

Riwle,  but  amplifies  them.    Nothing  in  the  former  after  this  point  is 

directly  derived  from  the  latter,  but  the  Riivle  has  perhaps  given  a  hint 

to  the  later  treatise  in  the  following : 

An  oSer  wise,  bench  3et  pet  hwose  euer  hermeS  be,  oSer  eni  wo  deS  be,  scheome, 
grome,  ofter  teone,  bench  bet  he  is  Godes  3erd,  and  tet  God  bet  be  mid  him,  and 
chasteS,  ase  ueder  deS  his  leoue  child,  mid  ter  3erde...(p.  184). 

Chapter  V  of  the  Chastising  follows  up  the  theme  already  introduced  by 
describing  how  the  mother  beats  the  child  as  it  grows  older  for  its  own 
good— the  greater  the  rod,  the  older  he  is.  She  brings  him  home  when 
he  runs  away,  and  beats  him  to  make  him  stay  at  home.  A  religious 
application  is  then  given  to  this  example.  Though  most  of  the  later  dis- 
course shows  no  connexion  with  the  simile  of  the  mother  and  child,  it 
is  obvious  that  the  section  taken  from  the  Riwle  is  considered  to  be  the 
key-passage,  since  it  gives  the  title  to  the  whole. 

Though  no  borrowings  have  been  noted  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
Chastising,  the  sentences  directly  preceding  those  already  quoted  seem 
to  be  founded  on  a  section  of  the  Riwle  far  removed  from  that  just 
quoted.    The  relation  may  be  illustrated  as  follows : 

Ne  wene  non  of  heie  Hue  bet  heo  ne  Ffor  soth  it  is  to  good  men  and  wymen 

beo  itempted.  More  beo5  be  gode  bet  beo$  that  traueyle  to  be  perfygh  to  ben  more 

iclumben  an  heih  itempted  ben  beon  be  tempted  than  other  whyche  be  recheles 

woke,  and  bet  is  god  riht.    Vor  euer  so  of  liuynge.    And  a  cause  why  is  for  a 

be  hul  is  more  and  herre,  so  be  wind  is  mountayne  the  hyer  he  is  there  is  the 

more  beron.    Se  be  hul  is  more  and  herre  gretter  wynde.    In  the  same  manere  the 

of  holie  Hue  and  of  heie,  so  be  ueondes  hyer  a  mannus  liuyng  is  the  strenger  is 

puffes,  bet  beoS  be  windes  of  fondunges,  the  -temptacion   of  his   goostly  enmys. 

beo5  strengure  beron  and  more.   3if  eni  Wherfore  yf  men  or  wymen  of  religyon 

ancre  is  bet  ne  veleS  none  uondunges,  or  of  onyperfeccyonfelenootemptacions, 

swuS  drede  hire  itSet  point,  bet  heo  beo  thenne  oughte  they  sorest  to  drede,  for 

ouer  muchel  and  ouer  swuSe  ivonded.  theune  they  ben  moost  tempted  whan 

Vor  so  Seint  Gregorie  seitS  :  Tunc  maxime  they  fele  hem  not  tempted.    Therefore 

impugnaris,  cum  te  impugnari  non  sentis.  sayth  saynt  gregory  :  Thenne  art  thou 

(p.  178.)  most  assaylled  whan  thou  felest  the  not 

assayled.     Also    whan    our    lord,    etc. 

(Fol.  1.) 

II 

The  sections  of  the  Ancren  Riwle  used  in  the  Chastising  are  quoted 
in  a  short  piece  found  in  Latin  amongst  other  theological  scraps  in  the 
Bodl.  Laud  Misc.  MS.  Ill,  of  the  early  fifteenth  century,  f.  187  (following 


HOPE   EMILY   ALLEN  O 

the  Judica  me  Deus  of  Richard  Rolle),  and  in  Lincoln  Cathedral  MS.  C.4.6, 
of  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century  (between  the  Incendium  Amoris 
and  the  Oleum  Effusum  of  Rolle).  Both  manuscripts  retain  the  child's  ex- 
clamation '  Dame  !  dame  !,'  though  otherwise  in  Latin.  No  verbatim  com- 
parison has  been  made,  but  my  notes  seem  to  show  that  the  passage  in 
question  is  identical  in  the  two  manuscripts.  Since  it  brings  together 
the  same  two  widely  separated  portions  of  the  Riwle  as  are  found  in  the 
Chastising,  it  was  probably  used  by  the  author  of  that  work.  The 
following  would  suggest  that  it  had  borrowed  from  the  Riwle  directly : 
'  Unde  si  heremita  vel  anachorita  non  sentiat  temptationes  turn  multum 
timeat '...(f.  172).  The  equivalent  sentence  in  the  Chastising  does  not 
mention  hermits  or  anchorites  (v.  supra). 

Ill 

The  section  of  the  Laud  MS.,  already  cited,  begins  with  the  words  : 
■  Quandocumque  tribularis  vel  temptaris,  memento '...(f.  187),  and  it 
appears  to  be  the  same  piece  in  English  which,  in  the  highly  popular 
Middle  English  compilation  known  as  the  Poor  Caitiff,  makes  the  chapter 
on  temptation  (beginning  '  Whanne  j?ou  art  temptid  eiSir  troublid,  haue 
mynde  of  j?ilke  remedie  J>at  oure  sauyour  seiS  in  be  gospel,'  Brit.  Mus. 
Stowe  MS.  38,  f.  104).  The  Poor  Caitiff  is  made  up  of  sections  brought 
together  from  several  quarters1.  For  example  the  chapter  immediately 
preceding  that  just  mentioned  ends  with  the  words:  'Al  J>is  sentence 
sei5  a  seint  in  his  book,'  and  actually  the  source  is  Richard  Rolle's  Emen- 
datio  Vitae  (cap.  vi).  It  is  likely  that  the  chapter  on  temptation  is 
borrowed  from  the  Latin  piece  already  cited.  The  agreement  is  close, 
except  that  the  English  text  is  slightly  abridged.  No  word  of  hermits  or 
anchorites  appears. 

We  have  no  clue  as  to  the  date  when  the  Latin  piece  in  question 
was  put  together,  but  the  Poor  Caitiff,  which  seems  to  give  it  in  English, 
probably  belongs  to  the  second  half  of  the  fourteenth  century.  Several 
manuscripts  date  from  this  time  (e.g.  Bodl.  Douce  MS.  13,  Lambeth 
MS.  541,  Hunterian  Mus.  Glasgow,  MSS.  496,  520  etc.).  The  work  evi- 
dently circulated  in  the  same  circles  as  the  Chastising  of  God's  Children, 
for  Magdal.  Coll.  Oxford  MS.  93,  which  contains  a  partial  text,  belonged 
in  1438  to  the  fifth  recluse  at  Sheen,  where  the  first  recluse,  as  we  have 
seen,  owned  the  Chastising.  There  is  an  immense  number  of  manu- 
scripts :  one  not  hitherto  noted  is  New  York  Public  Library  MS.  68. 

1  The  Poor  Caitiff  is  described  and  quoted  from  by  Miss  M.  Deanesly,  The  Lollard  Bible, 
pp.  346-7. 

1—2 


4  Some  Fourteenth  Century  Borrowings  from  ( Ancren  Riwle ' 

An  interesting  copy  is  Brit.  Mus.  Harl.  MS.  2336,  which  attaches  to  the 
conclusion  a  colophon  stating  that  the  volume  is  made  for  a  'common 
profit/  and  is  to  pass  from  one  owner  to  another  as  long  as  it  lasts  (for 
similar  notes  see  Bodl.  Douce  MS.  25,  Camb.  Univ.  MS.  Ff.  VI.  31,  etc.). 
The  very  general  use  which  this  implies  is  also  testified  to  by  the  Stowe 
MS.,  from  which  quotations  are  made  here.  In  this  copy  the  treatise 
seems  to  be  treated  as  a  primer:  no  other  work  was  copied  into  the 
original  book,  and  a  calendar  is  prefixed.  The  prologue  uses  the  phrase 
'  Poor  caitiff'  to  describe  the  author,  and  no  manuscript  known  gives  any 
information  as  to  his  identity.  A  late  note  on  the  fly-leaf  of  Brit.  Mus. 
Harl.  MS.  2336  states  that  '  the  bishop  of  Chichester '  (by  whom  it  is 
thought  that  Reginald  Pecock  is  meant)  said  that  the  author  was  a 
Friar  Minor,  who  '  compiled  this  book  in  his  defense,'  but  the  origin  of 
this  information  cannot  be  found.  The  work  (like  most  English  com- 
positions of  the  time)  was  once  ascribed  to  Wycliffe,  and  the  greater  part 
of  it  will  be  found  (in  a  modernized  text)  printed  in  the  edition  of  his 
works  brought  out  by  the  Religious  Tract  Society  in  1831.  The  order  of 
the  material  varies  in  the  different  manuscripts,  but  a  correct  order  was 
evidently  recognized,  for  a  contemporary  hand  has  annotated  Bodl.  MS. 
938,  because  '  ]>e  materes  of  pe  forseyd  book  pore  caytiif  stondyn  not  here 
in  ordre'  (f.  39v).  An  edition  of  this  work  is  promised  by  the  Early 
English  Text  Society. 

The  reminiscences  of  the  Ancren,  Riwle  in  the  Poor  Caitiff  are  as 
follows : 

For  \>e  hi3est  and  holyest  in  lyuynge  han  moost  temptacioun  :  for  how  myche 
]>at  an  hil  is  hi3er,  so  myche  j>e  wynd  is  >ere  |>e  greettir :  so  how  myche  ]>e  lyf  is 
hi3er,  so  myche  J>e  temptacioun  of  \>e  enemy  is  moore  strong.  God  pleie}>  with  his 
child  whanne  he  suffrij)  him  to  be  temptid,  as  a  modir  rise>  fro  hir  myche  loued  child 
and  hidef*  hir,  and  leuej)  hym  alone,  and  suffrij?  him  to  crie  '  dame,  dame '  so  }>at  he 
biholde  aboute,  crie  and  wepe  at  atyme,  and  at  \>e  laste  whanne  J>e  child  is  in  poynt 
to  be  ouersett  with  wepingis  and  disesis,  >anne  sche  comeJ>  a3en  perto  and  biclippi)) 
it  in  hir  armes,  and  kissij?  it  and  wipij>  awey  J>e  teres.  So  oure  lord  suffrij)  his  loued 
child  to  be  temptid  and  troublid  at  a  tyme... (Stowe  MS.,  f.  104b  f.) 

This  section  is  generally  chapter  7  of  the  Poor  Caitiff. 

IV 

A  puzzling  Middle  English  text  is  the  religious  tract,  or  series  of 
tracts,  printed  by  Horstmann1,  both  from  Brit.  Mus.  Ar.  MS.  507  (dated 
c.  1400)  and  from  the  Thornton  MS.  (of  the  early  fifteenth  century).  The 
order  and  general  text  vary  greatly  in  the  two  versions,  and  it  is  hard  to 

1  Yorkshire  Writers,  London,  1895,  i,  pp.  132-156,  pp.  300-321.  Miss  G.  E.  Hodgson 
modernizes  this,  and  ascribes  it  to  Rolle  in  her  edition  of  modernized  texts  of  his  Form  of 
Perfect  Living  and  other  pieces  (London,  1910). 


HOPE   EMILY   ALLEN  5 

determine  which  is  the  original :  the  Ar.  text,  though  abridged,  contains 
material  not  in  the  Thornton,  and  the  latter  ends  at  two  points  with  an 
'  &c. '  (pp.  305,  321).  The  two  segments  thus  given  appear  in  the  Thornton 
MS.  in  reversed  order  (according  to  the  Ar.  text) ;  but  the  text  of  the 
latter  is  in  its  own  way  disturbed,  since  extraneous  material  is  thrust 
into  the  midst  of  the  treatise  (ff.  47b-54b) — including  a  duplicate  text  of 
one  section  of  the  work  itself  (marked  by  Horstmann  '  3a,'  p.  136).  A 
manuscript  sold  at  Sotheby's  October  21,  1920  to  Mr  Maggs  the  book- 
seller of  Conduit  St.,  and  kindly  shown  to  me  by  him,  seems  to  contain 
a  text  of  the  work  in  the  original  order.  The  volume  in  question  when 
in  the  possession  of  the  Ingilby. family  at  Ripley  Castle,  Yorkshire,  was 
mentioned  by  Miss  A.  C.  Paues1  because  it  contained  a  copy  of  Richard 
Rolle  of  Hampole's  English  Psalter.  She  was  not  able  to  examine  it,  and 
it  has  not  been  pointed  out  that  it  also  contains  various  English  prose 
treatises. 

The  Ingilby  MS.,  as  it  is  now  bound,  contains  in  the  first  pages,  in  a 
hand  not  that  of  the  rest  of  the  book,  an  English  treatise  headed :  '  Here 
beginnes  be  holy  boke  gratia  dei.'  This  is  a  somewhat  enlarged  form  of 
the  treatise  found  in  the  Thornton  MS.  (printed  Horstmann,  pp.  305-21). 
No  break  occurs  at  the  point  (p.  310)  where  Horstmann  prints  one  to 
mark  a  shift  of  subject  from  '  Grace '  to  '  Daily  Work '  (because  the 
abridged  text  in  the  Ar.  MS.  seems,  by  the  introduction  of  the  extraneous 
material  already  mentioned,  to  make  two  tracts  at  this  point).  The  dis- 
cussion of  prayer,  which  in  the  Thornton  MS.  has  occurred  earlier  in  the 
volume  (pp.  300-5),  follows  that  on  Daily  Work  without  break  in  the 
Ingilby  MS.,  as  it  does  (in  an  abridged  form)  in  the  Ar.  (pp.  142-5).  The 
Ingilby  MS.,  however,  though  it  continues  the  text  to  the  bottom  of 
p.  151  of  the  Ar.  version  (beyond  the  first  '&c.'  of  the  Thornton),  does  not 
continue  to  the  end  (p.  156),  and  thus  cuts  off  the  entire  'Tercia  pars 
libri '  found  in  the  Ar.  text — and  more. 

Thus,  the  Ingilby  MS.  is  apparently  shortened  at  the  end,  but  it  gives 
the  text  of  the  treatise  as  far  as  it  goes  in  a  form  sufficiently  coherent  to 
make  it  seem  likely  that  we  have  to  do  with  a  definite  unit,  '  the  holy 
book  Gratia  Dei.'  This  was  apparently  of  Northern  origin,  since  the 
manuscripts  are  all  Northern.  Miss  Deanesly2  notes  several  occurrences 
in  medieval  wills  of  a  '  Grace  Dieu,'  all  of  which  she  takes  to  be  English 
versions  of  de  Guilleville's  Pelerinage.  I  would  suggest  that  the  following 
Yorkshire  bequest  may  refer  to  the  present  treatise :   '  Liber  vocatus 

1  A  Fourteenth-Century  English  Biblical  Version,  Cambridge,  1902,  p.  xxxiv. 

2  Modern  Language  Revieiv,  loc.  cit.,  p.  356. 


6  Some  Fourteenth  Century  Borrowings  from  'Ancren  Riwle ' 

Gracia  Dei  et  de  Vitis  Patrum  in  Anglico '  (in  the  will  of  '  Dominus 
William  Norman  vile  de  Kelyngwike,  miles,'  1449 l).  This  conjecture  is 
supported  by  the  fact  that  the  Ingilby  MS.  contains  '  Sayings  of  Fathers  ' 
probably  related  to  the  Vitm  Patrum11,  and  similar  to  those  printed 
by  Horstmann3  from  Rawl.  MS.  C.  285,  other  articles  of  which  printed 
by  Horstmann  (pp.  112-25)  are  repeated  in  the  Ingilby  MS.  There  is 
evidently  some  relation  between  all  the  manuscripts  of  this  group. 

The  Gratia  Dei  seems  to  be  a  compilation :  it  inserts  (pp.  144,  304) 
a  few  sentences  from  the  Abbey  of  the  Holy  Ghost*,  also  printed  by 
Horstmann  from  the  Thornton  MS.  (cf.  p.  335) ;  as  also  a  section  from 
another  Thornton  item,  the  Mirror  of  St  Edmund  (p.  145,  cf.  ibid. 
p.  221).  Two  extended  borrowings  have  also  been  noted  from  the  Ancren 
Riwle ;  more  perhaps  might  be  traced,  for  a  verbatim  examination  has 
not  been  made.    The  borrowings  in  question  are  as  follows : 

Sicut  urbs  patens  et  absque  murorum  Sicuturbs sine murorum  ambitu, etc... J>e 

ambitu,  etc....J>e  veond  of  helle  mid  his  fende  of  helle  with  his  hoste  gase  thurgh 

ferd  went  Jmrh  J>e  tutel  jjat  is  euer  open  }?at  mouthe  )>at  euer  es  opyne  with  euyll 

into  }>e  heorte,  etc....  Hwosewule  wilnen      speche,   etc For-J>i    wha    so  will    pat 

)>at  Godes  eare  beo  neih  hire  tunge,  fursie  goddes  ere  be  nere  his  mouthe  when  he  to 

hire  urom  pe  worlde,  elles  heo  mei  longe  hym  prayes,  drawe  his  herte  fra  pe  werlde, 

3eien  er  God  hire  ihere  ;  auh  he  seiS  Jmrh  elles  may  he  lange  cry  or  god  hym  here, 

Isaie,    Cum   extenderitis  manus  uestras,  als  he  thurgh  J>e  prophet  Ysayesayse:  Cum 

etc.  (Ancren  Riwle,  pp.  74-6).  extenderitis  manus  vestras,  etc.  (Thornton 

MS.,  Horstmann,  pp.  316-7  ;  a  shortened 
form  may  be  found  in  the  Ar.  text,  p.  140). 

Eihte  J?inges  nomelich  munegeS  and  For  viii  thinges  aght  vs  to  wake  and 

lafciefc  us  to  wakien  i  sume  gode,  and  beon  eauer  be  doand  gode  :  Jus  schorte  life ;  J>e 

wurchinde — J>is  schorte  lif — J>es  stronge      straite  wai  we  haf  to  ga,  etc J>eviiiisj>e 

wei,  etc....J>e  eihtuSe  J>inc  is  hu  muchel  ioie  of  heuen  (Ar.  MS.,  pp.  145-6  :  the 

is  J>e  mede  iSe  blisse  of  heouene  (A.  R.,  Thornton  text  stops  short  of  this  point). 
p.  144). 

Both  sections  borrowed  from  the  Ancren  Riwle  appear  in  the  Ingilby 
MS.,  and  my  notes  indicate  that  the  second  appears  there  in  an  enlarged 
text. 

V 

In  the  first  of  the  two  passages  of  the  Ancren  Riwle  used  in  the 
Gratia  Dei  occurs  a  striking  sentence  which  may  be  quoted  from  the 
two  works,  as  follows  : 

pe  tunge  is  sliddri,  uor  heo  wadefj  ine  \>e  tung  es  sleper,  for  it  wades  in  wate, 

wete,  and  slit  lichtliche  uorS  from  lut  and  glyddes  lyghtly  furthe  fra  faa  wordes 
word  into  monie  (p.  74).  Two  thirteenth  to  many  (p.  317).  The  Ar.  text  is  ab- 
century  manuscripts  give  'slides,'  and  breviated  at  this  point.  It  should  be 
'slides,'  respectively,  for  'slit.'  noted  that  Horstmann  emends  'wate'  to 

'water,'  but  the  source  of  the  passage 
shows  that  the  original  reading  is  correct. 

1  Testamenta  Eboracensia,  n,  p.  138,  Surtees  Society,  1836. 

2  Migne,  Patrologix  Cursus,  73,  c.  741  if.  3  i,  pp.  125-8. 

4  This  was  pointed  out  by  Konrath  in  his  review  of  Horstmann,  Herrig's  Archiv,  96, 
p.  368. 


HOPE    EMILY    ALLEN  7 

The  Ancren  Riwle,  or  a  common-place  book  quoting  from  it,  has 
evidently  contributed  the  following  to  the  English  Psalter1  of  Richard 
Rolle  of  Hampole  :  '  Oure  tonge  is  in  wate,  forthi  lightly  it-  slippis,  as  we 
doe  when  we  ga  in  sklither  way '  (p.  142).  It  might  be  argued  that  we 
have  to  do  with  a  proverbial  saying,  but  the  similarity  of  the  image  to 
countless  others  found  in  the  Riwle  wrould  make  it  likely  that  it  origi- 
nated in  the  vivid  imagination  of  the  author  of  that  work. 

Mr  G.  C.  Macaulay,  in  his  invaluable  studies  of  the  text  of  the 
Ancren  Riwle2,  states  it  as  his  belief,  after  a  detailed  study  of  the 
French  and  English  versions,  that  the  former,  though  we  have  it  only  in 
a  late  and  corrupt  form,  represents  the  original  of  the  treatise.  It  cannot 
be  said  that  the  quotations  above  made  throw  any  light  on  this  question  ; 
they  do  not  follow  the  English  text  closely,  but  a  detailed  comparison 
with  the  French  and  Latin  versions  would  be  necessary  to  tell  whether 
they  follow  either  of  the  others  more  carefully :  it  is  very  possible  that 
they  follow  corrupt  versions  of  the  English,  or  in  some  cases  are  made 
from  memory. 

Mr  Macaulay 's  descriptions  of  the  manuscripts  of  the  Ancren  Riwle 
have  already  shown  the  fourteenth  century  circulation  of  the  work; 
beside  the  five  English  copies  of  the  first  half  of  the  thirteenth  century 
(the  earliest  of  them  already  elaborately  interpolated),  we  have  from  the 
early  fourteenth  century  one  French  text  and  one  Latin,  and  from  the 
late  fourteenth  century  one  English  fragment,  one  English  text  elabo- 
rately rewritten,  and  (in  the  Vernon  MS.)  one  of  the  usual  sort  fairly 
complete.  Mr  Macaulay  also  cited  one  Latin  text  of  c.  1400,  and  I  have 
since  discovered  another3,  more  complete  than  any  other,  which  Dr  Poole 
(who  was  kind  enough  to  examine  it  for  my  purposes)  dated  as  '  probably 
of  the  early  fourteenth  century.'  In  all,  therefore,  we  have  seven  four- 
teenth century  copies  of  the  Riivle  still  extant,  in  one  form  or  another. 
The  present  quotations  would  seem  to  show  that  many  copies  of  the 
Ancren  Riwle  must  have  circulated  in  the  fourteenth  century,  and  that 
the  treatise  must  have  enjoyed  at  that  time  a  popularity  as  great  as  that 
of  a  new  work.  The  fourteenth  century  mystical  movement  probably  gave 
it  a  new  lease  of  life.  The  original  composition  of  the  piece  was  formerly 
put  c.  1200,  because  our  earliest  group  of  manuscripts  dates  from  1230-50, 
but  in  my  article  on  the  Origin  of  the  Ancren  Riwle  I  have  pointed  out4 

1  Ed.  H.  R.  Bramley,  Oxford,  1884.  2  Modern  Language  Review,  1914,  passim. 

3  See  my  note  in  the  Modern  Language  Review,  April,  1919.  The  second  Latin  manu- 
script which  I  point  out  (Modern  Language  Review,  October,  1922)  belongs  to  a  later  date. 

4  Publications  of  the  Modern  Language  Association  of  America,  October,  1918. 


8  Some  Fourteenth  Century  Borrowings  from  'Ancren  Riwle 

the  remarkable  series  of  coincidences  which  seem  to  connect  it  with  the 
three  young  women  who  were  put  into  Kilburn  hermitage  about  1134. 
The  work  (whether  in  English  or  French)  must  therefore,  if  my  theory 
is  correct,  have  been  written  a  few  years  after  that  date— that  is,  more 
than  two  generations  before  the  time  to  which  it  has  usually  been 
ascribed,  and  from  which  we  preserve  the  earliest  copies.  The  details 
just  given  of  its  popularity  in  the  fourteenth  century  show  the  vitality 
of  the  Ancren  Riwle  in  an  age  far  removed  from  that  of  its  composi- 
tion— whether  that  be  placed  in  the  twelfth  century  or  the  thirteenth. 
We  have  now  actual  evidence  of  a  greater  circulation  for  the  treatise  in 
the  fourteenth  century  than  in  the  thirteenth,  and  we  evidently  have  to 
do  with  a  production  which  many  generations  found  sympathetic.  It 
would  be  very  likely  that  the  first  copies  of  so  popular  a  piece  would  be 
worn  out ;  in  any  case  obviously  its  vogue  in  the  thirteenth  century  does 
not  necessarily  mean  that  it  was  composed  then. 

Hope  Emily  Allen. 
London. 


GONDALIAND1 

Certain  of  Emily  Bronte's  poems  appear  in  every  anthology,  but 
the  reader  who  is  tempted  by  their  beauty  to  find  more  of  her  work  is 
sometimes  discouraged  by  a  difficulty  in  interpreting  her  meaning.  It 
is  not  that  either  the  language  or  the  thought  is  obscure ;  on  the  con- 
trary the  poems  are  particularly  simple,  direct  and  vivid.  But  the 
greater  number  refer  to  places,  persons  and  events  existing  only  in  the 
author's  imagination,  which  she  never  pauses  to  explain. 

Some  of  the  poems,  of  course,  require  no  explanation.  We  can  enjoy 
The  Old  Stoic  without  asking  who  he  was  or  why  he  was  stoical ;  it  is 
the  expression  of  a  mood  which  we  can  recognise  within  ourselves.  But 
very  many  are  narrative  poems,  of  vigorous  and  thrilling  interest  in 
themselves,  but  having  reference  to  events  and  persons  of  which  the 
reader  knows  nothing.  That  is  all  very  well  now  and  again, — for  in- 
stance, in  Browning's  How  They  Brought  the  Good  News  from  Ghent  to 
Aix,  when  our  bafflement  as  to  what  was  the  good  news  is  simply  part 
of  the  high  spirits  of  the  whole  affair.  But  readers  do  not  willingly 
accept  a  whole  body  of  poetry  written  on  the  same  principle. 

Speaking  for  myself,  I  was  so  much  attracted  by  the  beauty  of  the 
writing  and  at  the  same  time  puzzled  by  the  mystery  of  the  narrative 
that  I  tackled  the  problem  by  the  absurdly  prosaic  method  of  a  card 
index.  I  noted  all  the  names  of  persons  and  places,  and  all  the  allusions 
to  events.  I  grouped  together  the  poems  which  referred  to  persons  of 
the  same  name,  and  out  of  my  groupings  I  seemed  to  evolve  one  fairly 
regular  train  of  events,  to  be  described  hereafter,  with  a  good  many 
minor  and  more  doubtful  groups.  It  is  all  uncertain,  and  probably  an- 
other reader  might  have  worked  out  the  sequence  differently.  In  fact 
I  afterwards  discovered  that  Miss  May  Sinclair  had  made  some  different 
interpretations,  though  she  was  chiefly  interested  in  another  of  the 
groups.  I  have  set  out  the  cycle  of  poems  which  seem  to  me  to  deal 
with  a  certain  portion  of  the  history  of  Gondaliand — the  reign  of  King 
Julius  and  his  daughter  Augusta.    I  have  not  hampered  the  narrative 

1  Works  of  reference :  Charlotte  Bronte,  The  Professor,  with  Poems  by  Charlotte,  Emily 
and  Anne  Bronte.  1860.  Clement  Shorter,  Charlotte  Bronte  and  her  Circle.  1896.  The 
Complete  Poems  of  Emily  Jane  Bronte,  ed.  Shorter,  with  an  Introduction  by  W.  R.  Nicoll. 
1910.  May  Sinclair,  The  Three  Brontes.  1912.  J.  C.  Smith,  Emily  Bronte  (Essays  and 
Studies  by  Members  of  the  English  Association,  vol.  v).  1914.  Bronte  Poems,  edited  by 
A.  C.  Benson.    1915. 


10  Gondaliand 

by  continually  writing  'probably'  and  'we  may  suppose,'  but  it  must  be 
understood  that  the  interpretation  is  merely  conjectural. 

Naturally  the  first  question  is,  '  What  was  or  were  Gondaliand  ? ' 
and  to  understand  this  we  must  turn  to  the  life  of  its  creator. 

Emily  Bronte  once  wrote  in  her  diary : 

I  am  quite  contented  for  myself :... merely  desiring  that  everybody  could  be  as 
comfortable  as  myself  and  as  undesponding,  and  then  we  should  have  a  very  toler- 
able world  of  it. 

At  first  sight  it  does  not  appear  that  this  was  to  wish  any  excessive 
degree  of  happiness  for  the  rest  of  the  world.  Emily  Bronte  was  a  woman 
of  genius,  but  she  had  not  yet  published  a  single  book,  and  there  seemed 
to  be  no  prospect  that  she  would  ever  do  so.  In  her  narrow  home  she 
did  all  the  work  of  a  general  servant.  She  had  no  friends ;  the  sisters 
whom  she  loved  dearly  were  forced  to  leave  her  for  uncongenial  work, 
and  she  herself  was  saved  from  the  same  fate  only  by  ill-health.  Her 
father  was  losing  his  sight;  her  brother  was  a  perpetual  burden  and 
disgrace.    Certainly  her  idea  of  Utopia  was  not  extravagant. 

Nevertheless  Emily  was  happy ;  she  loved  life, — she  was  reluctant 
to  die.  It  ought  to  be  easy  to  discover  the  secret  of  her  content,  seeing 
that  so  much  has  been  written  about  the  Brontes ;  their  clothes,  their 
friends,  their  money  matters,  their  family,  all  have  been  minutely 
described.  Yet  none  of  these  particulars  explain  Emily's  happiness. 
Perhaps  no  one  has  cared  much  about  it,  for  Charlotte  is  the  famous 
sister,  and  it  is  she  who  started  the  hunt  after  the  external  facts  of  her 
life.  Charlotte's  genius  was  essentially  lyric.  She  poured  herself  out 
into  her  novels  as  Shelley  poured  himself  out  into  his  poems,  and  the 
matter-of-fact  reader  is  continually  tempted  to  trace  in  the  events  of 
her  life  the  experience  she  describes  with  such  fervour.  Emily's  mind, 
on  the  other  hand,  was  dramatic.  She  felt  with  each  of  her  characters 
in  turn,  but  she  herself  remained  apart  from  them.  She  created  circum- 
stances altogether  unlike  those  which  surrounded  her,  and  made  herself 
a  kingdom  of  her  own. 

The  Bronte  children  instituted  their  play  of  The  Islanders  on  a 
winter  night  in  1826.  Emily  chose  for  her  island  Arran,  and  for  her 
chief  men  Sir  Walter  Scott,  Lockhart,  and  Johnnie  Lockhart ;  in  this 
choice  lay  the  beginning  of  Gondaliand.  In  their  general  play  each 
particular  island  was  merged  into  'The  Island'  which  belonged  to  them 
all  collectively,  but  '  best  plays  mean  secret  plays,'  wrote  Charlotte. 
Emily  began  a  best  play  of  her  own  at  this  time,  which  she  shared 
only  with  Anne.    The  kingdom  of  the  Gondals,  founded  on  that  winter 


MADELEINE    HOPE    DODDS  11 

evening,  remained  her  secret  abiding  place  until  within  three  years  of 

her  death. 

All  that  the  sisters  acknowledged  about  this  kingdom  of  their  dream 

is  contained  in  passages  from  their  journals.    The  first  was  written  by 

Emily  on  July  30,  1841 : 

Gondaliand x  are  at  present  in  a  threatening  state,  but  there  is  no  open  rupture  as 
yet.  All  the  princes  and  princesses  of  the  Royalty  are  at  the  Palace  of  Instruction. 
I  have  a  good  many  books  in  hand,  but  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  as  usual  I  make 
small  progress  with  any. 

Anne  wrote  at  the  same  date : 

How  will  it  be  when  we  open  this  paper  and  the  one  Emily  has  written  1 
I  wonder  whether  the  Gondaliand  will  still  be  flourishing,  and  what  will  be  their 
condition.    I  am  now  engaged  in  writing  the  fourth  volume  of  Solala  Vernon's  Life. 

Emily  wrote  on  July  30,  1845  : 

Anne  and  I  went  our  first  long  journey  by  ourselves  together,  leaving  home  on 
30  June. — And  during  our  excursion  we  were  Ronald  Macalgin,  Henry  Angora,  Juliet 
Augusteena,  Rosabella  Esmaldan,  Ella  and  Julian  Egremont,  Catharine  Navarre  and 
Cordelia  Fitzaphnold,  escaping  from  the  palaces  of  instruction  to  join  the  Royalists 
who  are  hard  driven  at  present  by  the  victorious  Republicans.  The  Gondals  still 
flourish  bright  as  ever.  I  am  at  present  writing  a  work  on  the  First  War.  Anne 
has  been  writing  some  articles  on  this,  and  a  book  by  Henry  Sophona.  We  intend 
sticking  firmly  by  the  rascals  as  long  as  they  delight  us,  which  I  am  glad  to  say 
they  do  at  present. 

Anne  wrote  at 'the  same  date : 

Emily  is  engaged  in  writing  the  Emperor  Julius's  life.  She  has  read  some  of  it, 
and  I  want  very  much  to  hear  the  rest.  She  is  writing  some  poetry  too.  I  wonder 
what  it  is  about !  I  have  begun  the  third  volume  of  Passages  in  the  Life  of  an  In- 
dividual. I  wish  I  had  finished  it. — We  have  not  yet  finished  our  Gondal  Chronicles 
that  we  began  three  years  and  a  half  ago.  When  will  they  be  done  ?  The  Gondals 
are  at  present  in  a  sad  state.  The  Republicans  are  uppermost,  but  the  Royalists  are 
not  quite  overcome.  The  young  sovereigns  with  their  brothers  and  sisters  are  still  at 
the  Palace  of  Instruction.  The  Unique  Society  above  half  a  year  ago  were  wrecked 
on  a  desert  island  as  they  were  returning  from  Gaul.  They  are  still  there,  but  we 
have  not  played  at  them  much  yet.  The  Gondals  in  general  are  not  in  first  rate 
playing  condition.    Will  they  improve  1 

In  the  autumn  of  1845  Charlotte  found  Emily's  poetry,  and  the  spell 
was  broken.  Perhaps,  as  Anne's  journal  suggests,  they  were  wearying  of 
their  plaything  even  before  Charlotte's  discovery.  After  the  sisters  died, 
Charlotte  seems  to  have  destroyed  the  Chronicles  of  Gondal.  Nothing 
remains  but  the  fragmentary  poems  which  Emily  wrote  about  the  land 
and  its  people.  Some  readers  enjoy  the  very  uncertainty  of  the  legends 
upon  which  they  are  based.  They  have  the  strange  charm  of  dreams, 
the  charm  of  something  vivid  and  yet  half-seen.    But  to  most  people 

1  Tbe  nomenclature  is  difficult  to  work  out.  The  principal  country  is  called  Gondal ; 
its  inhabitants  are  the  Gondals.  But  there  are  other  countries  connected  with  Gondal,  for 
instance  the  Islands  of  the  South.  Gondaliand  may  mean  'all -the  countries  connected 
with  Gondal,'  but  it  has  been  suggested  that  it  should  be  read  '  Gondaliad,'  formed  on  the 
analogy  of  '  Iliad,'  and  meaning  '  the  stories  relating  to  Gondal.' 


1 2  Gondaliand 

this  elusive  quality  is  merely  exasperating.  The  obscurity  has  been 
increased  by  the  editors  of  the  poems,  who  habitually  print  merely  what 
they  consider  the  best  verses,  omitting  the  connecting  narrative.  More- 
over Emily  Bronte's  poetical  reputation  is  lowered  by  the  publication  of 
poems  by  the  other  members  of  the  family  with  hers.  It  is  unfortunate 
that,  instead  of  the  printing  and  reprinting  of  their  effusions,  one  careful 
and  complete  edition  of  all  Emily  Bronte's  poems  has  not  been  prepared. 
The  good  work  in  them  is  powerful  enough  to  carry  the  bad.  Mr  Clement 
Shorter's  Complete  Poems  of  Emily  Bronte  1910,  though  much  the  fullest, 
is  still  incomplete,  as  is  proved  by  Mr  A.  C.  Benson's  publication  of 
additional  passages  in  his  Bronte  Poems  1915. 

Hitherto  the  history  of  Gondaliand  has  found  only  one  student, 
Miss  May  Sinclair,  who,  after  remarking  apologetically,  '  it  does  not 
look,  I  own,  as  if  this  hunt  for  Gondal  literature  could  interest  a  single 
human  being,'  traces  the  first  outlines  of  Wuihering  Heights  in  the 
Gondal  poems.  Now  that  she  has  pointed  it  out,  the  connexion  is  clear, 
but  I  think  she  makes  the  Gondal  stories  appear  too  continuous.  The 
stories  of  the  Doomed  Child,  of  the  Duke  of  Zamorna  and  of  Fernando, 
do  not  seem  to  be  different  episodes  in  the  career  of  one  man ;  I  think 
that  they  had  three  different  heroes,  who  each  contributed  something 
to  Heathcliff. 

Most  writers  on  the  Brontes  adopt  an  apologetic  tone  in  speaking 
of  Gondaliand.  They  want  real  events,  debts  and  love  affairs  and  soul 
crises,  and  they  are  given  instead  the  shadows  of  dreams.  Emily  herself 
encountered  some  of  these  practical-minded  critics,  and  several  of  her 
poems  are  apologies,  or,  in  another  mood,  justifications,  for  her  choice : 

And  am  I  wrong  to  worship  where 
Faith  cannot  doubt,  nor  hope  despair, 
Since  my  own  soul  can  grant  my  prayer  ? 
Speak,  God  of  visions,  plead  for  me, 
And  tell  why  I  have  chosen  thee. 

She  took  with  her  into  the  world  of  dreams  the  few  treasures  of  her 
everyday  life.  One  of  these  was  her  love  of  animals,  but  it  is  significant 
that  while  cats  and  dogs  were  her  living  intimates — one  cannot  degrade 
them  by  calling  them  pets — in  Gondaliand  horses  took  the  first  place. 
She  took  with  her  also  her  passionate  love  of  the  moors.  Indeed  it  is 
not  easy  to  distinguish  in  her  poems  between  the  real  moors  of  Haworth 
and  the  dream  moors  of  Gondaliand,  nor  to  say  of  which  she  was  thinking 
when  she  wrote  fragments  delicate  and  suggestive  as  Japanese  uta : 

What  is  that  smoke  that  ever  still 
Comes  rolling  down  the  dark  brown  hill  ? 


MADELEINE    HOPE    DODDS  13 

and  again : 

Only  some  spires  of  bright  green  grass 
Transparently  in  sunlight  quivering. 

The  poems  grew  out  of  embryos  such  as  these.    Sometimes  we  can  see 
the  evolution.   The  fragment 

Loud  without  the  wind  was  roaring 

Through  the  wan  autumnal  sky ; 
Drenching  wet  the  cold  rain  pouring, 

Spoke  of  stormy  winter  nigh. 

All  too  like  that  dreary  eve 

Sighed  without  repining  grief. 
Sighed  at  first,  but  sighed  not  long  : 

Sweet,  how  softly  sweet  it  came, 
Wild  words  of  an  ancient  song, 

Undefined,  without  a  name, — 

became  the  poem  which  begins : 

Loud  without  the  wind  was  roaring 

Through  th'  autumnal  sky ; 
Drenching  wet,  the  cold  rain  pouring 
Spoke  of  winter  nigh. 
All  too  like  that  dreary  eve, 
Did  my  exiled  spirit  grieve. 

The  song  in  the  wind,  '  undefined,  without  a  name,'  haunts  the 
Gondal  poems.  Many  people,  especially  those  who  walk  on  the  moors, 
must  know  the  feeling  that  there  is  a  voice  singing  somewhere,  a  great 
way  off.  The  music  of  Gondaliand  may  be  likened  to  that  strange,  half- 
heard  song. 

Through  all  its  history  Gondal  retained  traces  of  its  origin  as  the  Isle 

of  Arran,  with  Sir  Walter  Scott  as  its  principal  inhabitant.    It  was  a 

sea-girt  country,  a  land  of  mists  and  snows  and  grey  skies, — 

Coldly,  bleakly,  dreamily, 
Evening  died  on  Elbe's  shore ; 
Winds  were  in  the  cloudy  sky, 
Sighing,  mourning  ever  more. 

There  were  great  forests  of  ancient  trees,  where  a  wanderer  might  stray : 

The  night  is  darkening  round  me, 

The  wild  winds  coldly  blow, 
But  a  tyrant  spell  has  bound  me, 

And  I  cannot,  cannot  go. 

The  giant  trees  are  bending 

Their  bare  boughs  weighed  with  snow, 

And  the  storm  is  fast  descending, 
And  yet  I  cannot  go. 

Clouds  beyond,  clouds  above  me, 

Wastes  beyond  wastes  below ; 
But  nothing  dread  can  move  me — 

I  will  not,  cannot  go. 


1 4  Gondaliand 

There  were  lakes  with  strange  musical  names,  Eldenna,  Arden,  Werna : 

Cold,  clear  and  blue  the  morning  heaven 

Expands  its  arch  on  high, 
Cold,  clear  and  blue  Lake  Werna's  water 

Reflects  that  winter  sky ; 
The  moon  has  set,  but  Venus  shines, 

A  silent,  silvery  star. 

But  above  all  it  was  a  land  of  moors.  Even  the  cities  were  pervaded 
by  the  fragrance  of  the  heather : 

'Tis  evening  now,  the  sun  descends 

In  golden  glory  down  the  sky  ; 
The  city's  murmur  softly  blends 

With  zephyrs  breathing  gently  by. — 

And  yet  it  seems  a  dreary  moor, 

A  dark  October  moor  to  me, 
And  black  the  piles  of  rain-clouds  lour 

Athwart  heaven's  stormy  canopy. 

Such  was  the  land  of  Gondal.  Its  history  vanished  when  Charlotte 
burnt  the  Chronicles,  but  in  Emily's  poems  there  are  glimpses  of  the 
wild  legends  of  the  country,  and  of  the  strange  passionate  race  which 
dwelt  there.  The  chief  character  mentioned  by  Emily  and  Anne  in 
their  diaries  is  the  Emperor  Julius,  whose  history  is  shadowed  forth 
in  many  of  the  poems.  Emily's  method  of  developing  a  theme,  as  far 
as  it  can  be  traced,  seems  to  have  been  somewhat  as  follows.  She  wrote 
a  ballad  giving  the  tale  impersonally,  and  then  a  number  of  songs  and 
fragments  telling  the  same  events  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  different 
actors.  The  central  ballad  in  this  cycle  is  King  Julius  left  the  south 
country,  which  records  an  outstanding  event  in  the  history  of  Gonda- 
liand, the  murder  of  Julius.  Then  there  are  three  other  poems  about 
the  same  event,  The  night  of  storms  is  past,  which  is  a  prophecy  of  the 
murder ;  Rosina,  describing  how  the  news  was  broken  to  Julius'  widow, 
and  Qlenedens  Dream,  the  meditation  of  one  of  the  assassins.  Many 
others  fall  into  this  cycle,  among  them  Emily's  best  known  and  most 
beautiful  poem,  Cold  in  the  earth  and  the  deep  snow  piled  above  thee, 
which  is  the  lament  of  Rosina  for  King  Julius. 

In  Gondaliand,  as  in  England,  a  nobleman  had  three  names,  his 
Christian  name,  his  family  name  and  his  title.  As  Henry  Percy,  Earl 
of  Northumberland,  might  be  called  Henry,  or  Percy,  or  Northumber- 
land, so  Julius  seems  to  have  been  of  the  house  of  Brenzaida,  and  to 
have  taken  his  title  from  the  hills  of  Angora.  He  belonged  to  a  royal 
house,  but  his  claims  to  the  throne  were  set  aside  and  the  rival  family 
of  Erina  was  established  in  power.  For  twenty  years  Julius  was  an 
outcast  and  a  wanderer ;   then  in  the  tropical  islands  which  lay  far  to 


MADELEINE    HOPE    DODDS  15 

the  south,  he  fell  passionately  in  love  with  Rosina — a  strong,  beautiful, 

ambitious  woman.  They  married,  and  she  urged  him  to  claim  the  Gondal 

throne  as  his  right.    Julius  imagined  that  she  had  accepted  him  only  to 

gratify  her  ambition : 

Yet  have  I  read  those  falcon  eyes, 

Have  dived  into  their  mysteries, 

Have  studied  long  their  glance,  and  feel 

It  is  not  love  those  eyes  reveal. 

They  flash,  they  beam  with  lightning  shine, 

But  not  with  such  fond  fire  as  mine ; 

The  tender  star  fades  faint  and  wan 

Before  Ambition's  scorching  sun. 

But  he  did  his  wife  an  injustice ;   how  passionately  she  loved  him  she 

revealed  in  her  lament  long  after  his  death  : 

No  later  light  has  lightened  up  my  heaven, 
No  second  moon  has  ever  shone  for  me  ; 
All  my  life's  bliss  from  thy  dear  life  was  given, 
All  my  life's  bliss  is  in  the  grave  with  thee. 

It  was  her  love  and  her  pride  in  him  which  made  her  urge  him  upon  his 
stormy  career,  and  so,  all  unknowingly,  she  sent  him  to  his  death. 

In  pursuit  of  his  new  ambition  Julius  made  a  compact  with  the 
reigning  king  of  Gondal  in  the  great  cathedral  of  the  capital.  Some- 
one standing  in  the  empty  cathedral  recalls  the  day  when  the  oath  was 
taken : 

0  look  again,  for  still  on  high 

The  lamps  are  burning  gloriously ; 

And  look  again,  for  still  beneath 

A  thousand  thousand  live  and  breathe, 

All  mute  as  death  beyond  the  shrine 
That  gleams  in  lustre  so  divine, 
Where  Gondal's  monarchs  bending  low, 
After  the  hour  of  silent  prayer, 
Take  in  heaven's  sight  their  awful  vow, 
And  never-dying  union  swear. 

King  Julius  lifts  his  impious  eye 
From  the  dark  marble  to  the  sky, 
Blasts  with  that  oath  his  perjured  soul, 
And  changeless  is  his  cheek  the  while — 

for  the  oath  was  taken  only  to  be  broken.  By  the  persuasion  of  Rosina 
he  undertook  the  invasion  of  Gondal.  His  general  Almedore  made  the 
first  successful  onset,  and  the  King  celebrated  the  victory : 

Our  souls  are  full  of  gladness ;  God  has  given 

Our  arms  to  victory,  our  foes  to  death. 
The  crimson  ensign  waves  its  sheet  in  heaven, 

The  sea-green  standard  lies  in  dust  beneath. 

King  Julius  followed  this  attack  himself,  and  won  triumph  after 
triumph.    The  decisive  battle  was  on  the  plain  of  Zamorna,  and  after 


1 6  Gondaliand 

it  he  composed  a  poem  to  the  horse  Black  Eagle  which  had  borne  him 
in  the  field : 

Rest  now  in  thy  glory,  noble  steed  ; 

Rest !  all  thy  wars  are  done  ; 
True  is  the  love  and  high  the  meed 
Thou  from  thy  lord  hast  won. 

It  is  characteristic  of  Emily  Bronte  that  she  never  took  sides  in 
Gondaliand.  She  celebrated  the  triumphs  of  Julius,  but  she  was  equally- 
moved  by  the  sufferings  of  the  Gondal  patriots : 

All  our  hearths  were  the  mansion  of  distress, 

And  no  one  laughed,  and  none  seemed  free  from  care, 

Our  children  felt  their  fathers'  wretchedness ; 
Our  homes,  one,  all,  were  shadowed  with  despair. 

Against  the  song  of  triumph  for  Almedore's  victory  is  set  the  misery  of 
the  vanquished : 

It  was  the  autumn  of  the  year, 

The  time  to  labouring  peasants  dear ; 

Week  after  week,  from  noon  to  noon, 

September  shone  as  bright  as  June ; 

Still,  never  hand  a  sickle  held  ; 

The  crops  were  garnered  in  the  field, 

Trod  out,  and  ground  by  horses'  feet 

While  every  ear  was  milky  sweet ; 

And  kneaded  on  the  threshing  floor 

With  mire  of  tears  and  human  gore. 

Against  King  Julius's  profession  of  a  high  moral  purpose  stands : 
Why  ask  to  know  what  date,  what  clime? 

There  dwelt  our  own  humanity, 
Power- worshippers  from  earliest  time, 
Feet-kissers  of  triumphant  crime, 

Crushers  of  helpless  misery, 
Crushing  down  Justice,  honouring  wrong, 
If  that  be  feeble,  this  be  strong. 
Shedders  of  blood,  shedders  of  tears, 

Fell  creatures  avid  of  distress  ; 
Yet  mocking  heaven  with  senseless  prayers 
For  mercy  on  the  merciless. 

The  final  victory  of  the  invaders  is  told  entirely  from  the  standpoint 
of  the  conquered.  This  was  the  fall  of  Zalona,  the  capital  of  the  country : 

This  day  might  be  a  festal  day  ; 

The  streets  are  crowded  all, 
And  emerald  flags  stream  broad  and  gay 

From  turret,  tower  and  wall. — 
What  do  these  brazen  tongues  proclaim  ? 
•  What  joyous  fete  begun, 

What  offering  to  our  country's  fame, 

What  noble  victory  won  1 
Go,  ask  those  children  in  the  street 

Beside  their  mother's  door ; 
Waiting  to  hear  the  lingering  feet 

That  they  shall  hear  no  more. 


MADELEINE    HOPE    DODDS  17 

Ask  those  pale  soldiers  round  the  gates 

With  famine-kindled  eye. 
They  say,  '  Zalona  celebrates 

The  day  that  she  must  die.' 

Julius  carried  away  the  captured  Gondal  patriots  to  the  southern 

isles,  where  they  pined  for  their  country  in  dreamy  prisons.    The  rival 

King  Harold  died  in  his  captivity : 

His  land  may  burst  the  galling  chain, 
His  people  may  be  free  again, — 
For  them  a  thousand  hopes  remain, 
But  hope  is  dead  for  him. 

But  the  hour  of  conquest  was  also  the  hour  of  peril  to  Julius.    In  a 

ghostly  poem  the  banshee  of  his  house  wails  over  his  coming  death : 

Woe  for  the  day  !   With  gory  tears 
My  countless  sons  this  day  shall  rue  ; 
Woe  for  the  day  !   A  thousand  years 
Cannot  repair  what  one  shall  do. 

Julius  made  his  entry  into  the  capital.  He  took  possession  of  his  palace 
in  royal  state.    But 

While  princes  hang  upon  his  breath 

And  nations  round  are  fearing, 
Close  by  his  side  a  daggered  death 

With  sheathless  point  stands  sneering. 

The  assassin  struck  home,  and  Julius  fell.  Rosina  never  enjoyed  her 
victory.  While  her  husband  conquered  Gondal  she  was  lying  uncon- 
scious in  a  fever.  When  she  recovered,  the  first  news  she  received  was 
of  his  death. 

The  murder  of  Julius  did  not  at  once  free  Gondal.  The  assassin 
was  killed  on  the  spot.  One  of  the  other  conspirators,  Gleneden,  was 
seized  and  imprisoned,  when  he  dreamt  that  he  had  himself  killed  the 
tyrant,  and  awoke  to  remember  the  truth : 

Shadows  come  !    What  means  this  midnight? 
0  my  God,  I  know  it  all ! 
Know. the  fever-dream  is  over, 
Unavenged,  the  Avenger's  fall. 

Julius  was  succeeded  by  his  daughter  Augusta.  It  was  perhaps  at 
her  coronation  that  an  old  comrade-in-arms  of  the  King,  maybe  Alme- 
dore  himself,  reproved  the  gay  court  for  forgetting  their  master  so  soon  : 

The  organ  swells,  the  trumpets  sound, 

The  lamps  in  triumph  glow, 
And  none  of  all  those  thousands  round 

Regard  who  sleeps  below. 

The  story  of  Augusta  throws  more  light  on  the  murder  of  Julius. 
Two  children  were  brought  up  with  the  little  princess,  a  boy  and  a  girl, 
Amadeus  and  Angelica.   They  seem  to  have  been  brother  and  sister,  the 

M.  L.  R.  XVIII.  2 


1 8  Gondaliand 

orphan  children  of  some  noble  house.    When  they  grew  up,  Amadeus 

fell  in  love  with  Augusta,  and  Angelica  pleaded  his  suit,  but  the  princess 

scorned  him,  and  the  two  were  banished.    Angelica  told  the  tale  long 

afterwards : 

We  both  were  scorned,  both  sternly  driven 
To  shelter  'neath  a  foreign  heaven ; 
And  darkens  o'er  that  dreary  time 
A  'wildering  dream  of  frenzied  crime. 

I  would  not  now  those  days  recall ; 

The  oath  within  that  caverned  hall, 

And  its  fulfilment ;  these  you  know, 

We  both  together  struck  the  blow  ; 

But  you  can  never  know  the  pain 

That  my  lost  heart  did  then  sustain, 

When,  severed  wide  by  guiltless  gore, 

I  felt  that  one  could  live  no  more ! 

Back,  maddening  thought !  the  grave  is  deep 

Where  my  Amadeus  lies  asleep, 

And  I  have  long  forgot  to  weep. 

This  deed,  in  which  Amadeus  fell,  was  the  murder  of  King  Julius,  which 
must  therefore  have  been  the  outcome  of  a  private  feud,  not  the  avenging 
act  of  a  Gondal  patriot.  Angelica  escaped  to  the  moors,  where  she  met 
Douglas,  a  man  of  noble  birth  outlawed  for  his  crimes.  Douglas  loved  ^ 
her,  but  she  treated  him  with  contempt,  until  one  day  she  discovered 
Augusta  sleeping  on  the  moor,  with  only  two  companions,  Lord  Lesley 
and  Fair  Surry.  She  resolved  to  avenge  herself  and  her  brother,  but  a 
curious  pang  of  hesitation  prevented  her  from  killing  Augusta : 

My  hand  was  raised,  my  knife  was  bare ; 
With  stealthy  tread  I  stole  along, 
But  a  wild  bird  sprang  from  his  hidden  lair, 
And  woke  her  with  a  sudden  song ; 

Yet  moved  she  not ;  she  only  raised 
Her  lids  and  on  the  bright  sun  gazed, 
And  uttered  such  a  dreary  sigh, 
I  thought  just  then  she  should  not  die, 
Since  misery  was  such  misery. 

Angelica  returned  to  Douglas,  and  promised  him  her  love  if  he  would 
help  her  in  her  revenge.  He  agreed,  but  in  the  execution  of  the  deed 
Augusta  fought  hard  for  her  life  and  wounded  the  outlaw.  Seeing  him 
helpless,  Angelica  mocked  him  and  left  him  to  die ;  but  the  wound  was 
not  mortal,  and  alone  he  made  his  escape. 

Late  at  night  Augusta's  body  was  found  by  Lord  Eldred  and  the 
royal  guards.  They  traced  the  bloodstained  track  of  the  murderer,  and 
set  out  in  pursuit.  Douglas  had  found  a  coal-black  steed,  and  the  most 
exciting  of  the  Gondal  poems  described  his  flight,  and  the  stratagem  by 
which  he  overpowered  his  pursuers. 


MADELEINE    HOPE    DODDS  19 

After  the  murder  of  Augusta  the  Gondals  rose  and  drove  out  their 
conquerors.    There  was  a  great  battle  in  a  mountain  glen : 

There  swept  adown  that  dreary  glen 
A  wilder  sound  than  mountain  wind — 

The  thrilling  shouts  of  fighting  men, 
With  something  sadder  far  behind. 

The  patriots  were  victorious,  but  their  losses  were  heavy.    The  exiles  of 

Julius's  wars  returned  to  find  many  empty  places  in  their  houses,  and 

their  joy  was  clouded  by  memories  : 

— In  the  red  fire's  cheerful  glow 
I  think  of  deep  glens,  blocked  with  snow  ; 
I  dream  of  moor  and  misty  hill, 
Where  evening  closes  dark  and  chill ; 
For,  lone  among  the  mountains  cold, 
Lie  those  that  I  have  loved  of  old. 

After  this  it  is  impossible  to  trace  any  further  connected  history  of 

Gondaliand,  but  there  is  a  series  of.  poems  which  may  contain  another 

of  Augusta's  love  stories.    Aspin  Castle  tells  how  Lord  Alfred,  the  first 

chief  of  Aspin,  had  '  one  fair  daughter  and  no  more,'  a  beautiful  child 

whom  he  neglected,  because  he  was  entirely  devoted  to  the  black-haired 

queen.    For  a  time  she  encouraged  his  passion.    In  one  poem  she  pours 

forth  her  ardent  love  for  Alfred,  in  another  she  gives  him  her  miniature 

with  the  inscription : 

Dearest,  ever  deem  me  true. 

But  soon  she  wearied  of  him  and  cast  him  off.    In  short  she  treated  him 

as  she  had  treated  Amadeus  : 

First  made  her  love  his  only  stay,  . 

Then  snatched  the  treacherous  prop  away. 

Lord  Alfred  wandered  away  in  his  despair  to  England,  and  killed  himself 

on  an  English  moor,  holding  her  miniature  in  his  hand  and  cursing  her 

treachery.    When  Lord  Eldred  bent  over  Augusta's  murdered  body,  he 

recalled  this  story : 

Like  sudden  ghosts,  to  memory  came 

Full  many  a  face,  and  many  a  name, 

Full  many  a  heart,  that  in  the  tomb 

He  almost  deemed  might  have  throbbed  again, 

Had  they  but  known  her  dreary  doom, — 

Had  they  but  seen  their  idol  there, 

A  wreck  of  desolate  despair, 

Left  to  the  wild  birds  of  the  air 

And  mountain  winds  and  rain. 

The  lonely  daughter  seems  to  be  described  in  a  fragment : 

What  made  her  weep,  what  made  her  glide 

Out  of  the  park  this  dreary  day, 
And  cast  her  jewelled  chains  aside 

And  seek  a  rough  and  lonely  way, 

2—2 


20  Gondaliand 

And  down  beneath  a  cedar's  shade 

On  the  wet  grass  regardless  lie, 
With  nothing  but  its  gloomy  head 

Between  her  and  the  showering  sky  ? 

There  are  many  more  Gondal  poems,  some  connected  with  the  history 
of  Julius  and  Augusta,  others  with  new  heroes  and  heroines,  others  again 
which  are  too  fragmentary  to  tell  any  story. 

The  literary  quality  of  the  poems  is  not  fairly  represented  in  these 
quotations,  as,  in  order  to  piece  together  the  fragments  of  the  story, 
I  have  been  obliged  to  choose  narrative  passages  which  are  on  the  whole 
weak,  and  to  omit  the  outbursts  of  passion  in  which  Emily's  genius  is 
shown.  The  best  of  the  poems  have  an  unusual  quality  of  excellence ; 
the  worst  are  very  definitely  bad ;  but  all  are  serious  and  completely 
different  in  atmosphere  from  the  drolling  references  to  Gondaliand  in 
the  journals.  There  is  an  utter  discrepancy  between  the  intensity  of 
The  Prisoner : 

But,  first,  a  hush  of  peace — a  soundless  calm  descends ; 
The  struggle  of  distress  and  fierce  impatience  ends  ; 
Mute  music  soothes  my  breast — unuttered  harmony, 
That  I  could  never  dream,  till  earth  was  lost  to  me. 

Then  dawns  the  Invisible;  the  Unseen  its  truth  reveals; 
My  outward  sense  is  gone,  my  inward  essence  feels : 
Its  wings  are  almost  free — its  home,  its  harbour  found, 
Measuring  the  gulf,  it  stoops  and  dares  the  final  bound. 

Oh  !  dreadful  is  the  check — intense  the  agony— 
When  the  ear  begins  to  hear,  and  the  eye  begins  to  see  ; 
When  the  pulse  begins  to  throb,  the  brain  to  think  again  ; 
The  soul  to  feel  the  flesh,  and  the  flesh  to  feel  the  chain. 

and  the  adventures  of  the  Unique  Society  on  their  desert  island. 

The  two  sisters  intentionally  made  their  kingdom  a  grotesque.  But 
merely  as  a  literary  exercise,  Gondaliand  proved  better  than  correspond- 
ence courses.  In  writing  these  fantastic  chronicles  Emily  learnt  to  use 
words,  to  control  and  apply  her  imagination.  As  her  powers  developed 
Gondaliand  came  alive  in  her  hands.  Her  poems  were  her  own  secret.  She 
did  not  show  them  even  to  Anne,  and  while  Anne  was  regretting  that 
the  Gondals  were  not  in  good  playing  condition,  Emily  found  that  they 
delighted  her  as  much  as  ever,  because  she  had  discovered  a  new  develop- 
ment in  them.  But,  like  the  water  fairy  of  the  legend,  as  soon  as  an 
immortal  soul  had  been  breathed  into  the  land,  it  perished.  Gondaliand 
lay  too  far  into  the  world  of  shadows  to  bear  prolonged  stress  of  emotion. 
Moreover  it  must  not  be  overlooked  that  a  good  deal  of  the  country  was 
mere  pasteboard.  When  she  had  achieved  results  so  perfect  as  The 
Visionary  and  Remembrance,  Emily  consciously  turned  from  her  kingdom 


MADELEINE    HOPE    DODDS  21 

to  devote  her  growing  strength  to  a  more  difficult  task.    She  expressed 
the  change  in  a  poem,  not  wistful  but  determined : 

To-day  I  will  not  seek  the  shadowy  region ; 

Its  nnsustaining  vastness  waxes  drear ; 
And  visions  rising,  legion  after  legion, 

Bring  the  unreal  world  too  strangely  near. 

I'll  walk  where  my  own  nature  would  be  leading : 

It  vexes  me  to  choose  another  guide : 
Where  the  grey  flocks  in  ferny  glens  are  feeding ; 

Where  the  wild  wind  blows  on  the  mountain-side. 

What  have  those  lonely  mountains  worth  revealing?  . 

More  glory  and  more  grief  than  I  can  tell : 
The  earth  that  wakes  one  human  heart  to  feeling 

Can  centre  both  the  worlds  of  Heaven  and  Hell. 

She  reaped  the  fruits  of  the  hard  work  she  put  into  her  child's  play  in 
Wuthering  Heights. 

Madeleine  Hope  Dodds. 
Gateshead 


THE  SINGLE  COMBAT  IN  THE  '  LAI  D'HAVELOC/ 

The  suggestion  has  been  made  in  a  recent  number  of  this  Review* 
that  the  account  of  the  meeting  of  Canute  and  Edmund  Ironside  at 
Olney,  given  by  Henry  of  Huntingdon  and  others,  is  not  due  primarily 
to  a  simple  misunderstanding  of  the  phrase  '  comon  togsedere '  of  the 
A.S.  Chr.  s.a.  1016;  that  a  tradition  of  an  earlier  and  equally  decisive 
single  combat  was  a  predisposing  factor  in  the  choice  of  the  hostile 
rather  than  the  friendly  sense  of  the  phrase ;  and  that  this  tradition  is 
to  be  sought  amongst  those  which  had  gathered  round  the  historical 
and  romantic  figure  of  Anlaf-Haveloc.  Though  the  evidence  there  (I.  c. 
pp.  119  ff.)  adduced  from  a  consideration  of  the  battles  of  Brunanburh 
and  Vinheith  renders  the  existence  of  such  a  tradition  possible,  it  is  on 
a  passage  in  the  Lai  d'Haveloc — and  apparently  on  that  alone — that 
the  conclusion  is  reached :  '  there  is  no  good  reason  to  doubt  that  the 
single  combat  formed  part  of  the  original  story'  (I.e.  p.  118).  When, 
however,  this  is  based  on  the  statement  that  'the  earliest  version  of 
the  Haveloc  story  which  has  come  down  to  us  appears  to  be  that  of  the 
French  Lai  d'Aveloc,  which  probably  belongs  to  the  first  half  of  the  twelfth 
century'  {I.  c.  p.  116),  there  seems  to  be  some  confusion  between  the  ex- 
tant version  of  the  Lai  and  the  earlier  one  from  which  it  and  Gaimar's 
account  have  been  supposed  to  derive. 

In  the  course  of  my  work  on  the  Estoire  des  Engleis  I  have  been  led 
to  review  the  whole  question  of  the  relations  between  Gaimar  and  the 
Lai,  and,  as  a  result  of  a  detailed  investigation  which  I  hope  soon  to 
publish,  I  very  much  doubt  whether  the  passage  in  the  Lai  d'Haveloc 
cited  by  Miss  Ashdown  has  quite  the  evidential  value  she  ascribes  to  it. 

In  the  first  place  it  is  not  correct  to  say  that  the  existing  Lai 
a" Haveloc  is  the  earliest  version  of  the  story,  for  that  honour  belongs 
to  the  one  of  which  Gaimar  is  the  author.  The  exceptional  regularity 
of  the  language  and  the  absence  of  dialectical  features  make  it  extremely 
difficult  to  date  the  Lai  on  linguistic  grounds  alone,  but,  so  far  as  this 
evidence  goes,  it  points  to  a  period  later  than  Gaimar,  i.e.  in  the  second 
half  of  the  twelfth  century.    This  result  was  arrived  at  long  ago  by 

1  M.  Ashdown,  '  The  single  combat  in  certain  cycles  of  English  and  Scandinavian 
tradition  and  romance.'    Mod.  Lang.  Rev.  xvn,  p.  113. 


ALEXANDER    BELL  23 

Kupferschmidt1,  though  the  phenomenon  on  which  he  chiefly  relied — 
the  use  of  -eit  in  imperfects  of  the  first  conjugation — is  shown  by  a 
critical  study  of  the  text  to  have  been  unknown  to  the  author.  The 
date  is  supported,  and  defined  more  closely,  by  other  considerations : 
the  rule  of  the  couplet  is  no  longer  strictly  observed,  and  not  only  is  the 
technique  of  the  '  lai '  adopted,  but  there  has  been  some  measure  of 
direct  influence  by  those  of  Marie  de  France;  and  the  nature  of  the  local 
allusions  suggests  the  period  of  the  revival  of  the  Scandinavian  trade  in 
Lincolnshire  and  the  consequent  rivalry  of  the  seaports  of  that  county — 
say  c.  1200 — as  the  date  of  composition. 

Secondly,  as  the  single  combat  is  related  neither  in  Gaimar  nor  in 
the  English  Havelok  but  only  in  the  Lai  d'Haveloc,  which  is  not  the 
earliest  version,  it  becomes  essential  to  determine  the  position  of  the 
latter  in  the  Haveloc  tradition.  If — which  is  the  generally  accepted 
view — it  and  Gaimar  are  both  derived  independently  from  an  earlier 
French  poem  of  the  first  half  of  the  twelfth  century,  then  it  is  con- 
ceivable that  the  former  retained  and  the  latter  omitted  the  account  of 
the  combat,  and  there  is  thus  some  justification  for  the  assumption  that 
such  a  combat  originally  formed  part  of  the  Haveloc  story.  If,  on  the 
other  hand  (which  is  the  conclusion  I  have  arrived  at),  the  Lai  is 
derived,  entirely  or  in  the  main,  from  the  Haveloc  episode  in  Gaimar, 
then  this  passage  must  be  carefully  scrutinised  before  it  is  taken  as 
evidence  that  the  incident  belongs  to  the  Haveloc  story. 

Premising  that  my  results  are  based  on  a  study  of  both  MSS.  of  the 
Lai  a1' Haveloc,  whereas  the  printed  editions  follow  one  only,  and  that 
the  later  of  the  two,  my  grounds  for  asserting  the  dependence  of  the  Lai 
on  Gaimar  are,  briefly  stated,  as  follows : 

(i)  At  least  one  reading  of  the  Lai  seems  incompatible  with  the 
existence,  of  the  common  source,  and  two  of  the  names  in  the  Lai — 
'Achebrit'  and  'Sigar  l'Estal' — seem  to  derive  from  the  text  of  Gaimar. 
(ii)  Of  the  numerous  parallel  passages  in  the  two  texts,  a  marked 
proportion  are  confined  to  two  sections  of  the  narrative  which  are  peculiar 
to  the  French  versions — Argentine's  dream  and  the  battle  between 
Haveloc  and  Edelsi — and  their  differences  of  expression  seem  to  be  due 
to  the  author  of  the  Lai  rather  than  to  Gaimar. 

(iii)  Since  the  later  text  is  written  in  the  form  of  a  'lai,'  there  must 

necessarily  be  some  changes  in  the  order  of  the  narrative,  and  reasons 

of  technique  are  sufficient  to  account  for  the  varying  explanations  of 

Haveloc's  presence  at  Edelsi's  court,  and  the  only  difference  which  could 

1  M.  Kupferschmidt,  Die  Haveloksage  bei  Gaimar.    Rom.  Studien,  iv,  p.  411. 


24  The  Single  Combat  in  the  'Lai  aV  Haveloc ' 

be  held  to  prove  the  independence  of  the  Lai  is  its  use  of  the  'strongest 
man'  motive1,  which  is  also  found  in  the  English  version.  Careful  study 
of  the  text  of  Gaimar  suggests  that  this  motive  was  unknown  to  him 
and  could  not  have  been  omitted  by  him,  but  that  it  is  probably  a  later 
development  of  the  story  in  local  tradition. 

(iv)  One  difference  appears  to  be  due  directly  to  a  misunderstanding 
of  Gaimar's  text.  On  two  occasions  in  the  French  versions  Haveloc 
makes  use  of  an  axe  in  self-defence.  In  Gaimar,  after  his  arrival  in 
Denmark  and  appeal  for  protection  to  the  Danish  lord,  Sigar,  he  is 
attacked  in  his  lodging  by  some  of  the  latter's  servants  who  abduct  his 
wife ;  he  seizes  an  axe  which  he  finds  hanging  up  in  the  house,  rushes 
out  into  the  street,  rescues  his  wife  and  kills  most  of  the  assailants ; 
later,  when  he  is  to  be  presented  to  an  assembly  in  Sigar's  hall,  he  is 
apprehensive  of  punishment  and  seizes  an  axe  from  one  of  the  bystanders 
in  order  to  defend  himself  if  necessary.  In  the  Lai  the  ambush  takes 
place  in  the  street  and  the  axe  is  there  seized  from  one  of  the  assailants, 
but,  in  Sigar's  hall,  Haveloc  passes  undisturbed  through  the  bystanders 
and,  still  unhindered,  takes  down  an  axe  from  the  wall.  I  suggest  that 
the  author  of  the  Lai,  misunderstanding  the  phrase  '  dans  la  ruelle ' 
used  by  Gaimar  with  reference  to  the  scene,  not  of  the  abduction  but 
of  the  subsequent  rescue,  imagined  the  whole  affair  as  taking  place  in 
the  street,  adopted  the  second  of  the  two  methods  of  obtaining  an  axe 
as  more  suitable  and,  consequently,  had  to  do  the  best  he  could  with 
the  other  when  he  came  to  the  scene  in  Sigar's  hall. 

(v)  There  are  four  features  peculiar  to  the  French  versions  which, 
as  they  fit  in  with  Gaimar's  sources  of  knowledge  and  methods  of  com- 
position, appear  to  have  been  introduced  into  the  story  by  him.  They  are : 

(a)  Argentine's  dream.  This  is  made  the  turning  point  of  the  first 
part  of  the  story,  is  quite  different  from  the  English  account,  seems 
reminiscent  of  Iseult's  dream  in  the  Forest  of  Morrois  and  has  evidently 
been  composed  with  the  finish  of  the  French  versions  in  view.  As  there 
is  some  evidence  from  the  Estoire  des  Engleis  that  Gaimar  was  acquainted 
with  the  Tristan  story,  the  innovation  may  be  due  to  him. 

(b)  The  Capture  by  '  outlaws.'  In  the  English  Havelok  Grim  and 
his  companions  are  driven  by  an  unexpected  storm  to  England ;  in  the 
French  he  is  a  regular  traveller  between  Denmark  and  England,  and  is 
attacked  by  '  outlaws.'    As  these  do  not  appear  to  have  been  familiar  to 

1  Edelsi  promises  his  dying  brother-in-law  to  protect  Argentille,  then  an  infant,  and, 
when  she  is  of  fit  age,  to  marry  her  'al  plus  fort  home'  in  his  kingdom;  in  order  to  deprive 
her  of  her  inheritance,  he  adheres  to  the  letter  of  his  promise  by  giving  her  to  his  scullion, 
Haveloc,  because  of  his  prowess  in  wrestling  and  other  feats  of  strength. 


ALEXANDER    BELL  25 

the  author  of  the  Lai,  whereas  there  is  ample  evidence  that  Gaimar  was 
well  acquainted  with  their  existence,  it  would  seem  that  he  is  responsible 
for  their  introduction. 

(c)  The  Geography  of  the  poems.  In  Gaimar  the  two  kingdoms 
concerned — of  Edelsi  and  of  Adelbrit — are  very  definitely  in  East  Anglia, 
and  the  bounds  of  the  former  agree  very  closely  with  those  of  the  South- 
umbrian  realm  subsequently  described  by  him  in  his  Estoire.  In  the 
Lai,  though  the  author  does  not  appear  to  have  a  very  clear  conception 
of  the  relations  of  the  kingdoms  with  which  he  has  to  deal,  to  each 
other  and  to  England  as  a  whole,  yet  Edelsi's  kingdom  is  described  in 
the  same  detail  as  in  Gaimar.  It  seems  probable  that  this  does  not 
represent  the  original  state  of  affairs  and  that  Gaimar  is  responsible 
for  their  reduction  in  status  from  national  to  local  sovereigns,  though 
residence  in  Lincolnshire  most  likely  accounts  for  the  greater  detail  in 
describing  Edelsi's  realm,  as  opposed  to  Adelbrit's,  noticeable  in  the  Lai. 

(d)  The  Chronology  of  the  poems.  Both  in  Gaimar  and  the  Lai 
the  events  are  ascribed  to  the  period  following  the  death  of  Arthur,  and, 
though  a  general  reference  to  that  monarch  might  not  be  out  of  place 
in  a  'lai,'  actually  he  is  referred  to  in  the  Lai  in  the  same  terms — 
historical  rather  than  romantic — as  in  Gaimar,  but  with  no  obvious 
purpose.  As  there  is  in  Gaimar  a  clear  intention  of  linking  up  the 
events  of  the  story  with  that  period  in  order  to  provide  a  basis  for 
the  subsequent  Danish  claim  to  have  reigned  in  England  prior  to  the 
arrival  of  the  English,  and  as  his  appeal  to  Gildas  (v.  41)  appears  to  be 
not  entirely  a  mere  literary  device  for  securing  credence,  it  is  highly 
probable  that  he  is  responsible  for  attaching  the  story  to  this  period. 

If  these  features  have  been  introduced  by  Gaimar — the  arguments 
only  have  been  outlined  and  no  attempt  has  been  made  here  to  adduce 
evidence  in  their  support — and  if  they  are  also  found,  as  they  in  fact 
are,  in  the  Lai,  it  follows  that  the  latter  must  have  derived  them  from 
the  former.  Consequently,  in  view  of  these  and  other  points  in  which 
the  Lai  has  been  shown  dependent  on  Gaimar  and  of  the  lack  of  proof 
to  the  contrary,  it  can  no  longer  be  regarded  as  representing  an  inde- 
pendent version  of  the  Haveloc  story,  and  the  presence  of  an  incident 
in  the  Lai  cannot  be  accepted  as  proof  of  its  occurrence  in  the  original 
unless  other  evidence  is  forthcoming  in  support. 

Thirdly,  a  distinction  must  be  made  between  the  motive  for  the 
combat  and  the  combat  itself.  Of  the  former  Miss  Ashdown  remarks 
(I.  c.  p.  117):  'the  humanitarian  note  is  curious,  and  one  might  be  in- 
clined to  see  in  it  the  refining  tendency  of  French  romance ' ;    but, 


26  The  Single  Combat  in  the  'Lai  d' Haveloc' 

holding,  as  she  does,  that  the  Lai  is  older  than  Gaimar,  she  rejects  this 
possibility  and  seems  thereby  to  regard  the  motive  as  well  as  the  combat 
as  part  of  the  original  Haveloc  story.  There  does  not  appear  to  be  any 
compelling  need  to  do  this,  for,  in  her  own  words  (I.  c.  p.  124,  n.  3),  '  the 
fact  that  a  certain  motive  is  suggested  in  the  version  which  has  come 
down  to  us  does  not  destroy  the  possibility  that  the  original  version 
implied  a  different  motive ' ;  and  the  mere  fact  that  the  story  has  been 
rewritten  as  a  '  lai,'  and  has  been  influenced  by  their  technique,  renders 
it  a  priori  probable  that  the  motive  is  derived  from  French  romance 
rather  than  from  Scandinavian  tradition.  Moreover,  the  concern  for  the 
common  people  attributed  to  Haveloc  by  the  author  of  the  Lai  seems 
to  me  to  have  been  introduced  by  him  partly  from  the  same  literary 
considerations  as  the  additional  touches  whereby  he  makes  of  Edelsi 
a  model  leader,  who  goes  out  on  personal  reconnaissance  before  calling 
on  his  followers  to  do  battle,  and  to  suggest  that  no  adequate  motive  for 
the  combat  was  offered  by  the  form  of  the  story  from  which  he  derived 
his  account. 

If  we  turn  to  Gaimar 's  description  of  the  battle  between  Haveloc 
and  Odulf,  we  are  at  once  struck  by  the  fact  that  there  is  no  explicit 
mention  of  the  latter's  fate  and  that  it  is  uncertain  whether  he  was 
killed  or  pardoned,  though  Gaimar's  language — '  Li  reis  Odulf  fud  dune 
vencuz  Kar  Haveloc  si  se  cuntint  II  sul  en  ocist  plus  de  vint'  (vv.  742-4) 
— seems  rather  to  imply  the  former.  On  the  other  hand,  Gaimar  lays 
considerable  stress  on  Haveloc's  clemency  after  the  battle ;  he  pardons 
two  enemy  princes — apparently  Gaimar's  own  invention — and  '  del  pais 
la  menue  gent  Vindrent  a  merci  ensement  E  Haveloc  lur  fist  parduns 
Par  le  cunseil  de  ses  baruns '  (vv.  749-52).  As  he  usually  evinces  some 
interest  in  the  outcome  of  the  battles  he  describes,  even  to  the  extent 
of  turning  an  indecisive  into  a  decisive  engagement  (e.g.  vv.  1417  f£). 
it  seems  reasonable  to  assume  that  a  single  combat  between  the  two 
monarchs  did  not  figure  in  the  story  as  Gaimar  knew  it.  Neither  does 
it  appear  probable,  in  this  case,  that  the  author  of  the  Lai  developed 
the  combat  from  the  uncertain  data  at  his  disposal  in  Gaimar's  text, 
though,  if  he  knew  in  addition  another  form  of  the  story  in  which  such  a 
combat  figured,  Haveloc's  clemency  in  Gaimar  would  supply  him  with 
a  motive  for  it. 

That  he  was  acquainted  with  the  tradition  in  some  other  form  than 
Gaimar — very  possibly  oral — is  shown  especially  by  his  treatment  of 
Sigar's  recognition  of  Haveloc.  In  Gaimar,  Sigar  first  sees  Haveloc  when 
besieged  in  the  church  tower,  and  his  resemblance  to  the  late  king — his 


ALEXANDER   BELL  27 

father — is  so  great  that  the  Danish  lord  grants  him  a  truce,  takes  him 
to  his  hall,  learns  his  name  and  story,  in  consequence  of  which  he  has 
him  watched  in  expectation  of  the  mystic  flame,  and  this  convinces  him 
of  Haveloc's  identity.  In  the  Lai,  the  same  events,  in  slightly  different 
order,  lead  up  to  the  same  conclusion,  but  even  more  stress  is  laid  on 
the  physical  resemblance.  Yet,  in  spite  of  this  being  so  great  that  it 
strikes  Sigar  in  the  conflict  round  the  church  tower,  when,  a  short  time 
before,  Haveloc  had  sat  as  an  honoured  guest  at  his  table,  the  resem- 
blance passes  unnoticed.  In  the  English  Havelok,  the  recognition  depends 
entirely  on  the  mystic  flame,  there  is  no  question  of  resemblance,  and 
consequently  Haveloc  attracts  no  special  attention  when  at  the  Danish 
lord's  hall  prior  to  the  attack  on  his  lodging.  These  agreements  show 
that  the  Lai  is  combining  Gaimar's  account  with  one  derived  from  some 
other  source;  for,  just  as  he  sought  to  provide  a  motive  for  his  intro- 
duction of  Argentine's  visit  to  the  hermit,  so  he  provides  one  for  Haveloc's 
visit  to  Sigar  in  view  of  a  version  of  the  recognition  which  he  does  not 
adopt. 

In  favour  of  this  suggestion,  that  the  author  of  the  Lai  found  mention 
of  a  single  combat  in  his  second  source,  it  may  be  urged  that,  whilst  he 
has  throughout  shown  a  decided  tendency — under  the  influence,  as  I 
believe,  of  the  Lai  des  deux  amants  of  Marie  de  France — to  make  Ar- 
gentine play  a  more  important  part  in  the  story  and  to  make  Haveloc 
more  than  ever  disinclined  to  act  save  at  the  instance  of  others,  in  this 
case  he  is  made  to  show  unwonted  decision  of  character  in  proposing 
the  single  combat  with  Odulf  entirely  on  his  own  initiative. 

We  have  seen  that  this  combat  was  probably  unknown  to  the  tradition 
used  by  Gaimar,  but  as  probably  known  to  that  used  by  the  author  of 
the  Lai  to  supplement  the  former's  account,  and  the  problem  arises : 
was  this  combat  an  original  feature  of  the  story  or  is  it  an  addition 
made  in  the  later  twelfth  century?  The  evidence  collected  by  Miss  Ash- 
down  seems,  as  far  as  I  can  judge,  to  render  it  likely  that  such  a  combat 
did  figure  in  the  Anlaf-Haveloc  traditions ;  but,  in  seeking  to  link  it  up 
with  that  related  in  the  Lai,  is  it  not  possible  that  she  has  overlooked 
one  consideration  ?  Assuming  the  correctness  of  her  deductions  from 
Brunanburh  and  Vinheith,  we  should  expect  the  combat,  which  is  to 
decide  the  fate  of  a  kingdom  and  of  which  Anlaf-Haveloc  is  a  protagonist, 
to  take  place  in  England,  but  the  one  thing  clear  about  the  battle  between 
Haveloc  and  Odulf  is  that  it  occurs  in  Denmark.  In  the  English  Havelok, 
however,  though  no  single  combat  in  the  sense  of  this  discussion  takes 
place,  yet,  because  'Havelok  saw  his  folk  so  brittene'  (v.  2700),  he  makes 


28  The  Single  Combat  in  the  'Lai  d  Haveloc ' 

for  his  opponent,  Godrich,  fights  and  captures  him;  the  details  are  in  full 
accord  with  the  boisterous  nature  of  this  poem  and  its  rough-and-tumble 
hero,  but  there  is  also  the  suggestion  of  a  single  combat  and  the  battle 
takes  place  in  England. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  conclusion  of  the  story  in  the  French  version 
is  very  different,  involving  as  it  does  the  account  of  the  dead  men  set 
up  on  stakes  to  personate  the  living,  but  it  has  not,  to  my  knowledge, 
been  ascertained — I  have  been  concerned  only  with  the  two  French  texts 
and  not  with  the  wider  problems  of  the  Haveloc  tradition — which  of  the 
two  versions  represents  more  closely  the  original  ending,  though  I  cannot 
be  sure,  in  my  own  mind,  that  the  ruse  of  the  dead  men  was  not  intro- 
duced into  the  story  by  Gaimar.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that,  in 
addition  to  his  interest  in  the  Haveloc  story  for  its  own  sake,  he  had 
in  mind  its  importance  for  strengthening  the  Danish  claim  of  prior 
possession  of  England  put  forward,  in  his  account,  by  Canute  at  his 
celebrated  meeting  with  Edmund  Ironside;  and  that  claim  would  be 
strengthened  if  Haveloc  obtained  Edelsi's  kingdom  by  the  latter's  free 
gift  rather  than  by  right  of  conquest.  Also,  if  the  ending  underlying 
that  of  the  English  Havelok  be  the  original  one,  the  outcome  of  the 
combat  was  probably  fatal  to  Haveloc's  opponent. 

Therefore,  if  Gaimar  knew  the  dead  men  ruse  from  another  source — 
and  he  was  not  unacquainted  with  Danish  traditions — it  would,  with 
his  purpose  in  view,  supply  him  with  a  better  and  more  striking  ending, 
and,  to  judge  by  his  methods  on  other  occasions,  he  would  not  have 
scrupled  to  adopt  it  instead  of  the  original  combat  ending.  Further, 
when  both  Gaimar  and  the  second  source  conflict,  the  author  of  the 
Lai  seems  to  prefer  the  former  but  likes  to  make  use  as  well  of  any 
additional  features  from  the  latter.  Hence,  assuming  that  the  single 
combat  figured  in  his  second  source — here  representing  the  original 
tradition — he  would  have  a  very  striking  incident  at  his  disposal,  after 
deciding  to  adopt  the  ruse  ending  from  Gaimar,  which  he  could  use  to 
good  purpose  in  the,  as  yet,  rather  colourless  Haveloc-Odulf  incident. 

.  Thus,  though  I  have  taken  away  from  Miss  Ashdown  with  the  one 
hand  in  showing  that  this  passage  of  the  Lai  cannot  safely  be  used  as 
direct  proof  of  her  contention,  yet  I  have  returned  her  somewhat  with 
the  other,  and,  should  it  be  possible  to  substantiate  the  hypothesis  of  the 
preceding  paragraph,  it  may  be  that  she  will  consider  herself  the  gainer, 
rather  than  the  loser,  by  the  exchange. 

Alexander  Bell. 

Peterborough. 


RABELAIS  AND  THE  AUTHORITY 
OF  THE  ANCIENTS. 

So  much  Renaissance  work  was  vitiated  by  blind  obedience  to  classical 
authority  that  it  has  been  well  said  that  that  great  movement  gave  birth 
to  nothing.  Nevertheless  it  seems  probable  that  only  in  that  time  of  up- 
heaval may  we  hope  to  discover  demarcation  lines  between  the  medieval 
and  the  modern,  for,  since  all  ideas  spring  from  actual  tentatives,  the 
workers  for  modernity  in  the  seventeenth  century,  whose  work  came 
upon  the  world  with  a  sudden  blaze,  must  have  had  predecessors  in  the 
preceding  age.  Moreover,  all  authorities  offer  mutual  support,  and  it  is 
at  a  time  when  authority  was  weakened  and  still  more  weakened  by  an 
enthusiastic  search  for  knowledge  which  drove  men  to  seize  upon  every 
observable  fact,  it  is  at  such  a  time  probable  that  men  should  throw  oft 
the  authority  of  Greece  and  Rome,  if  and  when  they  found  it  irksome. 
Intellectual  and  other  eccentricities,  indeed,  may  be  but  the  indications 
that  the  germ  of  future  development  is  active  during  a  certain  period, 
and  no  age  so  abounds  in  these  excesses  as  Rabelais'  age.  To  what 
extent  can  Rabelais  be  shown  to  move  with  the  current  of  his  day  ? 
how  far  did  his  powerful  nature  assert  itself  against  such  passivity  ?  The 
question  is  not  whether  he  availed  himself  of  his  classical  studies  :  that 
he  did  so  is  in  the  nature  of  things ;  but  rather — and  this  is  ascertain- 
able— what  use  he  made  of  his  reading.  That  is  the  all  important  point, 
and,  when  we  contrast  the  wide  appeal  of  his  works  to  men  of  every  sub- 
sequent age  with  the  neglect  of  his  contemporaries'  writings,  we  cannot 
hesitate  to  infer  that  the  romance  possessed  distinguishing  qualities 
which  have  sustained,  and  even  increased,  its  value. 

In  contradistinction  with  the  medieval  scholars,  those  of  the  Renais- 
sance preferred  perfection  of  form  to  perfection  of  idea,  and  this  preference 
should  have  dissociated  the  new  thought  from  the  mass  of  traditions  on 
man  and  life.  Nevertheless  it  did  not.  Just  as  the  Scholastics  had 
distorted  classical  teaching  and  reconciled  irreconcilable  philosophies  by 
subordinating  them  to  Christian  teaching  and  patristic  literature1,  so 
wherever,  during  this  period  in  France,  we  find  reverence  for  authority, 

1  Lefevre  d'Etaples  curiously  mingles  Aristotle  and  Plato,  while  lesser  men,  like  Eabe- 
lais'  Homenas  claiming  Diogenes  as  a  Decretalist,  are  most  naively  learned,  cp.  Polydor 
Vergil,  De  Inventoribus  Rerum. 


30  Rabelais  and  the  Authority  of  the  Ancients 

or  for  the  letter  of  authority,  we  may  trace  an  association  of  pagan  and 
Christian  ideas  which  results  (to  their  mutual  loss)  in  rendering  both 
almost  unrecognisable.  The  Rabelais  of  Pantagruel  and  Gargantua 
(1532-5)  presents  no  exception  to  the  rule.  Generally  speaking,  in  spite 
of  an  amusing  reference  to  Pliny  ('Et  toutesfois  je  ne  suis  point  menteur 
tant  asceure  comme  il  a  este" — Garg.  6),  he  was  at  that  time  quite 
uncritical ;  indeed  even  in  this  passage  appear  a  large  tolerance  and 
a  complacent  sense  of  superiority  to  an  admired  authority ;  and  this 
learned  vanity  finds  ample  scope  in  his  fond  use  of  reference  and  quota- 
tion, to  and  from  curious  and  obscure  writers1.  He  makes  no  statement 
without  this  form  of  justification,  and  illustrations  of  such  support  for 
the  most  commonplace  utterance  abound.  Of  the  colours  of  Gargantua's 
dress  {Garg.  9)  he  says,  '  Bien  aultrement  faisoient  en  temps  jadis  les 
saiges  d'Egypte,  quand  ilz  escrivoient  par  lettres  qu'ilz  appelloient 
hieroglyphiques...lesquels  un  chascun  entendoit  qui  entendist  la  vertu, 
propriete  et  nature  des  choses  par  icelles  figurees.  Desquelles  Orus 
Apollon  a  en  grec  compose  deux  livres,  et  Polyphile,  au  Songe  d'Amours, 
en  a  davantaige  expose".'  Of  the  same  nature  is  his  affirmation  concerning 
St  Aignan's  bell  {Pant.  7),  which  could  by  no  means  be  pulled  from  the 
earth,  '  combien  que  Ton  y  eust  applicque  tous  les  rnoyens  que  mettent 
Vitruvius  de  architectura,  Albertus  de  re  aedificatoria,  Euclides,  Theon, 
Archimedes,  et  Hero  de  ingeniis,  car  tout  ny  servit  de  riens.'  After  the 
Limousin  student  episode  he  quotes  Aulus  Gellius  and  Caesar  in  support 
of  purity  of  language,  and  of  the  great  drought  he  writes,  '  Les  aultres 
gens  S9avans  disoyent  que  c'estoit  pluye  des  Antipodes  :  comme  Senecque 
narre  au  quart  livre  questionum  naturalium,  parlant  de  lorigine  et  source 
du  fleuve  du  Nil.'  He  had  not  yet  begun  to  speculate  upon  such  matters, 
and  his  learning  adds  a  meretricious  ornament  which  betrays  Rabelais 
as  little  greater  than  the  pedantic  author  of  De  Inventoribus  Rp.rum. 

In  Gargantua  the  dominant  influence  is  certainly  Plato.  Picrochole, 
a  type  of  Injustice,  begets  Discord  and  Strife  among  his  followers,  who 
contend,  like  Thrasymachus  in  the  Republic,  that  the  justice  of  the  State 
should  subserve  the  interests  of  the  great ;  while  Grandgousier,  as  the 
embodiment  of  Justice,  the  Platonist  king-philosopher,  is  served  by 
Concord  and  Harmony,  and  maintains  that  the  kingly  function  exists  to 
protect  the  weak  and  the  inferior.  Moreover,  Touquedillon's  injustice 
being  granted,  his  being  rewarded  was  the  only  treatment  possible  in  a 
Platonist's  eyes  (since  punishment  of  an  unjust  man  would  render  him 

1  Secret  writing,  virtues  of  precious  stones  and  the  significance  of  colours  are  thus 
supported. 


A.  F.  CHAPPELL  31 

still  more  unjust),  although  to  the  practical  bourgeois  mind  Grand- 
gousier's  benevolence  must  have  seemed  as  absurd  as  the  Abbey  of 
Thelema.  The  basic  fact  of  that  airy  structure1  is  the  Platonic  relation 
of  sex  with  sex  :  the  sympathy  existent  between  the  ladies  and  gentlemen 
dictates  their  manner  of  life  even  to  questions  of  dress  and  amusements, 
and  each  man,  compelled  by  circumstances  to  quit  the  Abbey,  married 
the  lady  with  whom  he  felt  the  closest  affinity.  It  would  be  difficult  to 
believe  that  Rabelais  did  not  know  that  the  ideal  freedom  of  Thelema 
could  not  produce  such  harmony,  did  we  not  consider  that  at  this  stage 
Rabelais  was  a  convinced  Platonist  whose  duty  was  to  yield  unswerving 
devotion  to  his  master.  Even  the  characterisation  of  the  two  books  may 
have  been  Platonist  if,  as  seems  probable,  for  Rabelais  was  at  the  '  single 
quality'  stage,  the  grossly  amusing  Panurge,  followed  in  creation  by 
the  admirable  spirited  Friar  who  lacks  even  his  later  coarseness,  were 
intended  to  form  the  sensual  part  of  the  Platonist  trinity  of  sensual, 
active,  and  rational.  We  may  conclude  that  between  Pantagruel  and 
Gargantua,  when  the  influence  of  Lyons  society  was  strong  upon  the 
author,  some  attempt  at  diffusing  Platonism  was  planned.  Thence  result 
not  only  the  perplexing  inconsistencies  between  the  prince  and  his 
forebears,  but  also  the  blending  of  Platonic  philosophy  with  Christian 
teaching  in  Grandgousier's  statecraft,  the  authority  for  which  is  chiefly 
Plato.  This  element  is  the  chief  charm  of  the  book,  it  made  the  wavering 
reformers  who  sought  the  truth  in  Platonism  enthusiastic  admirers  of 
Rabelais'  genius,  and  Plato  was  the  force  which  raised  his  work  to  a 
nobler  plane.  Nevertheless,  at  a  time  when  Heroet's  version  of  the 
Symposium  (La  Parfaicte  Amye,  1542)  was  the  admiration  of  the  sadly 
stricken  Third  Party,  we  know  that  Rabelais,  having  re-studied  Plato2, 
was  planning  the  Tiers  Livre,  the  thought  of  which,  amid  profuse  quota- 
tion of  his  one-time  master,  is  decidedly  hostile.  Even  the  quotations 
appear  to  be  changed  in  intention  in  the  work  of  1546  onwards,  and 
notwithstanding  the  large  unacknowledged  borrowings  of  thoughts  which 
impressed  him,  and  which  he  uses  with  accuracy,  he  became  deplorably 
careless  in  regard  to  authors  whose  views  he  could  not  share.  In  the 
period  1535  to  1546  he  had  possibly  stood  aside  from  the  humanist 
movement,  and  his  attitude  had  fundamentally  changed. 

The  times  were  not  ready  for  critical  appreciation,  or  for  distinction 
between  Platonism  and  Neo-Platonism,  and  it  must  be  remembered 

1  Kabelais  later  appears  to  have  rejected  Thelema,  for  he  despatches  unreal  pictures 
thither  (Q.L.  2)  and  devises  absurd  exercises  for  the  Thelemites  (Q.L.  62). 

2  Letter  to  Antoine  Hullet. 


32  Rabelais  and  the  Authority  of  the  Ancients 

that  Rabelais'  scholarship  has  been  seriously  brought  in  question.  That 
he  dissociated  himself  from  the  contemporary  school  of  Neo-Platonists, 
mainly  feminist,  for  which  he  was  attacked  by  them,  is  consequently  of 
some  importance.  Not  only  did  he  deliver  shrewd  blows  in  the  weakest 
parts  of  their  armour,  but  he  also  ridiculed  many  of  the  currently  accepted 
doctrines.  He  described  Panurge's  women  associates  in  Salmigondie  as 
Platonists  and  Ciceronians ;  he  invoked  Plato's  support  of  doubts  whether 
woman  be  an  animal  or  a  reasoning  creature,  although  'Rondibilis'  has  a 
loftier  opinion  of  her1  ('  Certes  Platon  ne  scait  en  quel  rang  il  les  doibve 
colloquer,  ou  des  animans  raisonnables,  ou  des  bestes  brutes ' — T.L.  32) ; 
and  with  an  analogous  intention  he  wrote,  '  aucuns  Platoniques  disent 
que  qui  peut  voir  son  Genius  peut  entendre  ses  destinees.  Je  ne  com- 
prends  pas  bien  leur  discipline,  et  ne  suis  d'advis  que  y  adherez. — II  y 
a  de  l'abus  beaucoup '  ( T.L.  24),  and  '  Le  serpent  qui  tenta  Eve  estoit 
andouillicque  :  ce  nonobstant  est  de  luy  escrit  qu'il  estoit  fin  et  cauteleux 
sus  tous  les  aultres  animans.  Aussi  sont  andouilles.  Encores  maintient 
on  en  certaines  academies  que  ce  tentateur  estoit  l'andouille  nommee 
Jtyphalle,  en  laquelle  fut  jadis  transforme  le  bon  messer  Priapus'  (Q.L.  38). 
Possibly  these  passages  imply  merely  a  criticism  of  Platonism  as  taught, 
in  itself  a  great  advance,  but  elsewhere  Rabelais  uses  one  of  his  commonest 
satirical  methods  against  a  more  profound  principle. 

In  his  examination  of  dream  interpretation  occurs  this  satire  of 
Plato's  metaphysics :  '  Ja  n'est  besoin  plus  au  long  vous  le  prouver. 
Vous  l'entendrez  par  exemple  vulgaire,  quand  vous  voyez,  lorsque  les 
enfants,  bien  nettis,  bien  repuz,  et  alaictes,  dorment  profondement,  les 
nourrices  s'en  aller  esbatre  en  liberty  comme  pour  icelle  heure  licentiees 
a  faire  ce  que  voudront,  car  leur  presence  autour  du  berceau  semblerait 
inutile.  En  ceste  facon,  nostre  ame,  lorsque  le  corps  dort...s'esbat  et 
revoit  sa  patrie  qui  est  le  ciel'  (T.L.  13).  In  the  conclusion  all  doubts 
whether  this  argument  is  serious  must  disappear,  seeing  that  the  philo- 
sophic views  quoted  are  overwhelmed  by  Panurge's  whimsical  objection 
to  light  suppers.  In  each  attempted  research  the  author's  plan  is  the 
same :  the  authorities  counselling  the  particular  method  are  martialled, 
the  trial  is  made  with  all  observance  of  the  conditions,  and  finally  the 
problem  is  brought  to  the  test  of  the  individual  judgment,  implying  a 
certain  discredit  of  traditional  beliefs.  The  Tiers  Livre  treats  not  only 
of  marriage,  not  only  of  the  futility  of  divination.  In  fact  the  satire  on 
classical  writers  wearies  the  author,  and  at  least  once  he  refuses  to  pro- 
ceed: 'Toutesfois,  dist  Pantagruel,  Ciceron  en  dit  je  ne  scay  quoy  au 
1  See  his  praise  of  the  'preudes  femmes,'  T.L.  32. 


A.  F.  CHAPPELL  33 

second  livre  de  Divination '  (T.L.  20).  Indeed  the  whole  book  suggests 
that  the  author  principally  desired  to  envelop  the  authority  of  the 
Ancients  in  absurdities  which  the  new  generation  were  coming  to  regard 
in  a  new  light,  in  traditional  ways  of  thought  which  bourgeois  common 
sense,  the  fount  of  '  libertinism,'  was  soon  to  discredit.  In  this  book,  too, 
occur  two  passages  illustrative  of  how  Rabelais  may  have  thus  developed : 
in  regard  to  the  consultation  with  the  dumb  the  various  authorities 
were  matched  one  against  the  other ;  and  when  Panurge  described  and 
justified  his  Utopia  of  Debtors  and  Borrowers,  he  was  refuted  by  Panta- 
gruel's  quotation  of  Plato's  Laws.  It  appears  in  the  highest  degree 
probable  that  not  only  wider  reading  but  chiefly  a  richer  experience  and 
deeper  thought  had  made  his  earlier  enthusiasm  for  transcendental  systems 
unsatisfactory,  and  had  led  him  to  weigh  evidence  and  to  discriminate. 
What  renders  the  demonstration  difficult  is  his  decided  preference 
for  undermining  rather  than  directly  attacking  his  opponents'  position. 
Nevertheless,  the  inference  is  clear  when  Jupiter,  busy  settling  human 
disputes,  not  merely  has  no  leisure  to  decide  between  Ramus  and  Galland, 
the  Platonists  and  Aristotelians,  but  proceeds  to  deal  with  the  wood- 
cutter's loss  {Prol.  de  I'Auteur,  Q.L.).  Aristotle  is  held  responsible  for 
Queen  Entelechie's  strangeness  and  for  the  false  knowledge  of  those 
caught  spying  upon  him  in  the  Pays  de  Satin  ;  and  his  authority  supports 
the  sheep's  propensity  to  follow  a  leader  (Q.L.  8),  as  that  of  Averroes 
demonstrates  a  monk's  attraction  towards  the  kitchen  (Q.L.  11).  Even 
Plutarch,  whom  Rabelais  certainly  admired,  becomes  a  disseminator  of 
false  knowledge  :  '  Et  dorenavant  (he  writes),  soyez  plus  facile  a  croire 
ce  qu'asceure  Plutarche  avoir  experimente.  Si  un  trouppeau  de  chevres 
s'en  fuyoit  courant  en  toute  force,  mettez  un  brin  de  eringe  en  la  gueule 
d'une  derniere  cheminante,  soubdain  toutes  s'arresteront '  (Q.L.  62).  Plato 
is  repeatedly  turned  to  ridicule  in  as  subtle  a  manner.  The  coarse1  Isle 
of  Ennasin  becomes  intelligible  only  when  the  alliances  are  considered 
as  between  Platonist  affinities,  and  the  whole  episode  as  a  pseudo- 
commonwealth  based  on  principles  of  relationship  found  in  the  Republic 
and  the  Symposium.  Numerous  references  to  '  Ideas '  are  found  :  in  an 
episode  destined  to  serve  the  cismontane  cause  (Q.L.  50)  the  Pope  figures 
'as  the  Idea  of  God  upon  earth,  an  ingenious  and  powerful  inversion  ;  the 
hovering  terror  of  the  Andouilles  is  the  Idea  of  Mardigras  (Q.L.  42) ; 
and  Ideas  are  among  the  paintings2  purchased  in  the  Isle  of  Appearances 

1  The  later  Kabelais  habitually  relapses  into  coarseness  before  unreality. 

2  Of  Echo,  Plato's  Ideas,  Epicurus'  Atoms,  Philomela  and  Tereus.    Of  the  most  probable 
subject  Rabelais  says  we  must  not  expect  a  realistic  picture.   '  Cela  est  trop  sot  et  trop  lourd. 

M.L.R.  XVIII.  3 


34  Rabelais  and  the  Authority  of  the  Ancients 

(Medamothi),  an  incident  which  must  have  lost  point  as  art  became 
more  and  more  symbolical.  Finally  in  the  battle  with  the  Andouilles  as 
a  result  of  the  ingenious  discussion  on  names  and  Rhizotome's  vehement 
oath  that  he  will  read  the  Cratylus,  so  often  commended,  we  almost  lose 
sight  of  the  arbitrariness  in  the  names  of  Tailleboudin  and  Riflandouille, 
which  are  hailed  by  Pantagruel  as  happy  omens,  until  our  faith  is  dissi- 
pated by  the  ensuing  conversation.  Yet  Rabelais  obviates  misunder- 
standing, adding,  '  Vous  truphez  ici,  beuveurs,  et  ne  croyez  que  ainsi 
soit  en  verite  comme  je  vous  raconte.... Croyez  le,  si  voulez  ;  si  ne  voulez, 
allez  y  voir.  Mais  je  scay  bien  ce  que  je  vis....'  The  manner  is  certainly 
more  involved,  but  the  purpose  is  that  of  the  Tiers  Livre.  Throughout 
his  later  work  Rabelais  .did  more  than  attack  contemporary  Platonism. 

Yet  this  is  not  the  whole  truth.  His  solemnest  moments  are  those 
when  his  thought  so  closely  resembles  the  well-known  utterances  of  the 
Dialogues  that  at  first  borrowing  appears  to  be  the  only  explanation. 
There  are,  however,  important  if  minor  divergences :  '  Je  sens,  dist 
Pantagruel,  en  mon  ame  retraction  urgente,  comme  si  fust  une  voix  de 
loing  ouie,  laquelle  me  dit  que  n'y  debvons  descendre.  Toutes  et  quantes- 
fois  qu'en  mon  esprit  j'ay  tel  mouvement  senty,  je  me  suis  trouve  en 
heur  refusant  et  laissant  la  part  dont  il  me  retiroit,  au  contraire  en  heur 
pareil  me  suis  trouve,  suivant  la  part  ou  il  me  poussoit :  et  jamais  ne 
m'en  repenty. — C'est,  dist  Epistemon,  comme  le  demon  de  Socrates, 
tant  celebre  entre  les  Academicques '  (Q.L.  66).  The  Apologia  (xix) 
definitely  states  that  the  Socratic  demon  never  urged  to  actions,  as  the 
intuitive  element  here  does  :  yet  Rabelais  gladly  compares  his  observed 
phenomenon  with  the  greater  example.  In  a  similar  delicate  manner 
he  will  not  dispute  Socrates'  noble  thought  that  death  is  not  in  itself 
evil,  nor  to  be  feared,  for  to  this  life-loving  being  death  in  any  form,  but 
especially  !  this  kind  of  death  by  shipwreck,'  appears  terrible :  the  help- 
lessness of  the  drowning  man  horrifies  him,  and  philosophy,  called  to 
mind  on  a  sudden  confrontation  with  death,  gives  consolation  in  vain 
(Q.L.  22).  Tentatively  adopting  Plato's  psychogony,  he  seeks  to  divest 
death  of  its  terrors  by  depicting  it  accompanied  by  angels,  heroes  and 
good  spirits  who  welcome  the  dying  man  to  a  troubleless  existence 
(T.L.  21)1.  Stoical  theories  fail  to  convince  in  face  of  G.  du  Bellay's  life 
and  death,  there  must  be  a  hereafter  since  life  is  so  incomplete.  Therefore 

La  peincture  estoit  bien  autre  et  plus  intelligible.  Vous  la  pourrez  voir  en  Theleme,  a  main 
gauche,  entrans  en  la  haulte  galerie.'  Thelema  became  Rabelais'  repository  for  impossi- 
bilities, cp.  Q.L.  62. 

1  It  must  be  noted  that  both  this  passage  and  that  in  Q.L.  26-28  are  occasioned  by  the 
death  of  G.  du  Bellay,  with  which  they  are  linked.  That  actual  incident  is  reflected  in  the 
romance.  It  probably  caused  Rabelais'  visit  to  the  old  Macrobes,  that  is,  classical  philosophy. 


A.  F.  CHAPPELL  35 

Pantagruel  answers  Friar  John's  request  for  more  light  with  an  emenda- 
tion of  Plutarch  :  '  Je  croy  que  toutes  ames  intellectives  sont  exemptes 
des  cizeaux  de  Atropos.  Toutes  sont  immortelles :  anges,  demons  et 
humaines '  {Q.L.  27).  The  transparent  legend  of  Pan's  death,  culminating 
in  Pantagruel's  emotion  and  the  company's  awe,  is  a  combination  of 
Plutarch  with  a  fine  human  pity  for  the  dying  Christ  (Q.L.  28) :  and 
we  may  conclude  with  justice  that  the  old  disciple  of  Lucian  has  first 
experienced  the  emotions  his  words  inspire  before  recalling  some  similar 
passage  of  his  reading.  Where  he  adopts  passages,  it  is  because  he  is 
convinced  of  their  truth. 

From  Pliny  he  borrowed  parts1  of  the  famous  description  of  Panta- 
gruelion,  hemp  as  commonly  understood,  but  preferably  (from  its  close 
association  with  Pantagruel)  of  much  deeper  import.  His  reasons  for  the 
selection  of  Pliny  on  hemp  remain  somewhat  obscure,  but  an  examina- 
tion of  the  borrowed  portions  reveals  the  following  important  passage, 
composed  of  translation  and  additions  :  '  Mais  estainct  en  I'homme  la 
semence  generative,  qui  en  mangeroit  beaucoup  et  sou  vent.  Et,  quoy 
que  jadis  entre  les  Grecs  d'icelle  Ton  fist  certaines  especes  de  fricassees, 
tartes  et  bignetz,  lesquels  ilz  mangeoient  apres  souper  par  friandise,  et 
pour  trouver  le  vin  meilleur,  si  est  ce  qu'elle  est  de  difficile  concoction, 
offense  l'estomac,  engendre  mauvais  sang,  et  par  son  excessive  chaleur 
ferit  le  cerveau  et  remplit  la  teste  de  fascheuses  et  douloureuses  vapeurs ' 
(T.L.  49).  Pliny's  report  ('semen  ejus  extinguere  genituram  virorum 
dicitur')  becomes  a  statement  of  fact ;  this,  however,  appears  to  be  of 
infinitely  less  importance  than  the  challenged  comparison  with  chapter  31 
of  the  same  book  wherein  'Rondibilis2'  had  propounded  five  such  methods 
of  restraint.  It  cannot  be  doubted,  moreover,  that  this  comparison  points 
to  '  fervent  study '  alone  as  a  possible  hidden  meaning  of  Pantagruelion, 
and  this  explanation  will  be  found  to  unravel  the  obscure  allegory  which 
follows  (c.  51)  exceedingly  well.  Enquiry  has  produced  all  the  con- 
veniences of  civilisation  enumerated ;  it  cannot  be  destroyed  by  fire 
(a  remarkable  allusion  to  contemporary  burnings),  'le  feu  qui  tout 
devore,  tout  degaste  et  consume,  purge  et  blanchist  ce  seul  Pantagruelion 
Carpasien  Asbestin'  (c.  52);  it  would  enable  humanity  (the  author 
hopes)  to  attain  truth  to  the  consternation  of  the  gods ;  and  it  was  the 
guiding  principle  of  the  new  Pantagruel  (c.  48).  Hemp  is  as  inadequate 
an  explanation  as  it  is  doubtless  the  subject  of  Rabelais'  original.   Once 

1  Cp.  articles  by  M.  Sainean,  '  L'histoire  naturelle  dans  Eabelais  '  (Revue  du  xri*  Siecle, 
1916). 

2  That  is,  Eabelais,  whom  Francois  de  Billon  attacked  under  this  name. 

3—2 


36  Rabelais  and  the  Authority  of  the  Ancients 

more    Rabelais  is  seen  to  have   resorted  to  classical  authors  only  for 
materials  wherewith  to  furbish  forth  his  new  ideas. 

The  passage  is  not  yet  exhausted,  for  he  adds :  '  Et  m'esbahys  com- 
ment l'invention  de  tel  usaige  a  este  par  tant  de  siecles  cele  aux  antiques 
philosophes ' ;  and,  as  so  frequently  happens  with  Rabelais'  main  ideas, 
we  find  an  amplification  or  a  particularisation  of  this  suggestion  in 
Bacbuc's  speech  {Quint  Livre,  c.  48).  '  Vos  philosophes  (she  says),  qui  se 
complaignent  toutes  choses  estre  par  les  anciens  escrites,  rien  ne  leur 
estre  laisse  de  nouveau  a  inventer,  ont  tort  trop  evident.'  These  are 
the  utterances  of  a  man  who  feels  the  widest  difference  between  himself 
and  his  contemporaries,  who  realises  their  weakness  in  their  being  fast 
bound  by  tradition,  and  whose  whole  life  from  a  certain  point  urged 
upon  him  the  necessity  for  independent  activity.  He  must  have  largely 
freed  himself  from  the  shackles  of  the  past,  as  we  see  his  works  give 
evidence,  except  in  the  all-important  perplexities  of  human  destiny 
which,  after  his  independent  reflexion,  forced  him  back  upon  the  thought 
of  others.  For  the  first  time  classical  authority  is  weighed  in  the  balances 
(of  experience) and  found  wanting,  for  the  first  time  a  visionary  foresees  the 
race  advancing  by  research  ;  and  this  change,  brought  about  by  Rabelais' 
life  and  experience  between  1534  and  1546,  is  mainly  important  in  that 
the  mature  work  was  addressed  to  the  growing  bourgeois  class — hence 
probably  his  change  from  quotation  of  authority  to  unacknowledged 
borrowing  of  thoughts — to  that'  class  from  which  the  kindred  spirits,. 
Moliere  and  La  Fontaine,  were  to  spring. 

A.  F.  Chappell. 

Manchester. 


LATER  SPANISH  CONCEPTIONS  OF  ROMANTICISM. 

In  an  earlier  article1  we  discussed  some  representative  conceptions 
of  Spanish  Romanticism  held  by  leading  literary  men  in  Spain  and  by 
contributors  to  its  leading  periodicals  during  the  formative  period  of  the 
movement.  We  saw  how  gradually  one  new  constructive  element  after 
another  was  added  to  the  growing  concept,  and  how  for  the  vague  cos- 
mopolitanism of  the  Europeo  with  its  zeal  for  'conciliation'  and  for 
Schlegel's  '  vermittelnde  Kritik '  there  was  substituted  a  national  ideal, 
gaining  somewhat,  as  time  went  on,  in  clearness  and  power,  though 
partly  obscured  by  the  influence  of  French  Romanticism,  and  wholly 
ignored  by  those  uncompromising  opponents  who  identified  the  Romantic 
movement  with  '  lawlessness  in  literature.') 

One  would  naturally  expect,  with  the  establishment  of  Romanticism 
in  Spain,  to  meet  no  more  vagueness,  no  more  fundamental  misconcep- 
tions as  to  the  aims  and  ideals  of  that  school.  Opposition  to  it  there 
might  still  be,  but  both  of  the  conflicting  parties  would  be  presumed  to 
know  what  they  were  fighting  about.  Those  inimical  to  Romanticism 
might  exaggerate  their  opponents'  claims,  as  happens  in  all  controversies, 
or  misinterpret  their  ends  or  motives :  the  surprising  thing  would  be  if 
the  Romantics  themselves  were  divided  as  to  the  falsity  or  truth  of  those 
interpretations.  Nor  would  one  look  for  much  indifference :  those  who 
identified  themselves  with  Romanticism  might  be  expected  to  support 
it  whole-heartedly — to  believe  in  it — to  write  about  it — to  labour  its 
principles  and  aims  until  all  but  wilful  misunderstandings  were  cleared 
away.  The  object  of  this  article  is  to  show  that  such  a  state  of  affairs 
was  never  reached  at  all2. 

( Who  can  wonder  if  there  is  confused  and  loose  thinking  among 
present-day  writers  on  Spanish  Romanticism,  when  the  very  protagonists 
of  the  movement  were  openly  at  variance  with  each  other  over  its  prin- 
ciples, and  the  contemporary  critic  could  never  be  sure  if  his  friendly 

1  Modern  Language  Review,  Vol.  xvi,  pp.  281-296. 

2  In  both  this  and  the  earlier  article  I  have  endeavoured  to  select  as  representative 
quotations  as  possible  from  a  comparatively  large  number  which  I  have  gathered  from 
different  sources.  I  hope  in  the  future,  after  treating  more  fully  the  general  literary  ideas 
of  this  period,  to  contrast  the  real  nature  of  Eomanticism  in  Spain,  as  judged  by  the  works 
it  produced,  with  what  its  various  contemporary  critics  supposed  it  to  be.  As  this  will 
involve  preceding  articles  also  I  shall  add  to  it  a  full  bibliography  illustrating  conceptions 
and  the  nature  of  Romanticism  in  Spain. 


38  Later  Spanish  Conceptions  of  Romanticism 

and  often  flattering  articles  would  be  approved  by  more  than  a  small 
proportion  of  the  men  whose  work  they  praised  ?  Who  can  tell  when 
the  Romantic  movement  ended,  if  we  find  men  who  were  considered  as 
Romantics,  whether  five,  ten  or  twenty  years  after  its  first  appearance, 
still  advocating  the  '  vermittelnde  Kritik'  and  pointing  out  rather 
pathetically  the  virtues  of  the  other  side.  We  are  driven  to  two  con- 
clusions :|  first,  that  no  general  understanding  or  agreement  was  ever 
reached  on  the  nature  of  the  national  type  of  Romanticism — that  its 
full  possibilities  were  never  realised,  except  by  an  insignificant  minority  ; 
secondly,  that  militant,  constructive  and  self-conscious  Romanticism  in 
any  form  lived  but  for  a  few  years  in  Spain  and  never,  as  a  movement, 
really  dominated  literature  at  all.  The  freedom  which  it  had  brought 
was  accepted ;  the  patriotic  impetus  which  belonged  to  it  continued — 
for  the  rest,  men  fled  to  the  justo  medio  and  returned  to  the  '  vermit- 
telnde Kritik.'  There  were  surpassingly  great  individual  Romantics  in 
Spain,  but  there  was  no  surpassing  greatness  in  the  movement  known 
as  Spanish  Romanticism.  \ 

A  complete  justification  of  these  views  would  require  chapters  where 
we  have  only  pages,  but  the  following  notes  are  offered  as  an  indication 
of  the  path  to  be  pursued.  We  shall  begin  our  investigations  at  the 
year  of  Don  Alvaro,  when,  as  El  curioso  parlante  put  it  shortly  after- 
wards, '  la  palabra  romanticismo  pareceria  ser  la  dominante  desde  el 
Tajo  al  Danubio,  desde  el  mar  del  Norte  al  estrecho  de  Gibraltar1.'  And 
we  shall  carry  them  some  twenty  years  forward,  to  a  point  of  time  at 
which  Juan  Valera  could  say :  '  El  romanticismo,  por  lo  tanto,  no  se  ha  de 
considerar,  hoy  dia,  como  secta  militante,  si  no  como  cosa  pasada,  y  per- 
teneciente  a  la  historia2,'  and  Ger6nimo  Borao :  '  Ociosa  parece  hoy  la 
cuestkki,  no  ha  muchos  anos  debatida,  entre  los  sistemas  clasico  y 
romantico,  y  raros  son  a  la  verdad  los  escritores  que,  ni  aun  por  inci- 
dencia,  se  ocupan  ya  de  ambas  escuelas3.'  Both  these  statements  might 
probably  have  been  made  as  truly  in  the  preceding  decade,  but  even 
those  who  would  grant  the  Romantic  movement  a  longer  life  than  we 
(  are  prepared  to  do  would  allow  that  it  was  dead  by  1854.  Great 
Romantics  still  lived,  it  is  true,  but  whatever  individuality  Romanticism 
in  Spain  had  possessed  had  completely  disappeared./ 

1  'El  Eomanticismo  y  los  romanticos,'  September  1837  (in  Escenas  matritenses) . 

2  Juan  Valera,  '  Del  Eomanticismo  en  Espaiia  y  de  Espronceda,'  in  Bevista  espafwla 
de  ambos  mundos,  1854,  Vol.  n,  p.  613. 

3  Ger6nimo  Borao,  'El  Romanticismo,'  in  Uevista  espafwla  de  ambos  muridos,  1854, 
Vol.  ii,  p.  801. 


E.  ALLISON    PEERS  39 

I. 

That  all  the  elements  inherent  in  Romanticism,  together  with  certain 

specific  traits  attached  to  it  in  various  European  countries,  were  present 

when  the  Spanish  movement  matured,  will  hardly  be  disputed.    Two  or 

three  representative  periodicals  and  the  preface  to  the  Moro  expdsito 

should  make  so  much  certain.    The  writers  quoted  in  our  earlier  study 

are  sufficient  evidence  that  these  elements  were  in  1835  inextricably 

confused  and  that  no  definite  Spanish  theory  of  Romanticism  had  emerged 

from  them.    A  satirist  two  years  after  the  production  of  Don  Alvaro — 

none  other  than  Mesonero  Romanos — describes  the  state  of  popular 

opinion  thus : 

I  Que  cosa  es  romanticismo  1  les  ha  preguntado  el  publico  ;  y  los  sabios  le  han 
contestado  cada  eual.  a  su  manera.  Unos  le  han  dicho  que  era  todo  lo  ideal  y 
romanesco;  otros  por  el  contrario,  que  no  podia  ser  sino  lo  escrupulosamente 
historico  ;  cuales  han  crefdo  ver  en  el  a  la  naturaleza  en  toda  su  verdad ;  cuales  a 
la  imagination  en  toda  su  mentira ;  algunos  han  asegurado  que  s61o  era  propio 
a  describir  la  edad  media ;  otros  le  han  hallado  aplicable  tambien  a  la  moderna  ; 
aquellos  le  han  querido  hermanar  eon  la  religi6n  y  con  la  moral ;  estos  le  han  echado 
a  renir  con  ambas ;  hay  quien  pretende  dictarle  reglas ;  hay  por  ultimo  quien  sostiene 
que  su  condition  es  la  de  no  guardar  ninguna1. 

But  the  appearance  of  several  striking  dramas  since  1835  had  suggested 

that  a  clearly  Spanish  type  of  Romanticism  was  slowly  evolving:  'a 

Romanticism  entirely  our  own,  as  befits  a  nation  of  so  Romantic  a 

character.    Let  our  drama  be  as  Romantic  as  we  ourselves  are2.' 

It  is  easy  to  understand  that  so  fervent  a  champion  of  Spanish 

Romanticism  as  Ochoa  should  think  of  it  in  1835-6  as  a  revolution,  and 

that  he  should,  in  rather  a  one-sided  way,  emphasise  its  debt  to  France. 

He  has  eyes  and  ears  for  little  more  in  1836 : 

La  revolution  literaria  que  empezaba  a  formarse  cuando  sali6  a  luz  este  periddico, 
y  que  nosotros  abrazamos  con  entusiasmo  y  convicci6n,  ha  sido  ya  coronada  por  el 
mas  brillante  triunfo.  A  las  piececitas  de  Mr.  Scribe,  que  antes  reinaban  despotica- 
mente  en  nuestra  escena,  han  succedido  los  dramas  de  Victor  Hugo,  de  Casimir  de 
la  Vigne,  de  Dumas  y  muchas  producciones  de  ingenios  espaSoles  :  la  poesfa  h'rica 
national  ha  tornado  un  caracter  muy  diferente  del  que  antes  tenfa :  el  buen  gusto 
en  las  artes  ha  hecho  progresos  evidentes,  la  aficion  a  ellas  y  a  la  literatura  ha 
aumentado  de  un  modo  casi  increible3. 

We  should  expect,  too,  that  the  opponents  of  Romanticism  would 
continue  to  make  capital  out  of  its  negative  side,  as  in  fact  they  did. 
Want  of  constructive  principles  is  always  an  excellent  weak  spot  in 

1  'El  Bomanticismo  y  los  romanticos '  (September  15,  1837)  in  Escenas  matritenses. 
It  will  be  remembered  that  the  author  went  so  far  as  to  read  bis  satirical  sketch  in  the  Liceo 
de  Madrid. 

2  See  Revista  espafiola,  Aug.  27,  1835.  Eeviewof  Angelo  :  '...Un  romanticismo  espanol, 
enteramente  nuestro,  el  del  pueblo  donde  todo  lleva  el  caracter  del  romanticismo ;  romantica 
es  nuestra  bistoria,  romantico  nuestro  cielo...romanticese  tambien  nuestra  escena.' 

3  El  Artista,  Vol.  in,  p.  1.    Gf.  Vol.  n,  p.  6. 


40  Later  Spanish  Conceptions  of  Romanticism 

one's  opponent's  armour,  and,  in  most  controversies,  it  yields  to  the 

feeblest  attack.    It  is  not  surprising,  then,  to  find  Lista,  even  after  the 

highly  moral,  religious  and  monarchical  works  of  Rivas  had  appeared — 

the  Moro  expdsito,  Don  Alvaro  and  the  Romances  historicos — speaking 

thus  of  Romanticism : 

El  romanticismo  actual,  antimonarquico,  antireligioso  y  antimoral,  no  puede  ser 
la  literatura  propia  de  los  pueblos  ilustrados  por  la  luz  del  cristianismo,  inteligentes, 
civilizados...1. 

The  negativeness  of  Romanticism,  whether  French  or  Spanish,  obsesses 

him  even  more  than  its  '  horrors ' : 

El  actual  drama  frances,  llamado  vulgarmente  romantico,  pinta  el  hombre  fisio- 
ldgico  como  el  de  Atenas,  sin  someterse  a  sus  reglas2. 

He  attacks  its  love  of  freedom,  endeavouring  to  turn  it  against  its  own 

exponents : 

Se  dice  que  el  romanticismo  es  el  sistema  de  la  Ubertad  literaria.  Si  esto  es  asi, 
preciso  sera...coronar  a  Horacio  como  al  primer  proclamador  conocido  de  este  sis- 
tema con  su  celebre  quidlibet  audendi'1. 

After  which  he  returns  to  the  old  thesis  :  lo  cldsico  =  lo  bueno — an  easy 

assumption3 ! 

Para  nosotros  es  cldsico  todo  lo  que  esta  bien  escrito2....  Nosotros  designaremos 
las  composiciones  con  los  tftulos  de  buenas  o  malas,  sin  curarnos  mucho  de  si  son 
cldsicas  o  romdnticas,  j  este  es  en  nuestro  en  tender  el  mejor  partido  que  pueden 
tomar  los  hombres  de  juicio,  naturalmente  poco  aficionados  a  dejarse  alucinar  por 
palabras  ni  frases*. 

His  is  a  comfortable  doctrine  for  the  middle-aged,  if  unsatisfying  (as 
one  would  think)  to  the  youth  of  Spain :  '  Las  escuelas  denominadas 
clasicas  y  romanticas  pueden  ser  buenas  a  la  vez,  pero  nunca  los  ex- 
tremos  de  ambos5.' 

But  emphatically  one  would  not  expect  such  a  shallow  and  negative 
conception  of  Romanticism  as  Lista's  from  those  who  were  Romantics 
in  sympathy.  And  yet  we  can  find  articles  like  one  by  Alcala  Galiano 
in  the  Revista  de  Madrid  for  1838  (i,  pp.  41-55).  Alcala  Galiano  had 
indeed  fled  from  the  name  of  Romanticism  in  1834,  but  much  had 
happened  since  then ;  it  is  surprising,  at  the  least,  to  find  him  in  1838 
showing  unmistakable  signs  of  fleeing  from  the  reality. 

1  *  De  lo  que  hoy  se  llama  romanticismo,'  p.  39.  In  Volume  ii  of  Lista's  Ensutfbt 
criticos  y  literarios  (Sevilla,  1844).  This  article  was  first  published  in  La  Colmena  for  1842 
(Vol.  i,  pp.  72-5). 

2  Ibid,  p.  42. 

3  See  Modern  Language  Revieic,  art.  cit.,  xvi,  p.  294. 

4  'De  lo  que  hoy  se  llama  romanticismo,'  p.  43. 

5  Revista  espailola,  June  16,  1836,  from  a  report  of  Lista's  inaugural  lecture  to  the 
Ateneo.  Cueto  (see  Appx.  to  Memorias  de  un  Setentdn,  Madrid,  1881,  Vol.  n,  p.  232) 
declares  that  the  reactionaries  read  the  works  of  the  great  Eomantics  with  as  much  avidity 
as  any. 


E.  ALLISON  PEERS  41 

After  commenting  upon  the  confused  state  of  opinion  with  regard 
to  Romantic  drama,  he  propounds  three  questions :  (1)  Is  the  division 
made  between  Classical  and  Romantic  drama  accurate  ?  (2)  If  so,  is  the 
distinction  merely  one  of  forms  or  not  ?  (3)  What  are  the  essentials  of 
a  good  drama  ?  The  conclusions  he  comes  to  are,  briefly,  that  the  division 
is  not  accurate,  and  that,  except  in  certain  questions  of  form,  it  is  a 
distinction  without  a  difference.  In  such  matters  only  as  observance  or 
neglect  of  the  unities  can  a  line  be  clearly  drawn  between  Classical  and 
Romantic1.  It  is  not  possible  to  say  that  Romanticism  alone  draws  its 
plots  from  Spanish  history  or  from  the  Middle  Ages2 ;  still  less  is  it  a 
question  of  metre3.  Then  comes  the  astounding  conclusion  (for  with 
the  third  of  his  questions  we  are  not  here  concerned) : 

Bien  mirado,  pues,  el  romanticismo  de  hoy  consiste  en  el  quebrantamiento  de  las 
reglas  adoptadas  e  impuestas  por  el  clasicismo  frances  del  siglo  de  Luis  decimocuarto, 
y  la  epoca  a  el  siguiente4. 

Comment  is  surely  needless ;  and  if  we  remember  that  the  writer 
was  a  convert  to  Romanticism  and  an  intimate  friend  of  more  than  one 
great  Romantic,  comment  is  hardly  possible  ! 

Three  years  after  this — in  the  Peiisamiento  for  1841 — we  find 
Cayetano  Cortes  complaining  of  vague  and  loose  literary  thinking,  un- 
certainty in  literary  aspirations,  and  the  like,  so  that  '  grave  and  serious 
minds '  are  turning  to  history  and  the  literatures  of  the  past5.  It  was 
not  to  be  wondered  at :  opinions  were  as  diverse  and  as  conflicting  as 
ten  years  earlier,  when  the  greatest  Romantics  were  in  exile  and  no 
considerable  work  had  appeared  to  inaugurate  the  movement. 

Later  still,  in  1847,  Hartzenbusch  makes  a  speech  to  the  Ateneo  on 
the  state  of  contemporary  literature6.  Several  of  his  contemporaries,  he 
says,  have  treated  this  matter,  but  they  were  quite  unable  to  agree  as 
to  what  the  state  of  literature  was.  He  can  only  say  that  their  opinions 
fall  into  two  classes : 

1  Op.  cit.  p.  51:  'La  observancia  de  las  tres  unidades,  y  la  uniformidad  de  estilo,  esto 
es,  el  cuidado  de  no  mezclar  lo  serio  con  lo  festivo,  son  los  distintivos  del  drama  hoy 
llamado  clasico.  Por  abrazar  muchos  afios  y  pasar  de  un  lugar  a  otro  ;  y  por  usar  de  un 
estilo  desigual,  y  alternar  alguna  vez  escenas  jocosas  o  pedestres  con  otras  pateticas  o 
elevadas,  se  llaman  romanticas  otras  composiciones.' 

2  Ibid.:  'Dicen,  por  ejemplo,  que  drama  romantico  es  el  que  trata  de  asuntos  de  las 
edades  medias  y  de  la  historia  respectiva  de  la  naci6n  donde  esta  compuesto.' 

3  Ibid.:  'Dicen  tambien  que  la  tragedia  romantica  debe  estar  escrita  en  prosa  o  verso 
libre,  y  la  clasica  en  metro  mas  artificioso,  contra  lo  cual  sirve  de  argumento  que  en  prosa 
compuso  Perez  de  Oliva  sus  dramas  clasicos  ;  y  que  en  versos  de  mucho  artificio,  y  por  lo 
general  aconsonantados  o  asonantados,  estan  escritas  todas  nuestras  comedias  antiguas.' 

4  Ibid.  p.  51. 

5  The  passage  is  quoted  in  Le  Gentil,  Les  Revues  litteraires  de  VEspagne,  p.  116. 

6  '  Sobre  el  caracter  de  la  literatura  contemporanea,'  in  Sinlo  Pintoresco,  1847,  Vol.  in, 
pp.  149-152. 


42  Later  Spanish  Conceptions  of  Romanticism 

De  estas  dos  opiniones  la  una  es  negativa ;  afirmativa  la  otra :  por  la  una  so 
establece  que  la  literatura  conternporanea  carece  de  caracter  propio  o  tiene  por  dis- 
tintivo  la  confusion  y  la  anarqufa  ;  por  la  otra,  se  le  atribuye  un  caracter  formado 
ya,  o  por  lo  menos  en  camino  para  formarse. 

And  what  does  he  say  of  Romanticism  ?  we  may  ask.    The  reply  is  that 

he  says  nothing  at  all ! 

Another  prominent  critic,  though  still  a  young  man — Juan  Valera — 

held  tenaciously  to  the  idea  of  Romanticism  as  '  una  feliz  revolucion 

literaria '  and  very  little  more.    The  essence  of  the  movement,  he  writes, 

twenty  years  after  its  first  successes,  is  its  opposition  to  French  precep- 

tists  and  pseudo-classicism1.    Upon  this  he  insists  with  great  vigour,  and 

passing  on  to  consider  extraneous  phenomena  which  have  been  called 

'  Romantic '  he  disposes  of  most  of  them  (of  some  very  properly)  as 

unessential  additions,  mainly  from  abroad.  '  Our  Romanticism,'  he  says 

in  effect,  'came  to  us  from  France,  and  we  added  so  much  to  it  from 

various  sources  that  Germany,  whence  it  first  sprang,  would  not  have 

known  the  product ' : 

Nosotros...como  los  franceses,  aiiadimos  a  estos  elementos  del  romanticismo,  no 
s61o  cuanto  nos  parecio  romantico  en  nuestro  propio  pais,  que  no  fue  poco,  sino  otro 
romanticismo  venido  de  un  pais  diferente,  y  que  por  si  solo  imprimio  un  caracter 
singular  a  la  nueva  literatura.  Hablo  de  las  obras  de  lord  Byron... y  de  las  de 
Walter  Scott...2. 

As  soon  as  Valera  touches  the  question  of  form  we  feel  that  he  is 
tending  to  exaggerate  the  negative  side  of  Romanticism  once  more 3.  It 
is,  however,  near  the  truth  to  say  that  the  Spanish  Romantics  paid  little 
attention  to  form,  nor  have  we  any  quarrel  with  Valera's  remarks  on  the 
melancholy,  the  Satanism  and  the  rehabilitation  of  Christianity  in 
literature  which  he  thinks  of  as  non-essential  to  Romanticism.  More 
disputable,  perhaps,  though  not  of  course  peculiar  to  himself,  is  his  de- 
scription of  the  '  idealisation  of  the  criminal '  as  a  Romantic  trait :  his 
argument  is  full  of  exceptions4  and  somewhat  crudely  put.  But  the 
fundamental  misfortune  of  the  article  is  its  limited  outlook :  misunder- 

1  In  Revista  espafwla  de  ambos  mundos,  1854,  Vol.  n,  pp.  610-630:  'El  romanticismo 
ha  sido  una  revolucion,  y  solo  los  efectos  de  ella  podfan  ser  estables.  Entre  nosotros  vino 
a  libertar  a  los  poetas  del  yugo  ridiculo  de  los  preceptistas  franceses,  y  a  separarlos  de  la 
imitaci6n  superficial  y  mal  entendida  de  los  clasicos ;  y  lo  consiguio.  Las  demas  ideas  y 
principios  del  romanticismo  fueron  exageraciones  revolucionarias,  que  pasaron  con  la  re- 
voluci6n ;  y  de  las  cuales,  aun  durante  la  revolucion  misma,  se  salvaron  los  hombres  de 
buen  gusto.'   (p.  613.) 

2  Ibid.  p.  614. 

3  '  En  cuanto  a  la  forma,  los  romanticos  la  desatendfan,  presumiendo  de  espiritualistas, 
y  poniendo  la  belleza  en  lo  sustancial  y  recondite  El  poeta  no  escribia  ni  debfa  escribir 
por  arte,  sino  por  inspiraci6n ;  su  existencia  debfa  tener  algo  de  excepcional  y  de  extrava- 
gante ;  hasta  en  el  vestido  se  debfa  dif erenciar  el  poeta  de  los  demas  hombres  ;  y  el  universo 
Mundo  le  debfa  considerar  como  un  ap6stol,  con  mision  especial  que  cumplir  en  la  tierra.' 

4  He  has  to  admit  that  the  same  thing  occurs  frequently  in  Classical  drama,  cites 
examples,  and  endeavours  to  distinguish  them  as  a  class  from  those  of  Eomantic  drama. 


E.  ALLISON  PEERS  43 

standing  the  true  nature  of  Spanish  Romanticism,  Valera  places  a  false 
emphasis  upon  its  revolutionary  side,  and  throws  his  picture  into 
confusion. 

To  illustrate  the  diversity  of  opinion  regarding  Romanticism,  as  late 
as  1854,  we  may  quote  from  a  striking  article  by  Gerdnimo  Borao  in 
the  same  review  and  the  same  volume.  It  might,  indeed,  have  been 
called  forth  by  Valera's  exposition,  for  it  represents  as  nearly  as  possible 
the  complement  of  it :  Valera's  and  Borao's  conceptions  of  Romanticism, 
if  combined,  form  a  full  and  a  not  unworthy  one. 

Beginning,  like  so  many  others,  with  a  comment  upon  the  need  for 
a  study  of  Romanticism1,  Borao  devotes  the  greater  part  of  his  space  to 
analysing  it  as  it  had  appeared  in  Spain.  He  first  clears  away  miscon- 
ceptions by  demonstrating  the  '  futility  of  the  charges  made  against 
Romanticism '  and  the  '  chapter  of  crimes  for  which  it  has  been  excom- 
municated.' Some  of  these  charges  are  merely  rhetorical  efforts :  {  sofis- 
teria  de  la  argumentacion,'  and  '  tendencia  depresiva  contra  los  principes 
y  sacerdotes,'  for  example,  speak  for  themselves,  f  The  others,  namely, 
non-observance  of  the  unities,  mingling  of  the  sublime  with  the  mean 
or  grotesque  and  of  prose  with  verse,  the  idealisation  of  vice,  violence  in 
characterisation  and  plot,  and  familiarity  of  style,  describe,  sometimes 
well,  sometimes  badly,  reforms  or  the  exaggeration  of  reforms  which 
Romantics  of  every  country  found  it  more  or  less  necessary,  as  the  case 
might  be,  to  advocate.  This  is  the  less  important  part,  however,  of  the 
article. 

'We  may  wish  that  what  follows  had  been  written  by  a  Spaniard  of 
influence  twenty  years  earlier.  For  Borao  goes  on  to  establish  three 
principles  of  Spanish  Romanticism,  in  refutation  of  Lista  and  others 
who  would  make  it  merely  destructive.  It  is  enough  to  say  that  these 
principles,  which  he  expounds  at  length,  are  Nationality,  Christianity 
and  Liberty.  How  far  are  we  here  from  Lista  and  even  from  Valera ! 
Romanticism  is  no  more  essentially  an  imitation  than  it  is  essentially  a 
revolt2.  It  is  a  national  literary  '  system  ' ;  it  is  even  a  '  necessity.'  And 
yet  there  are  those  who  can  call  it  a  •  coleccion  de  todos  los  extravios  y 
libertades  de  cerebros  calenturientos  y  de  escritores  disolventes  '  !   The 

1  Revuta  espanola  de  ambos  mundos,  1854,  Vol.  n,  pp.  801-842:  'Hay...pocas  cosas 
menos  a  fondo  examinadas  que  el  romanticismo  literario,  en  cuyo  examen  detenido  vamos 
a  empenarnos  '  (p.  801). 

2  Op.  cit.  p.  832  :  'Hemos  dicho  que  el  romanticismo  es  por  una  parte  la  nacionalidad, 
y  todos  saben  en  efecto,  que  solo  se  llama  clasica  la  obra  dramatica  que  imita  a  la  anti- 
giiedad,  o  mejor,  a  los  remedos  de  ella.  Hemos  dicho  tambien  que  el  romanticismo  no  era 
una  invenci6n,  tal  cual  nosotros  le  concebimos,  sino  una  reproducci6n  del  becho  verificado 
en  siglos  de  oro  modernos  en  donde  la  lucha  actual  era  todavia  mas  sensible  que  hoy  entre 
la  poesfa  popular  y  la  erudita.' 


44  Later  Spanish  Conceptions  of  Romanticism 

fact  is — he  concludes,  as  he  began — Romanticism  has  never  been  under- 
stood1. 

II. 

Yet,  however  many  and  diverse  opinions  there  might  be  in  Spain, 
three  men,  above  all  others,  might  be  expected  to  have  held  worthy 
conceptions  of  that  national  type  of  Romanticism  which  the  Revista 
espanola  had  looked  for  in  1835 ;  they,  if  any,  should  have  championed 
their  conceptions,  and,  by  precept  as  well  as  by  example,  commended 
them  to  the  Spanish  people.  For  all  three — Rivas,  Espronceda  and 
Zorrilla — were  thorough-going  Romantics,  by  whatever  criterion  Roman- 
ticism may  be  judged :  in  their  actual  works  we  undoubtedly  have  a 
wider  and  a  more  generous  ideal  than  any  which  we  have  yet  found  in 
the  theory  of  any  one  writer.  If,  then,  we  find  that  they  made  any  con- 
tributions to  an  understanding  of  the  subject,  we  must  at  once  follow 
them  up,  and  ask  why  they  proved  ineffective. 

In  point  of  fact,  they  made  none.  Espronceda  was  an  individualist 
through  and  through.  Brought  up  in  the  school  of  Lista  and  Hermosilla, 
it  was  natural  that,  when  he  reacted  against  it,  the  reaction  should  be  a 
strong  one,  as  it  was.  But  his  work  was  profoundly  personal :  he  had  no 
idea  of  solidarity,  nor  of  a  constructive  Romantic  movement.  And  this 
though  he  lived  in  the  Paris  of  1830,  and,  returning  to  Spain,  joined  the 
Parnasillo  in  which  met  nearly  all  the  great  Romantics  of  a  later  day. 
Perhaps  Mesonero  Romanos'  sketch  of  him  throws  some  light  upon  his 
attitude2:  he  could  launch  epigrams,  but  he  could  not  lay  down 
principles;  he  could  satirise3  but  not  generalise;  he  could  declaim 
against  a  school  but  he  could  not  found  one. 

Zorrilla  was  born  into  Romanticism,  or,  at  the  least,  grew  up  into  it. 

Coming  to  manhood  just  as  the  movement  of  1835  was  winning  success, 

he  might  well  have  stabilised  it,  set  it  on  a  broader  basis,  and  given  it 

reality.    He  himself  realised  the  significance  to  letters  of  the  date  of  his 

birth  : 

Yo  era  el  primero  y  debil  eslabon  de  la  nueva  epoca  literaria,  el  atropellador 
desaforado  de  la  tradition  y  de  las  reglas  clasicas,  el  fuego  fatuo,  leve  e  inquieto, 
personification  de  la  escuela  del  romanticismo  revolucionario4. 

But  how  disappointing  is  the  way  in  which  he  speaks  of  the  time  when 
he  began  his  career  : 

1  Op.  cit.  p.  841. 

2  Memorias  de  tin  Setenton,  n,  p.  59 :  '  Alii  Espronceda,  con  su  entonada  y  un  tanto 
pedantesca  actitud,  lanzando  epigramas  contra  todo  lo  existente,  lo  pasado  y  lo  futuro.' 

:i  Cf.  '  El  Pastor  clasiquino  '  in  El  Artixta,  Vol.  i,  p.  251. 
4  Recuerdos  del  tiempo  viejo  (Barcelona,  1880),  Vol.  i,  p.  226. 


E.  ALLISON   PEERS  45 

Comence  yo  el  primer  ano  de  mi  carrera  dramatica,  con  asombro  de  la  critica, 
atropello  del  buen  gusto  y  comienzo  de  la  descabellada  escuela  de  los  espectros  y 
asesinatos  historicos,  bautizados  con  el  nombre  de  dramas  romanticos1. 

His  early  love  for  the  great  Romantics2,  his  admiration  of  Espronceda 3, 
his  friendship  with  the  Duque  de  Rivas4 — all  were  powerless  to  make 
him  a  Romantic  by  conviction,  as  he  was  undoubtedly  one  by  tempera- 
ment and  by  the  accident  of  the  age  in  which  he  lived.  One  phrase  in 
which  he  speaks  of  Espronceda  illuminates  the  whole  attitude  of  both 
poets.    Espronceda,  according  to  Zorrilla,  is  : 

lanzado,  Luzbel-poeta,  en  el  infierno  insondable  y  nuevamente  abierto  del  roman- 
ticismo5. 

No :  in  this  Romantic  we  shall  find  no  constructive  Romanticism.  He 
welcomes  the  movement  as  a  liberating  force :  it  is  'necessary'  and  'spon- 
taneous ' ;  its  success  makes  a  reaction  in  favour  of  classicism,  with  its 
unwanted  mythological  deities,  impossible6.  But  once  that  revolution  is 
accomplished,  Zorrilla  wants  nothing  further  with  'Romanticism.'  It 
would  not  do  to  press  him  too  closely  as  to  the  force  of  his  adjective 
wThen  he  attributes  his  fame  to  the  'romantic  inspiration  of  Toledo7.' 
He  has  two  ('  romantic ')  principles  and  only  two :  we  are  never  in 
danger  of  forgetting  them  : 

Cristiano  y  espaiiol,  con  fe  y  sin  miedo 
Canto  mi  religi6n,  mi  patria  canto8. 

By  these  lines,  he  says  proudly  near  the  end  of  his  life,  he  has  always 
been  guided9. 

And  what  of  Rivas,  the  protagonist  of  Romanticism  in  Spain  ? 
We  have  seen  how  the  writer  of  the  preface  to  his  Moro  exposito 
developed:  the  author  of  the  poem  itself  takes  an  almost  equally 
reactionary  position.  First,  he  re-enters  politics,  and  literature  becomes 
for  him  mainly  a  diversion :  he  is  primarily  the  popular  ambassador  at 
Naples,  or  the  genial  Sevillan,  or  the  famous  peer  of  the  realm.  His 
pronouncements  on  Romanticism  are  few  and  disappointing :  he  never 

1  Ibid,  i,  p.  59.  2  Cf.  ibid,  i,  p.  19. 

3  Ibid,  i,  pp.  46  ff. :  '  Yo  creia,'  he  says,  '  yo  idolatraba  en  Espronceda.' 

4  Ibid,  i,  pp.  127  ff.  5  Ibid,  i,  48. 

6  Ibid,  ii,  33:  '  Asi  sucedio  con  nuestra  fogosa  y  desatalentada,  pero  necesaria  y  espon- 
tanea,  revolucion  romantica....  La  reaccion  clasica  no  pudo  cuajar  ;  el  romanticismo  habia 
echado  de  nuestra  poesfa  popular  a  las  divinidades  mitologicas....' 

7  Ibid,  x,  51;  '  Yo  debia  mi  fama  a  mis  inspiraciones  romanticas  de  Toledo.' 

8  Granada. 

9  Recuerdos,  n,  187-8  :  '  Porque  yo  ;  vive  Dios  !  he  vivido  once  afios  en  America  como 
espaiiol  y  como  cristiano,  fiel  al  lema  con  que  encabece  mi  poema  de  Granada... y  en  el 
estrecho  circulo  de  poeta,  en  el  cual  me  he  constituido  por  mi  propia  voluntad  y  por  cou- 
ciencia  de  no  servir  para  mas,  he  cumplido  con  mi  deber  y  he  cantado  a  mi  patria  y  a  mi 
religi6n,  hasta  que  he  perdido  la  voz  y  la  fuerza,  pero  sin  perder  la  fe ;  porque  yo  soy 
cristiano  a  pies  juntillos  y  espaiiol  a  macha  martillo.' 


46  Later  Spanish  Conceptions  of  Romanticism 

advanced  beyond  the  position  of  Alcala  Galiano's  preface.  His  later 
works  show  clearly  his  own  inclinations  for  narrative  poetry.  In  the 
Romances  historicos  and  Leyendas  he  follows  those  two  principles  which 
were  also  Zorrilla's.  In  his  later  dramas  he  goes  back  more  or  less  com- 
pletely upon  the  Romanticism  of  Don  Alvaro :  in  reading  them  we  can 
understand  why  he  left  the  arena  in  1835.  His  true  Romanticism  is 
that  of  the  Romances  historicos. 

Such  were  the  poets  who  might  have  been  leaders  of  a  national 
Romantic  movement.  Would  Larra,  we  may  wonder,  have  done  their 
work,  had  he  lived  ? 

III. 

With  the  greatest  writers  evincing  such  lukewarmness  or  unconcern 

for  the  fortunes  of  Romanticism  as  a  school  in  Spain  it  was  only  to  be 

expected  that  the  lesser  men  would  follow  suit.   Just  as  they  have  no 

clear  conception  of  what  Romanticism  is,  so  they  have  no  enthusiasm 

for  whatever  they  conceive  it  to  be.    There  is  still  a  party,  no  doubt, 

holding  doctrines : 

Do  toda  regla  es  traba  ignominiosa, 
Que  la  pedanterfa  al  genio  impuso. 

El  romancesco  es  por  esencia  triste, 
El  horror  es  el  mote  de  su  secta  ; 
Horror  es  a  sus  ojos  cuanto  existe. 

The  well-known  writer  who  gives  us  this  testimony  in  1847  implies  that 

there  were  still  those  (discredited,  but  persevering)  who  were  faithful  to 

eighteenth-century  traditions  and  regarded  the   Moro  expdsito,  with 

horror,  as  '  romantic '  : 

Si  a  las  maximas  clasicas  te  rindes 
Y  te  convida  un  clasico  a  su  mesa, 
No  por  el  Moro  de  Savedra  (sic)  brindes1. 

But  all  respectable  writers,  it  would  seem,  now  follow  the  custom  (set, 

after  all,  by  the  Moro  expdsito  itself)  of  disclaiming  connection  with 

either  party.    Mora,  in  the  preface  to  his  Leyendas  espanolas  (1840) 

combines  respectability  with  self-esteem  when  he  says  : 

En  una  palabra,  no  desea  [el  autor]  que  las  Leyendas  sean  juzgadas  como  clasicas, 
ni  como  romanticas,  sino  como  suyas*. 

But  did  all /the  minor  Romantics  acquiesce  in  this  convention  ?  Let 
us  hear  a  few.  /Here,  for  example,  is  Enrique  Gil  y  Carrasco,  undoubtedly 
a  Romantic  in  practice,  an  ardent  admirer  of  Espronceda,  whom  he  fol- 
lowed so  soon  to  the  grave,  a  reader  of  the  great  Romantics  of  England, 

1  J.  J.  de  Mora :  '  Mis  opiniones,'  in  Revista  de  Espafia,  Vol.  xi  (1847). 
-  Op.  cit.  p.  xiv. 


E.  ALLISON  PEERS  47 

Germany  and  France,  a  student  and  perhaps  an  imitator  of  Sir  Walter 

Scott.    Yet  Gil,  as  early  as  1839,  when  reviewing  Zorrilla's  poetry  for  El 

Semanario  pintoresco1,  and  writing  of  '  Classicism  and  Romanticism,' 

could  go  back  quite  complacently  to  the  old  Europeo  doctrine  of  '  some 

of  each2.'    Four  years  after  Bon  Alvaro,  a  man  whose  sympathies  were 

entirely  with  the   Romantics,   could  call  Sophocles  and  Shakespeare, 

Calder6n  and  Moliere,  Byron  and  Cervantes,  'brothers3,'  and  write  of  the 

opposing  schools  thus : 

Y  si  variamos  de  epoca  anadiremos  que  aceptamos  el  clasicismo  por  entero  entre 
nosotros  durante  todo  el  siglo  xvin,  como  una  idea  poderosa  de  orden  y  de  disciplina, 
unica  capaz  de  corregir  la  anarqufa  y  confusion  que  se  introdujo  en  la  literatura 
hacia  la  postrera  mitad  del  siglo  xvn ;  y  que  aceptamos  el  romanticismo  aun  con 
aus  extravios  a  principios  del  siglo  presente,  como  unico  medio  de  emancipar  el  genio 
de  las  injustas  cadenas  de  los  reglistas3. 

A  '  reconciling  criticism,'  indeed,  and  perhaps  a  salutary  one.    But  how 

far  removed  is  this  Romantic  from  the  Romantics  of  France,  Germany 

or  England  ! 

Another  contribution  to  the  '  moderate '  side  is  made  by  Gil  y  Zarate 
in  the  Revista  de  Madrid  ('Teatro  antiguo  y  teatro  moderno,'  1839). 
Here  he  scouts  the  idea  of  a  return  to  classicism,  but  is  equally  sure 
that  the  '  revolution '  of  the  past  few  years  has  no  longer  the  confidence 
or  the  support  of  reasonable  men.  The  same  views  he  expresses  in  later 
articles,  notably  in  his  inaugural  speech  to  the  Academy  '  Sobre  la  poesia 
dramatica4.'  He  wishes  to  see  a  new  genero  in  drama  which  shall  com- 
bine the  best  qualities  of  the  drama  of  many  nations — his  own  included — 
and  thus  be  truly  eclectic,  both  cosmopolitan  and  patriotic. 

It  might  have  been  supposed  that  Hartzenbusch,  after  the  success 
of  his  greatest  play,  in  1837,  and  the  ultra-Romantic  qualities  of  certain 
others,  would  have  been  an  enthusiastic  apologist  and  exponent  of 
Romanticism.  Yet  we  find  him,  commending  it  not  at  all,  but  adopting 
a  tone  of  half-hearted  acquiescence  which  indicates  that  if  the  movement 
is  not  doomed  he  certainly  thinks  it  to  be5.    In  discussing  the  Unities6, 

1  The  article  is  reproduced  in  volume  n  of  Gil's  works,  ed.  1883. 

2  '  Asf  que,  nosotros  aceptamos  del  clasicismo  el  criterio  de  la  16gica  ;  no  de  la  16gica  de 
las  reglas,  insuficiente  y  mezquina  para  las  necesidades  morales  de  la  epoca  ;  sino  la  logica 
del  sentimiento,  la  verdad  de  la  inspiration ;  y  del  romanticismo  aceptamos  todo  el  vuelo 
de  esta  inspiraci6n,  toda  la  llama  y  el  calor  de  las  pasiones.' 

3  Op.  cit.  pp.  39-40. 

4  Revista  de  Madrid,  1839,  Vol.  in,  pp.  147-157.  Here  he  speaks  most  disrespectfully 
of  '  La  revoluci6n  que  ha  acontecido  liltimamente  en  esta  clase  de  literatura,  y  que  espan- 
tada  ya  el  aspecto  de  su  inmoralidad  y  funestas  consecuencias,  va  cediendo  en  fuerza  de 
una  reaction  provechosa.'  5  El  Panorama,  1839,  Vol.  i,  p.  230. 

6  The  revival  of  interest  in  the  two  discredited  unities  of  time  and  place,  as  well  as 
the  general  acceptance  of  the  unity  of  action,  and  the  animated  discussions  on  all  three 
from  1838  onwards,  are  most  significant  indications  of  the  impotence  of  Romanticism  in 
Spanish  drama  at  that  time. 


48  Later  Spanish  Conceptions  of  Romanticism 

though  he  ventures  mildly  to  say  a  word  for  the  French  Romantics,  his 
conclusions  are  distinctly  in  favour  of  the  Rules,  and  his  language  sug- 
gests that  the  tide  of  opinion  in  Spain  has  turned  against  Romantic 
drama.  In  1845  the  Revista  de  Espana  prints  a  speech  delivered  by 
Hartzenbusch  in  the  Ateneo  on  the  relative  merits  of  Classical  (Greek) 
and  mediaeval  types  in  modern  literature1.  The  judgment  which  he 
gives  upon  the  two  is  the  familiar  one  of  the  '  moderate '  man :  each 
has  certain  advantages  over  the  other.  In  1847,  as  we  have  seen,  he 
writes  on  the  state  of  contemporary  literature  without  mentioning 
Romanticism  as  such  at  all.  The  period  for  him  is  one  of  conflicting 
ideas;  the  only  clear  fact  which  emerges  is  that  a  great  change  has 
come  over  Spanish  literature  since  1800. 

Another  Romantic,  in  fact,  has  deserted,  and  when  we  find  Hartzen- 
busch playfully  counselling  a  Romantically-minded  lady  to  leave  sighing 
for  sewing2,  he  seems  to  be  speaking  from  the  opposing  camp. 

After  these  examples  of  eclecticism,  it  is  no  surprise  to  find  Donoso 
Cortes,  whose  liberalism  in  literature  was  even  less  pronounced  than  in 
politics,  following  the  same  line  of  thought.  Yet  he  was,  after  all,  some- 
thing of  a  progressive  in  both.  In  1838,  a  young  man  of  less  than  thirty, 
he  is  searching  for  an  eclectic  solution  to  the  differences  between  the 
two  schools.  In  the  Gorreo  national3  he  analyses  the  respective  virtues 
of  classicism  and  Romanticism,  and  the  opinions  which  the  one  school 
had  of  the  other.  He  spends  much  unnecessary  space  in  showing,  in  his 
serious  way,  that  neither  can  contain  'absolute'  error,  which  is  'absolutely 
an  impossibility,'  nor  for  that  matter  '  absolute  truth.'  Each,  however, 
contains  much  truth ;  each  school  must  be  studied  in  the  period  of  its 
greatest  glory  to  be  understood,  and  in  its  social,  political  and  philo- 
sophical bearings.  Two  summary  quotations  will  show  the  attitude  of 
Donoso  Cortes  when  Spanish  Romanticism  was  achieving  its  greatest 
triumphs : 

Se  deducen  las  consecueneias  siguientes :  la.  Que  si  por  clasicismo  se  quiere 
significar  la  poesfa  de  las  sociedades  antiguas,  y  por  romanticismo  la  de  las  sociedades 
modernas,  el  clasicismo  y  el  romanticismo  son  dos  escuelas  legitimas,  porque  estan 
fundadas  en  hechos  historicos  irrecusables :  2a.  Que  esas  dos  escuelas  se  diferencian 
profundamente  entre  si,  como  quiera  que  el  clasicismo  se  distingue  por  la  perfeccion 
de  las  formas,  y  el  romanticismo  por  la  profundidad  de  las  ideas ;  el  clasicismo  por 
la  riqueza  de  las  imagenes;  el  romanticismo  por  la  elevacidn  de  los  sentimientos. 
De  donde  se  sigue,  que  los  clasicos  y  los  romanticos,  cuando  se  niegan  mutuamente 

1  '  £  Son  preferibles  en  el  estaclo  actual  de  la  literatura  y  de  las  artes  los  tipos  de  la  edad 
media  a  los  del  gusto  clasico  griego?'  {Revista  de  Espana,  Vol.  xi,  1845,  cit.  Le  Gentil, 
p.  125). 

2  Sonnet  '  A  una  romantica  '  in  Poeslas,  p.  379. 

3  Eeprinted  in  Obras,  ed.  1854  (Vol.  n,  pp.  5-41). 


E.  ALLISON   PEERS  '      49 

el  derecho  de  ciudadania  en  la  republica  literaria,  se  insurreccionan  contra  la  razdn 
y  se  sublevan  contra  la  historia. 

#  *  *  *  * 
...Si  por  clasicismo  se  entiende  la  imitacion  exclusiva  de  los  poetas  antiguos,  y 
por  romanticismo  la  emancipacion  completa  de  las  leyes  artisticas  que  los  antiguos 
encontraron,  el  romanticismo  y  el  clasicismo  son  dos  escuelas  absurdas.  Pero  si  el 
clasicismo  aconseja  el  estudio  de  las  formas  en  los  poetas  antiguos,  y  el  romanticismo- 
aconseja  el  estudio  de  las  ideas  y  de  los  sentimientos  en  los  poetas  modernos,  el 
clasicismo  y  el  romanticismo,  son  dos  escuelas  razonables. 

So,  concludes  Donoso  Cortes, — three  years  after  Ochoa  had  pro- 
claimed with  a  shout  the  triumph  of  Romanticism, — let  us  be  classics 
and  romantics  at  once  :  '  Entonces  la  perfection  consi$te  en  ser  cldsico  yj 
romdntico  a  un  mismo  tiempo.' 

These  quotations  show  us  the  direction  which  literary  thought  had 
begun  to  take  even  before  1840.    The  so-called  Romantic  revolution  was 
hardly  more  than  a  flash  in  the  pan :  even  Romanticism  in  its  wider 
sense  burnt  fitfully  and  unsurely  for  reasons  some  of  which  we  have  seen. 
The  first  effects  of  Don  Alvaro  had  hardly  passed  away  when  eclecticism— 
in  literature  came  into  renewed  favour,  strongly  coloured  by  patriotism1. ' 
Nowhere  is  its  popularity  better  seen  than  in  that  important  review, 
El  Semanario  pintoresco  (1836-1857),   as  M.  Le  Gentil   has  already 
admirably  demonstrated2.    '  We  are  neither  romantics  in  the  classical    i 
sense,  nor  classicists  in  the  romantic  sense/  begins  one  of  its  typical 
articles  in  1837.  '  Let  us,  then,  avoid  further  disputes3.'    The  Liceo  artis- 
tico,  in  the  next  year,  lays  down  its  position  thus : 

No  sera  el  Liceo,.. cldsico  ni  romdntico  en  el  sentido  comuu  de  estas  palabras; 
pero  no  combatira  tampoco  al  clasicismo,  porque  respeta  las  obras  de  Sobs,  de 
.Racine,  del  Tasso  y  de  Milton  ;  ni  al  romanticismo,  porque  no  desprecia  a  Calderon, 
a  Shakespeare,  a  Byron,  ni  al  Ariosto4. 

The  moderately-inclined  Revista  de  Madrid,  in  which  Gil  y  Zarate  had 
written  in  so  conciliatory  a  tone,  is  full  of  similar  articles.  We  find 
Lopez  Pelegrin,  for  instance,  extolling  the  justo  medio,  condemning  both 
the  excesses  of  the  one  school  and  the  tyranny  of  the  other5.  Lista8 
and  Gallego  expound  their  familiar  views  freely ;  Martinez  de  la  Rosa 
discusses  in  academic  fashion  '  the  influence  of  the  spirit  of  the  age  on 

1  See,  among  other  periodicals,  Revista  de  Espaiia,  Vol.  n,  passim,  and  El  Pensamiento, 
which  started  life  as  a  Romantic  journal  in  May  1841,  and  came  to  an  end  in  the  following 
October. 

2  Op.  cit.  pp.  57-60. 

3  Critique  of  Barbara  Blomberg,  p.  387,  1837. 

4  Liceo  artistico  y  literario  espafwl,  Vol.  n,  p.  5. 

5  Vol.  m,  1840 :  '  Entre  el  desbordamiento  de  esta  escuela  (sc.  romantica)  y  la  rigida 
tirantez  de  Moratin  hay  un  medio  que  consiste  en  dar  amplia  libertad  al  genio,  etc. ' 

6  '  De  la  moderna  escuela  sevillana  de  literatura'  (1838,  Vol.  i,  p.  251). 

M.L.R.XVIII.  4 


50  Later  Spanish  Conceptions  of  Romanticism 

literature ' ;  no  one  comes  forward  to  defend  the  theories  of  the  out-and- 
out  Romantics,  though  the  works  of  such  are  occasionally  printed  or 
praised. 

To  discuss  in  detail  the  general  literary  theories  of  these  years  is 
beyond  the  scope  of  an  article  which  is  concerned  only  with  their  con- 
ceptions of  Romanticism.  Enough  has  probably  been  said  to  show  that 
by  a  date  not  far  from  1840  few  writers  troubled  about  conceptions  of 
Romanticism  at  all.  Literature  had  changed  very  greatly  since  1800; 
certain  influences  were  clearly  perceived ;  new  forces  were  at  work  and 
classicism  no  longer  held  sway.  But  Romanticism  was  a  name.  It  had 
come,  had  done  its  work,  and — as  an  entity — with  meaning  and  principle 
— had  gone. 

In  a  future  article  I  shall  endeavour  to  describe  the  literary  ideas 
which  exercised  the  Spanish  mind  after  the  nature  and  merits  of  Roman- 
ticism had  ceased  to  occupy  it. 

E.  Allison  Peers. 
Liverpool. 


GOETHE'S  LYRIC  POEMS  IN  ENGLISH 
TRANSLATION. 

The  two  most  notable  contributions  within  recent  years  to  the  study 
of  Goethe's  influence  on  English  thought  and  literature  have  come  from 
America  and  France1.  Unfortunately  their  authors  have  both  been 
labouring  under  considerable  disadvantages.  Miss  Simmons,  unable  to 
visit  the  great  libraries  of  this  country,  had  to  rely,  in  a  large  measure, 
on  the  help  of  correspondents  for  the  collection  of  the  necessary  biblio- 
graphical material.  Professor  Carre  had  his  work  interrupted  by  the  war, 
and  on  resuming  found  it  often  difficult  to  verify  such  notes  as  he  had 
made  during  a  visit  to  England,  and  in  some  cases  even  to  recall  their 
exact  meaning  or  bearing. 

Under  these  circumstances  it  is  only  natural  that  the  bibliographical 
data  given  in  these  publications  should  be  incomplete  and  not  always 
accurate.  It  is  the  object  of  this  article  to  supplement  and,  where  neces- 
sary, to  correct  the  writers'  information,  so  far  as  the  English  translations 
of  Goethe's  lyric  poems  prior  to  1860  are  concerned2. 

On  pp.  91  to  103  of  her  thesis  Miss  Simmons  gives  a  'list  of  an- 
thologies and  other  books  containing  translations  from  Goethe,'  in 
chronological  order.  She  has  numbered  them  consecutively  from  1  to  82, 
marking  sixteen  of  them  with  an  asterisk  to  indicate  that  she  has  not 
been  able  to  examine  and  verify  them.  Two  of  them  (*1  and  *75)  do 
not  exist,  as  will  be  shown  later.  Two  others  (*51  and  *69)  are  American 
publications  which  I  have  not  seen, — they  should  be  easily  procurable  in 
the  United  States.  Six  (*7,  *17,  *21,  *56,  *70,  *74)  do  not  contain  any 
translations  from  Goethe.  Of  the  remaining  six  I  can  give  the  following 
particulars  from  copies  in  my  possession. 

*5.  The  German  Museum,  or  Monthly  Repository  of  the  Literature  of 
Germany,  the  North  and  the  Continent  in  general.  3  vols.  Jan.  to  June 
1800,  July  to  Dec.  1800,  Jan.  to  June  1801.   London:  C.  Geisweiler. 

1  Lucretia  van  Tuyl  Simmons,  Goethe's  Lyric  Poems  in  English  Translation  Prior  to 
1860  (University  of  Wisconsin  Studies  in  Language  and  Literature,  No.  6),  Madison,  1919. 
Jean  Marie  Carre,  Goethe  en  Angleterre:  Etude  de  litterature  comparee.  Bibliographie  de 
Goethe  en  Angleterre.   Paris,  Plon-Nourrit,  1920. 

2  The  Werther  portion  of  Professor  Carre's  bibliography  has  been  reviewed  and  largely 
added  to  by  Mr  Arthur  E.  Turner,  Modern  Language  Review,  xvi,  pp.  364-370. 


52  Goethe's  Lyric  Poems  in  English  Translation 

The  name  of  the  editor,  the  Rev.  Peter  Will,  does  not  appear  on  the 
title-pages  but  is  given  on  the  covers  of  the  first  six  parts.  He  was 
Minister  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  the  Savoy,  London,  and  before 
starting  the  Museum  had  published  The  Secret  Journal  of  a  Self -Observer, 
or  Confessions  and  Familiar  Letters  of  the  Rev.  J.  C.  Lavater1,  and  The 
Suffering  of  the  Family  of  Ortenberg ,  a  Novel,  translated  from,  the  German 
of  August  von  Kotzebue.  His  publisher,  Constantin  Geisweiler,  was  the 
author  of  a  German  translation  of  Sheridan's  Pizarro,  and  carried  on 
the  business  of  a  foreign  bookseller  in  Pall  Mall  and  later  at  No.  42 
Parliament  Street,  bringing  out  numerous  translations  from  the  German, 
including  English  versions  made  by  his  wife,  Maria  Geisweiler,  of  several 
plays  by  Iffland  and  Kotzebue,  and  the  translation  of  Schiller's  Maria 
Stuart  by  J.  C.  Mellish. 

In  each  volume  of  the  Museum,  facing  the  title-page,  there  is  a 
portrait  of  a  contemporary  German  writer,  Wieland's  (after  A.  Graff)  in 
vol.  I,  Klopstock's  (after  Jens  Juel)  in  vol.  II,  and  Goethe's  in  vol.  in. 
The  Goethe  portrait  is  an  engraving  by  William  Nutter  after  the  water- 
colour  painting  made  in  1795  by  Johann  Heinrich  Meyer,  and  is  minutely 
described  on  p.  102  of  H.  Rollett's  Goethe-Bildnisse,  Vienna,  1883.  A 
list  of  subscribers  to  the  Museum  is  given  on  the  cover  of  Part  v,  among 
them  M.  G.  Lewis,  Esq.,  M.P.  ('  Monk '  Lewis),  and  W.  Render,  the  trans- 
lator of  Schiller's  Rduber2. 

The  German  Museum  attracted  some  attention  also  in  Germany. 
Klopstock  sent  several  contributions  to  it  (printed  in  vols.  II  and  ill), 
and  Wieland's  periodical  Per  Neue  Teutsche  Merkur,  3.  Stiick,  Marz 
1801,  recommended  it  in  a  notice  concluding :  '  Geisweiler  hat  mit  seinem 
German  Museum  anfanglich  offenbar  zugesetzt.  Nun  aber  hebt  es  sich 
auf  einmal  sehr  stark  und  wird  gewiss  bald  ein  herrliches  Vehikel  fur  die 
teutsche  Literatur  in  England  werden,  die  wirklich  durch  die  neuesten 
Uebersetzungen  grosser  teutscherDichterebennichtgefordertwordenist.' 

The  German  Museum  contains  translations  of  the  following  poems  by 
Goethe  :  Herzog  Leopold  von  Braunschweig  ('  Dich  ergriff  mit  Gewalt '), 
Philomele  ('  Dich  hat  Amor  gewiss '),  Mignon  ('  Kennst  du  das  Land '), 
Per  Sanger,  Per  Fischer.  The  last  three  with  the  music  by  Reichardt 
are  reprinted  from  The  German  Erato. 

On  p.  524  of  vol.  I  there  is  a  short  note  on  Goethe's  translation  of 

1  A  translation  of  Lavater's  Geheimes  Tagebuch  von  einem  Beobachter  seiner  selbst. 
Leipzig,  1771-73. 

2  The  copy  of  the  German  Museum  in  the  British  Museum  is  defective.  The  Goethe- 
portrait,  the  title-page,  index  and  pp.  449  to  512  of  vol.  ni,  and  the  covers  of  all  the  parts 
are  wanting. 


H.  G.  FIEDLER  53 

Voltaire's  Mahomet,  which  Miss  Simmons  (I.  c.  pp.  16  and  149),  apparently 
relying  on  information  derived  from  the  index  only,  has  mistaken  for  a 
translation  of  Mahomets  Gesang  ('  Seht  den  Felsenquell  ')\ 

*12.  The  Literary  Souvenir,  or  Cabinet  of  Poetry  and  Romance, 
edited  by  Alaric  A.  Watts.  London :  Hurst,  Robinson  and  Co.  Vol.  I, 
1825,  vol.  II,  1827 2.  Contains  vol.  I,  p.  24:  'Knowst  thou  the  land  where 
sweet  the  citron  blows.'  This  is  signed  R.,  and  is  the  version  printed  in 
Robert  Robinson's  Specimens  of  the  German  Lyrics,  London,  1828.  Vol.  II, 
p.  394  :  '  I  watch  for  thee  when  parting  day.'  This  is  an  imitation  rather 
than  a  translation  of  Die  Nahe  des  Geliebten5. 

*14.  Stray  Leaves,  including  Translations  from  the  Lyric  Poets  of 
Germany,  with  brief  notices  of  their  works.    London:  Treuttel.    1827. 

Dedicated  to  Thomas  Campbell.  On  the  title-page  there  is  a  trans- 
lation of  a  stanza  from  Des  Sdngers  Fluch,  the  Epigraphe  de  Uhland 
referred  to  by  Prof.  Carre  (Bibl.  p.  90),  beginning :  '  They  sing  of  love 
and  spring-time,  of  the  happy  golden  age.'  The  author  is  John  Macray, 
who  was  born  in  Aberdeen  1796,  was  Librarian  of  the  Taylor  Institution, 
Oxford,  from  1847  to  1871,  and  died  at  Ducklington  Rectory,  Oxford- 
shire, 13  Aug.  1878.  Contains  p.  65:  'The  waters  flow  down'  (from 
Jery  und  Bdtely).  p.  81 :  Soliloquy  of  an  Amateur,  '  Of  what  avail  are 
nature's  charms'  (Monolog  des  Liebhabers).  p.  149 :  Consolation  in  Grief, 
'  What  hangs  upon  thy  brow  so  dark '  (Trost  in  Trdnen). 

The  note  on  Goethe  begins :  '  This  mighty  name  is  well  known  in 
England  ;  not  so,  however,  the  varied  strains  of  his  exhaustless  Muse,  for 
with  the  exception  of  Lord  F.  L.  Gower's  translation  of  Faustus,  scarcely 
anything  has  been  done  to  familiarise  English  readers  with  that  master- 
mind.' 

*28.  Translations  from  the  Lyric  Poets  of  Germany,  with  brief  notices 
of  their  lives  and  ivritings,  by  John  Macray.  Oxford:  J.  H.  Parker; 
London:  Black  and  Armstrong.    1838. 

This  is  an  enlarged  and  revised  edition  of  the  anonymous  Stray 
Leaves  (No.  *14).    The  stanza  from  Uhland  has  been  omitted  from  the 

1  On  p.  69  of  Prof.  Carre's  Bibliographie  several  articles  on  Goethe  and  Weimar  are 
mentioned  as  having  appeared  in  vol.  i  of  the  German  Museum.  Only  the  first  of  them  is 
in  that  volume,  the  rest  appeared  in  vol.  n. 

2  The  frontispiece  to  vol.  i  is  an  engraving  by  T.  M.  Wright  after  the  outline-drawing 
by  Retzsch  (Margaret  on  Faust's  arm  in  the  garden,  Martha  with  Mephistopheles  in  the 
background) . 

3  Imitations  of  this  poem  are  frequently  met  with  in  the  magazines  and  anthologies  of 
that  time.  There  is  one  ('  I  think  on  thee ')  in  M.  McDermot's  Beauties  of  Modem 
Literature  (London,  1824)  reprinted  from  the  New  European  Magazine  with  the  editorial 
note:  '  These  lines  are  in  the  manner  of  Moore,  and  worthy  of  him.' 


54  Goethe  s  Lyric  Poems  in  English  Translation 

title-page,  the  notes  have  been  re- written  and  several  new  translations 
have  been  added,  among  them  the  following  from  Goethe  :  p.  6 :  To  the 
Moon,  'Wood  and  vale  thou  cloth'st  again',  p.  31:  On  Hearing  of  my 
Songs  being  translated  into  English,  'A  meadow  garland  once  I  sought' 
(Ein  Gleichnis,  '  Jungst  pfluckt'  ieh  einen  Wiesenstrauss '). 

The  note  on  Goethe  now  begins :  '  With  the  exception  of  some  trans- 
lations of  Faustus,  but  little  has  been  done  to  acquaint  the  English 
readers  with  his  Poems.  Dr  Anster's  translation  of  Faustus,  in  the 
opinion  of  the  best  critics,  is  by  far  the  ablest  hitherto  published, 
although  Lord  F.  Egerton's  possesses  distinguished  beauty  in  many 
places.' 

*76.  The  German  Lyrist;  or,  Metrical  Versions  from  the  Principal 
German  Lyric  Poets.  By  W.  N.    Cambridge  :  Macmillan  and  Co.   18561. 

The  author  is  William  Nind,  who  was  born  in  London  1809,  was 
Fellow  of  Peterhouse,  Cambridge,  from  1836  to  his  death  28  Aug.  1856, 
and  Vicar  of  Cherryhinton  near  Cambridge  from  1838  to  1851.  He  also 
published  Odes  of  Klopstock,  translated  from  the  German  (Cambridge, 
1848).  Contains  pp.  42-60:  The  Dedication  of  Faust,  The  King  of  Thule, 
Margaret  at  the  Spinning-wheel,  Margaret  before  the  Mater  Dolorosa, 
The  Minstrel,  Mignon  longing  for  her  home  ('  Kennst  du  das  Land '), 
Mignon  anticipating  early  death  ('  So  lasst  mich  scheinen '),  The  Violet, 
The  Fisher. 

In  his  Preface  the  author  dwells  on  the  difficulty  of  translating 
Goethe :  '  No  poet  is  in  danger  of  losing  so  much  by  translation  as 
Goethe.  The  fineness  of  his  artistic  touch,  the  exceeding  beauty  of  his 
forms,  the  profusion  of  poetic  ideas  only  glanced  upon  and  not  developed 
. .  .render  his  lyric  poems  peculiarly  difficult  of  reconstruction  in  another 
tongue.  To  rival  Goethe's  poetic  forms  would  call  for  the  highest  effort 
of  our  most  exquisite  living  poet — writing  freely,  and  not  under  the 
trammels  of  translation.' 

A  passage  from  his  '  Note  on  Faust '  deserves  reprinting :  '  Goethe 
has  done  little  moral  or  dramatic  justice  upon  Faust  himself,  but  poor 

1  Prof.  Carre"  (Bibl.  p.  154)  includes  in  his  list  W.  M.  Cambridge,  German  Lyrist  or 
Metrical  versions  from  Schiller,  Goethe,  Fouque,  Londres,  1856.  This  is,  no  doubt, 
"W(illiam)  N(ind)'s  book,  the  name  of  the  place  of  publication  having  been  mistaken 
for  that  of  the  author.  The  source  of  the  mistake  may  be  C.  Meuel's  secondhand  catalogue 
to  which  here,  as  in  many  other  places,  Prof.  Carr6  refers.  Another  mistake  in  the 
Bibliographie  and  its  source  may  here  be  mentioned.  On  p.  152  Goethe's  poem  Vanitas  ! 
vanitatum  vanitas!  is  described  as  'tire"  de  la  Foire  de  Plundersweilern,'— apparently 
because  Sarah  Austin  (Characteristics  of  Goethe,  pp.  225-227)  gives  a  rendering  of  the 
poem  after  having  discussed  the  Jahrmarkts-Fest,  or,  as  she  has  it,  the  Jahrmarkt,  zu 
Plundersweilern. 


H.  G.  FIEDLER  55 

Margaret  is  led  to  the  denouement  with  an  inflexible  severity  of  art  and 
retribution,  enough  to  make  Aristotle  rejoice  and  a  Christian  weep.' 

*78.  German  Ballads  and  Poems,  with  an  English  Translation.  By 
A.  Boyd.  London:  Houlston  and  Wright.  1860.  Contains  p.  256: 
Gretchen's  song  at  the  spinning-wheel,  'My  rest  is  gone,  My  heart  is  sore.' 

We  will  now  return  to  the  first  item  on  Miss  Simmons'  list,  viz. : 
*1.  Specimens  of  German  Lyric  Poets  (Beresford).  1798  (?).  Miss  Sim- 
mons tells  us  (p.  15)  that  'thus  far  no  record  of  this  volume  has  been 
found,  either  in  the  book-lists  of  the  time  or  in  the  magazine  reviews.' 
Nevertheless  she  assumes  its  existence  'prior  to  1798,'  believing  that  in 
this  year  there  appeared  a  book  entitled  :  '  German  Erato.  A  Collection 
of  favorite  songs  translated  into  English  with  original  music  by  Reichardt. 
The  translator  is  the  author  of  Specimens  of  German  Lyrics.  Berlin. 
C.  Falk.    1798.' 

As  a  matter  of  fact  the  book  was  published  anonymously  in  1797, 
the  title  being :  The  German  Erato,  or  A  Collection  of  Favourite  Songs 
translated  into  English,  with  their  Original  Music.  Berlin.  1797.  (4to.) 
2nd  edition  1798;  3rd  edition  1800.  The  sentence  'The  translator  is 
the  author  of  Specimens  of  German  Lyrics'  does  not  appear  on  the 
title-page,  and  is  most  likely  a  note  added  by  the  compiler  of  the  catalogue 
or  bibliography  on  which  Miss  Simmons  was  relying. 

The  volume  contains  sixteen  songs,  including  the  following  from 
Goethe :  p.  24 :  Song,  '  Unnotic'd  in  the  lonely  mead '  (Das  Veilchen). 
p.  26:  Song,  'Know'st  thou  the  land,  where  citrons  scent  the  gale.'  The 
music  of  only  three,  including  the  two  from  Goethe,  is  by  Reichardt. 

The  German  Erato  was  quickly  followed  by  two  similar  collections: 

The  German  Songster,  or  A  Collection  of  Favourite  Airs,  with  their 
Original  Music,  done  into  English  by  the  Translator  of  The  German 
Erato.  Berlin :  H.  Frolich.  1798.  (4to.)  2nd  edition  1800.  Contains 
p.  12 :  Moon-Light,  '  Scatter'd  o'er  the  starry  pole '  (An  den  Mond). 

A  Collection  of  German  Ballads  and  Songs,  with  their  Original 
Music,  done  into  English  by  the  Translator  of  The  German  Erato. 
Berlin:  H.  Frolich.  1799.  (4to.)  2nd  edition  1800.  Contains  p.  18 : 
The  Fisher,  '  In  gurgling  eddies  roll'd  the  tide '  (Der  Fischer),  p.  20 : 
The  Harper,  '  What  melting  strains  salute  my  ear '  (Der  Sanger). 

The  great  success  of  these  three  books  induced  the  publisher  to  issue 
the  translations  they  contained,  together  with  their  German  originals 
but  without  the  music,  in  one  small  volume. 


56  Goethe  s  Lyric  Poems  in  English  Translation 

Translations  of  German  Poems,  extracted  from  the  Musical  Publica- 
tions of  the  Author  of  The  German  Erato.  Berlin:  H.  Frolich.  1801. 
(12mo.)  Again  the  name  of  the  translator  is  not  given  on  the  title-page, 
but  the  publisher's  'Advertisement'  indicates  that  he  was  an  Englishman 
living  in  Germany.  In  some  of  the  reviews  he  is  spoken  of  as  Mr  Beres- 
ford, and  the  writer  of  an  article  headed  '  The  Rev. Beresford,'  in 

the  first  number  of  The  German  Museum  (Jan.  1800),  describes  him  as 
'  a  native  of  this  country  who  for  some  years  has  been  resident  at  Berlin, 
where  he  has  the  honour  of  instructing  the  Queen  of  Prussia  in  the 
English  language.'  A  poem  '  addressed  by  Mr  Beresford  to  the  Queen 
of  Prussia  on  her  birthday'  (March  10)  was  printed  in  The  German 
Museum  for  March  1801. 

About  twenty  years  later  these  translations  were  reprinted  by  an 
English  publisher  on  account  of  'their  popularity,  their  scarcity  and 
unquestionable  merit,'  with  the  title  : 

Specimens  of  the  German  Lyric  Poets :  consisting  of  Translations  in 
Verse,  from  the  Works  of  Burger,  Goethe,  Klopstock,  Schiller  etc. 
Interspersed  with  Biographical  Notices,  and  ornamented  with  Engrav- 
ings on  Wood  by  the  first  Artists.  London:  Boosey  and  Sons.  1822. 
(Svo.)1  The  Preface  states  that  these  translations  are  'from  the  pen  of  an 
Englishman  of  the  name  of  Beresford,  who  was  long  resident  in  Germany.' 
The  Lines  addressed  by  him  to  the  Queen  of  Prussia,  and  seven  trans- 
lations, including  The  King  of  Thule,  taken  from  a  volume  published 
by  J.  C.  Mellish  in  1818  (see  below,  p.  60),  have  been  added. 

In  his  Historic  Survey  of  German  Poetry,  London,  1828-30,  William 
Taylor  of  Norwich  repeatedly  refers  to  the  Specimens  and  reprints  several 
of  the  versions  they  contain2,  among  them  one  of  Schiller's  Hero  und 
Leander,  which  he  introduces  as  'so  beautifully  rendered  by  the  Rev. 
"J."  Beresford.'  It  was  probably  this  note  in  W.  Taylor's  Historic  Survey 
which  led  subsequent  writers  to  confuse  our  author  with  the  Rev.  James 
Beresford  who  at  that  time  was  well  known  as  the  author  of  The  Miseries 

1  Miss  Simmons  sajs  that  at  Harvard  University  there  is  a  copy  dated  '1822,  second 
edition.'  I  believe  it  will  be  found  that  this  is  a  copy  of  the  first  edition,  and  that  the 
words  '  second  edition '  are  a  wrong  note  in  the  catalogue.  The  copies  of  the  second  edition 
in  the  British  Museum  and  the  Bodleian  Library  (they  have  no  copies  of  the  first  edition) 
are  both  dated  1823.  My  copies  of  the  first  and  second  editions  are  dated  1822  and  1823 
respectively.  On  the  title-page  of  the  second,  1823,  edition  the  words  '  ornamented  with  ' 
are  omitted  to  make  room  for  the  words  Second  Edition  between  the  title  and  the  wood-cut. 
Otherwise  the  two  editions  are  identical. 

2  Historic  Survey,  n,  p.  90:  '  Stolberg's  ballad  entitled  Budolph,  of  which  a  satisfactory 
translation  occurs  in  the  Specimens  of  German  Lyric  Poetry.'  Ibid.  p.  160:  'I  do  not 
willingly  borrow  the  translations  of  others,  but,  not  possessing  Jacobi's  poems,  I  transcribe 
one  of  them,  nearly  as  rendered  in  the  Specimens  of  German  Lyric  Poets.'  In  vol.  in, 
pp.  349-351,  Taylor  prints,  without  acknowledgment,  Beresford's  versions  of  Mignon  and 
Der  Sanger,  and  Mellish's  version  of  Der  Kbnig  in  Thule 


H.  G.  FIEDLER  57 

of  Human  Life  and  a  number  of  translations  from  Latin,  French,  and  Ice- 
landic1. Other  authorities,  beginning  with  Robert  Watt,  Bibliotheca 
Britannica,  Edinburgh,  1824,  keep  the  two  apart  and  give  the  name  of 
the  author  of  The  German  Erato  etc.  as  the  Rev.  Benjamin  Beresford. 

Miss  Simmons  has  taken  great  pains  to  clear  the  matter  up.  She  is 
inclined  to  believe  that  the  correct  name  is  Benjamin  Beresford,  but 
considers  it  possible  that  the  two  writers  are  identical.  It  can,  however, 
be  proved  that  they  are  not. 

To  begin  with,  the  life  of  the  Rev.  James  Beresford  is  well  known2. 
When  The  German  Erato  appeared,  he  was  a  Fellow  of  Merton  College, 
Oxford  ;  when  the  Specimens  appeared,  he  was  Rector  of  Kibworth  Beau- 
champ  in  Leicestershire,  and  there  is  no  record  of  his  ever  having  resided 
in  Germany. 

On  the  other  hand  Johann  Friedrich  v.  Reeke  and  Karl  Eduard 
Napiersky  in  their  Allgemeines  Schriftsteller-  und  Gelehrten-Leccikon, 
Mitau,  1827,  give  the  following  account  of  Benjamin  Beresford,  with  a 
list  of  his  publications,  including  The  German  Erato,  The  German  Songster, 
and  A  Collection  of  German  Ballads  and  Songs : 

Beresford  (Benjamin),  Dr  der  Phil.,  war  friiher  Geistlicher  in  England,  dann  Lektor 
der  englischen  Sprache  auf  der  Universitat  Dorpat  vom  18  Mai  1803  bis  22  April 
1806,  und  zuletzt  bis  an  seinen  Tod  Professor  der  englischen  Sprache  an  der  Berliner 
Universitat.    Geb.  zu  .„  1750,  gest.  am  29  April  1819. 

That  he  was  teaching  English  at  the  University  of  Berlin  for  several 
years  is  confirmed  by  the  list  of  the  teaching-staff  printed  in  Die  Kgl. 
Friedrich  WiUielms-  Universitat  Berlin  in  ihrem  Personalbestande  seit 
ihrer  Errichtung  Michaelis  1810  bis  Michaelis  1885,  which  mentions  his 
appointment  to  a  University  Lektorship  in  1815  and  his  resignation  at 
Michaelmas  18193. 

In  his  Alumni  Oxonienses  Jos.  Foster  mentions  a  Benjamin  Beres- 
ford (son  of  James,  of  Bewdley)  who  matriculated  from  St  Mary  Hall  on 
Jan.  14,  1772,  aged  22.  As  this  fixes  1750  as  the  year  of  his  birth,  we 
may  assume  that  he  is  the  Benjamin  Beresford  who  became  English 
Lektor  at  the  University  of  Berlin  and  the  first  translator  of  Goethe's 
lyric  poems. 

1  A.  Brandl,  Goethe- Jahrb.  in,  p.  71,  refers  to  the  Specimens,  describes  the  author  as 
'  Kev.  J.  Beresford,  Englischlehrer  der  jungen  Konigin  von  Preussen,'  and  includes  among 
his  translations  'The  King  of  Thule  '  which  is  by  Mellish.  Goedeke,  Grundriss  (1912),  iv, 
iii,  p.  52,  mentions  James  Beresford  as  author  of  the  Specimens.  Similarly  G.  Herzfeld, 
William  Taylor  of  Nortvich,  p.  57. 

2  See  D.N.B.,  and  Jos.  Foster,  Alumni  Oxonienses,  London,  1888. 

3  Prof.  Carre  describes  Benjamin  Beresford  as  '  chapelain  de  l'ambassade  d'Allemagne 
(?  de  Grande-Bretagne)  a  Berlin,'  without  stating  his  authority. 


58  Goethe  s  Lyric  Poems  in  English  Translation 

Finally,  seven  of  the  translations  contained  in  the  anonymous  publi- 
cations we  have  discussed  are  printed  over  the  signature  of  B.  Beresford 
in  The  Poetical  Register  and  Repository  of  Fugitive  Poetry,  vols.  Ill  and  v 
(London,  1804  and  1807),  and  '  The  Lines  addressed  to  the  Queen  of 
Prussia,'  headed  '  by  the  Rev.  B.  Beresford '  and  signed  '  B.  Beresford, 
Berlin,  March  1801/  in  vol.  viii  (1814)  of  the  same  annual. 

Another  spurious  title  in  Miss  Simmons'  list  is  *75.  Lyrical  Poems 
from  the  German.  J.  E.  Reade.  London:  Longmans.  1856.  The  only 
book  by  J.  E.  Reade  published  by  Longmans  in  1856  is  Man  in  Para- 
dise, with  Lyrical  Poems.  This  does  not  contain  any  translations.  The 
few  pieces  which  J.  E.  Reade  translated  from  Goethe  were  printed  to- 
gether with  The  Drama  of  a  Life  in  1840. 

On  the  whole,  Miss  Simmons'  list  is  more  complete  than  the  cor- 
responding portion  of  Prof.  Carre's  Bibliographie,  although  the  latter 
contains  a  few  items  which  have  been  overlooked  by  her.  Thus,  Miss 
Simmons  fully  describes  the  important  German  Anthology  by  James 
Clarence  Mangan,  identifies  most  of  the  articles  and  translations  he 
contributed  to  the  Dublin  University  Magazine,  and  does  full  justice  to 
this  Irish  poet  who  among  the  early  translators  of  Goethe's  lyric  poems 
was  probably  the  most  gifted,  and  in  his  own  work  shows  German  in- 
fluence more  clearly  than  almost  any  other  British  writer1.  Prof.  Carre, 
however,  does  not  even  mention  him. 

In  the  following  additions  and  corrections  I  propose  to  deal  only 
with  such  publications  as  have  been  either  omitted  or  insufficiently 
described  by  both  Miss  Simmons  and  Prof.  Carre. 

The  Poetical  Register,  and  Repository  of  Fugitive  Poetry  for  1801. 
London:  Rivington.  1802.  Contains  p.  256:  'Flow  still,  ye  tears  of 
sorrow '  (  Wonne  der  Wehmut).  Prof.  Carre,  Bibl.  p.  89,  says  it  contains 
The  Hour  of  Love.  This  is  an  original  poem  signed  A.  M.  and  printed 
on  p.  257,  immediately  following  the  translation  from  Goethe. 

Selim  &  Zaida,  an  Oriental  Poem:  with  other  Pieces.  Second  Edition. 
London:  J.  Cumming;  Edinburgh:  A.  Constable.  1802.  According  to 
Robert  Watt,  Bibliotheca  Britannica  (Edinburgh,  1824),  the  first  edition 
was  published  the  same  year  by  Longman  and  Rees,  London,  but  I  have 
not  seen  this  edition.    Contains  p.  89 :  A  Morlachian  Funeral  Song,  on 

1  See  D.N.B.  and  D.  J.  O'Donoghue,  The  Life  and  Writings  of  James  Clarence  Mangan, 
Edinburgh,  1897. 


H.  G.  FIEDLER  59 

the  death  of  the  illustrious  wife  of  Asan  Aga.    From  the  German  of 

Goethe.    Begins : 

What  shines  so  white  in  yonder  verdant  forest  ? 
Snow,  is  it?  or  the  Swans'  unspotted  plumage? 

Prof.  Carre,  Bibl.  p.  89,  accepting  a  note  in  C.  Meuel's  catalogue,  attri- 
butes this  to  Sir  Walter  Scott.  There  is,  however,  strong  evidence 
against  Scott's  authorship.  If  he  wrote  this  version  of  the  Klaggesang, 
he  must  also  be  the  author  of  Selim  and  Zaida  and  of  the  other  pieces 
in  the  volume  {Emma,  To  Fortune,  The  Decline  of  the  Year,  The  Ap- 
proaching Storm,  The  Return  of  Spring,  Song  '  Bear,  oh  ye  Breezes,' 
Invocation  to  Venus),  but  none  of  these  are  included  in  any  collection  of 
his  poems  published  in  his  life-time  nor  in  The  Poetical  Works,  edited 
by  J.  G.  Lockhart  in  1833. 

That  Scott  some  time  between  1795  and  1797  did  'versify  Goethe's 
Morlachian  Ballad '  is  stated  by  Lockhart  in  Memoirs  of  the  Life  of  Sir 
Walter  Scott,  vol.  I,  p.  247.  Unfortunately  he  only  quotes  the  first  line, 
viz.  '  What  yonder  glimmers  so  white  on  the  mountain,'  but  this  is 
sufficient  to  show  that  the  version  he  saw,  apparently  in  a  MS.  copy, 
was  not  the  same  as  that  printed  in  Selim  and  Zaida. 

It  is  indeed  more  than  doubtful  whether  Scott's  version  was  ever 
printed.  Prof.  Brandl  was,  I  believe,  the  first  to  assume  that  it  was 
included  in  Scott's  Apology  for  Tales  of  Terror1.  This  hypothesis,  it  is 
clearly  no  more,  obviously  rests  on  Lockhart's  account  (I.  c.  I,  p.  316) 
that  Scott  in  autumn  1799  'took  some  of  his  recent  pieces,  designed  to 
appear  in  Lewis's  collection,  to  Ballantyne,'  that  the  latter '  was  charmed 
with  them,  especially  with  the  Morlachian  fragment  after  Goethe,'  and 
that  Ballantyne  printed  for  private  circulation  'twelve  copies  of  William 
and  Ellen,  The  Fire-King,  The  Chase,  and  a  few  more  of  those  pieces, 
with  the  title  (alluding  to  the  long  delay  of  Lewis's  collection)  of  Apology 
for  Tales  of  Terror,  1799.' 

It  is  evident,  however,  that  Lockhart  had  never  seen  or,  at  any  rate, 
had  never  examined  the  Apology,  for  his  description  of  the  contents  is 
quite  inaccurate.  Only  four  copies  are  known  to  be  extant.  The  Abbots- 
ford  copy  (with  Walter  Scott's  autograph  on  the  title)  was  shown  at  the 
Scott  Centenary  Exhibition  at  Edinburgh  in  1871,  and  in  the  enlarged 
edition  of  the  catalogue  issued  in  1872,  under  the  joint  editorship  of 
Sir  William  Stirling-Maxwell,  James  Drummond,  and  Dr  David  Max- 
well, a  whole  page  is  devoted  to  it.    Another  copy,  which  turned  up  at 

1  Goethe-Jahrbuch,  in,  p.  50.  According  to  Brandl  the  title  of  the  pamphlet  is  Apology 
for  Tales  of  Wonder,  an  obvious  slip  which,  however,  has  been  repeated  by  both  Prof.  Carr6 
(I.e.  p.  54)  and  Miss  Simmons  (p.  14).  • 


60  Goethe  s  Lyric  Poems  in  English  Translation 

a  book-sale  in  1893,  has  been  minutely  described  by  George  P.  Johnston 
in  a  paper  'The  First  Book  Printed  by  James  Ballantyne'  {Transactions 
of  the  Edinburgh  Bibliographical  Society  for  1893/4,  No.  in)1,  and  a 
third,  which  is  in  the  Harvard  Library,  has  recently  been  collated  by 
Miss  Elizabeth  Church2.  All  three  copies  were  found  to  contain  only 
three  pieces  by  Scott,  viz.  The  Erl-King,  The  Chase,  William  and  Helen 
— not  The  Fire-King,  and  not  The  Morlachian  Ballad3. 

Gedichte  von  Joseph  Charles  Mellish,  Esqre.  Perthes  and  Besser, 
Hamburg,  18184.  In  a  letter,  written  in  German,  the  author  dedicates  his 
book  to  the  Grand  Duchess  Luise  of  Weimar5,  signing  himself  '  Ew. 
Koniglichen  Hoheit  unterthanigster  Diener,  Koniglich  Grossbritan- 
nischer  General-Consul  in  Niedersachsen  und  der  freien  Hansestadten, 
Koniglich  Preussischer,  auch  Grossherzoglich  Sachsen-Weimarscher 
Kammerherr.'  Contains:  Deutsche  Gedichte,  pp.  1-82  ;  Hours  ofldlesse, 
Gedichte  aus  dem  Deutschen  in's  Englische  tibersetzt,  pp.  85-116  ;  Eng- 
lische  Gedichte,  pp.  119-152;  Uebersetzungen  aus  dem  Deutschen  in's 
Lateinische,  pp.  153-164,  followed  on  pp.  167-182  by  a  series  of  English 
Translations  of  passages  from  Greek  and  Latin  authors,  selected  and 
submitted  to  him  in  1797  by  Klopstock,  who  was  anxious  to  learn,  '  ob 
die  englische  Sprache  dasselbe  Sylbenmaass  mit  derselben  Kiirze  und 
Genauigkeit  zuliess6.'   Among  the  Hours  of  Idlesse  are  three  translations 

1  Prof.  Carre"  refers  to  this  paper  in  another  connection  (Bibl.  p.  51),  ascribing  it, 
however,  to  Mr  L.  L.  Mackall,  whom  he  also  credits  (ib.  p.  54)  with  contributions  to  Notes 
and  Queries  as  far  back  as  1866  ! 

2  Modem  Philology,  xrx,  3  (February  1922),  '  A  Bibliographical  Myth.' 

3  An  Apology  for  Tales  of  Terror,  '  A  thing  of  shreds  and  patches.'  Kelso:  Printed  at 
the  Mail  Office,  1799.  4°,  pp.  76.  p.  1:  The  Erl-King  [Walter  Scott],  '0!  who  rides  by 
night  thro'  the  woodlands  so  wild?'  p.  4:  The  Water-King  [M.  G.  Lewis],  p.  10:  Lord 
William  [R.  Southey].  p.  19 :  Poor  Mary,  the  Maid  of  the  Inn,  by  Mr  Southey.  p.  27 :  The 
Chase  [Walter  Scott],  'Earl  Walter  winds  his  bugle  horn.'  p.  41:  William  and  Helen 
[Walter  Scott],  'From  heavy  dreams  fair  Helen  rose.'  p.  58:  Alonso  the  Brave  and  the 
Fair  Imogine  [M.  G.  Lewis],  p.  64:  Arthur  and  Matilda  [?].  p.  73:  The  Erl-King' '« 
Daughter  [M.  G.  Lewis].  The  authors'  names  are  not  given,  except  in  the  one  case  of 
Poor  Mary,  the  Maid  of  the  Inn.  See  also  Catalogue  of  the  Library  at  Abbotsford  (drawn 
up  by  J.  G.  Cochrane,  sometime  editor  of  the  Foreign  Quarterly  Revieiv),  Edinburgh,  1838. 
Quite  recently  the  Abbotsford  copy  has  been  inspected  by  Mr  D.  H.  Low,  with  the  same 
result.  He  '  found  no  trace  of  the  Morlachian  Fragment.'  See  the  footnote  on  p.  xiii  of  his 
translation  of  The  Ballads  of  Marko  KraljeviS,  Cambridge,  1922. 

4  The  book  is  sometimes  quoted  as  Deutsche  Gedichte  eines  Englanders.  This  title, 
which  does  not  describe  the  contents  accurately,  appears  on  the  fly-leaf  only.  On  Mellish 
see:  Transactions  of  the  Manchester  Goethe  Society  (1894),  p.  140,  Goethe-Jahrb.  xxvi, 
p.  285,  and  Modern  Language  Revieiv,  iv,  p.  90. 

8  The  letter  begins :  '  Die  Erinnerung  an  die  Zeit,  wo  ich  mich  unter  dem  erhabenen 
Schutz  Ew.  Koniglicben  Hoheit  des  Umgangs  eines  Herder,  eines  Wieland,  eines  Gothe  (sic), 
eines  Schiller  erfreute,  geht  wie  ein  seeliger  Traum  an  meinem  inneren  Gesicht  voruber.' 

6  Klopstock  apparently  worked  at  this  subject  for  several  years.  In  June  1800  he  sent 
an  article  entitled  '  Die  Kiirze  der  deutschen  Spracbe  durch  Beyspiele  gezeigt '  to  the  editor 
of  The  German  Museum.  In  this  he  compared  his  own  translations  of  a  number  of  passages 
from  Homer,  Virgil,  and  Horace  with  those  by  Pope,  Dryden,  and  P.  Francis.  It  appeared 
in  three  instalments  in  vols,  n  and  in  of  The  German  Museum.   Godeke  does  not  mention  it. 


H.  G.  FIEDLER  61 

from  Goethe,  p.  91:  'How  comes  it  that  you  seem  so  sad'  (Trost  in 
Trdnen) ;  p.  94  :  The  Spirit's  Salutation,  '  High  on  the  antient  Turret 
stands  '  (Geistesgruss) ;  p.  101 :  The  King  of  Thule,  '  There  liv'd  a  King 
in  Thule.' 

An  Autumn  near  the  Rhine.  London  :  Longman,  Hurst,  Rees,  Orme, 
and  Brown.    1818. 

In  a  series  of  letters  the  author  gives  the  impressions  he  received 
during  a  tour  through  '  some  of  the  German  States  bordering  on  the 
Rhine.'  At  Darmstadt  he  was  invited  to  several  court-functions  and 
was  presented  to  the  Grand  Duchess  Luise  of  Weimar  who  was  on 
a  visit  to  her  brother,  the  Grand  Duke  of  Hesse1.  He  also  made  the 
acquaintance  of  the  Hereditary  Princess  of  Hesse,  who  talked  to  him  of 
Byron  and  Ossian,  then  '  idolised  by  every  German  reader  of-  poetry,' 
and  he  records  how  '  he  incurred  a  reproach  from  the  Princess  for  hint- 
ing the  possibility  of  her  favourite  rhapsodies  being  the  manufacture  of 
a  certain  Mr  Macpherson,  the  late  member  of  Parliament  for  Camelford.' 

In  the  second  edition  which  was  published  by  John  Murray,  London, 
1821,  after  the  author  had  revisited  Germany,  a  letter  (No.  xiii)  was 
inserted,  giving  some  account  of  German  opinion  of  Goethe  and  Schiller 
and  containing  a  translation  of  Der  Gott  und  die  Bajadere,  beginning 
'  Mahadeoh,  lord  of  Earth,  For  the  sixth  time  comes  below.' 

The  author  is  frequently  referred  to  by  contemporary  writers  as 
Mr  Dodd2,  and  a  correspondent  of  Notes  and  Queries,  7  August  1858, 
p.  117,  claims  to  know  that  he  was  Charles  Edward  Dodd,  Esq.,  Barrister 
of  the  Middle  Temple,  'who  died  very  soon  after  the  publication  of  this, 
his  first  attempt  at  authorship.' 

Poems,  with  some  Translations  from  the  German,  by  John  Anster, 
Esq.  Edinburgh,  1819.  Contains  p.  221 :  The  Bride  of Corinth,'  A  stranger 
youth  from  Athens  came.'  p.  234 :  Stanzas,  '  Again,  fair  Images,  ye 
flutter  near.'  p.  237:  To  my  Absent  Mistress,  'And  is  she  then  no 
longer  here  ? '  (An  die  Entfernte). 

The  anonymous  Bride  of  Corinth  in  Blackwood's  Magazine,  March 
1819,  is  Anster's. 

1  '  Surrounded  by  ladies,  who  had  all  the  flaunty  air  of  a  gay  modern  Court,  the 
Grand  Duchess  had  something  of  the  character  of  a  simple  and  respectable  bourgeoise. 
With  her  plain,  high,  mob-cap,  brought  down  under  her  chin,  her  white  handkerchief 
folded  neatly  across  her  bosom,  and  her  matronly  slate-coloured  silk-gown,  she  would  have 
formed  a  fine  figure  for  the  pencil  of  Hans  Holbein.' 

2  E.g.  by  William  Sotheby  on  p.  225  of  Italy  and  other  Poems,  London,  1828,  and 
Dr  Bisset  Hawkins  on  p.  110  of  Germany,  the  Spirit  of  her  History,  Literature,  etc., 
London,  1838.  In  the  notes  to  his  Faustus  (London,  1835)  J.  Anster  reprints  two  long 
passages  from  the  Autumn  near  the  Rhine  apparently  without  knowing  the  author's  name. 


62  Goethe  s  Lyric  Poems  in  English  Translation 

Janus;  or,  The  Edinburgh  Literary  Almanack.  Oliver  and  Boyd, 
[Edinburgh]  1826.  This  was  re-issued  in  1833  by  the  same  firm  with 
the  title  The  Literary  Rambler1.  Contains  p.  149:  The  Return,  'Farewell, 
dear  sheiling,  lone  and  low'  (Die  schone  Nacht).  p.  219:  Serenade,  'From 
thy  white  pillow,  gentle  Maid  '  (Nachtgesang).    Both  unsigned. ' 

The  Last  Autumn  at  a  Favourite  Residence,  with  other  Poems  by 
Mrs  Lawrence.  Second  edition  with  many  additions.  Liverpool :  G.  and 
J.  Robinson;  London:  Longman.  1829.  Contains  p.  45:  Inscription 
under  a  Picture  of  Cupid  Sleeping,  '  Disturb  him  not !  he  softly  rests ' 
(Warnung).  p.  73:  The  Divorce;  or  the  Wife  of  Hassan  Aga,  'What 
glistening  white  thro'  the  dark  *  shadowy  woods '  (Klaggesang  von 
der  edlen  Frauen  des  Asan  Aga).  p.  85 :  The  Forsaken  One,  '  Flow 
still,  ye  tears  of  sorrow!'  (Wonne  der  Wehmui).  p.  90:  Anacreon's 
Grave,  '  Whose  yon  grave,  where  rose  and  myrtle.'  p.  105  :  The  Gold 
Chain,  '  Beloved  memorial  of  departed  pleasure  '  (An  ein  goldenes  Herz, 
das  er  am  Halse  trug). 

To  the  third  edition,  published  in  1836,  the  author  added  Her  Recol- 
lections of  Mrs  Hemans,  and  p.  209  :  The  Hindoo  God  and  the  Bayadera, 
'  The  Indian  God  has  left  his  radiant  bower.' 

In  a  note  she  points  out  that  Goethe's  poem  is  the  original  of  a 
ballet  by  Taglioni,  of  a  French  opera  La  Bayadere2,  and  of  an  English 
opera  then  performing  at  Covent  Garden  under  the  name  of  Maid  of 
Cashmere. 

Mrs  Lawrence,  nee  Rose  D'Aguilar,  was  a  daughter  of  Captain  Joseph 
D'Aguilar  who,  after  retiring  from  the  army,  had  settled  in  Liverpool. 
One  of  her  brothers  was  General  Sir  George  Charles  D'Aguilar,  some- 
time Adjutant  General,  of  Ireland.  She  is  the  author  of  an  anonymous 
translation  of  Goethe's  Gotz  which  appeared  in  the  same  year  as  Walter 
Scott's  version,  of  a  Translation  of  Salomon  Gessner's  works,  and  of 
several  collections  of  biblical,  mythological  and  historical  tales3.  After 
her  marriage  she  resided  at  Wavertree  Hall  in  the  village  of  Wavertree 
near  Liverpool.  During  the  years  (1828-31)  Felicia  Hemans  was  living 
in  Wavertree,  the  two  women  became  much  attached  to  each  other,  and 
it  was,  in  some  measure,  due  to  her  friend  that  at  that  time  Mrs  Hemans 

1  See  Archiv,  cxxi,  p.  130. 

2  This  is  Le  Dieu  et  la  Bayadere  by  Auber,  words  by  Scribe.  Paris,  1830. 

3  Gortz  of  Berlingen,  with  the  Iron  Hand.  An  Historical  Drama,  of  the  Fifteenth 
Century.  Translated  from  the  German  of  Goethe,  the  Author  of  Werter.  Liverpool, 
printed  by  J.  M'Creery.  The  Works  of  S.  Gessner.  Translated  from  the  German  with  some 
Account  of  his  Life  and  Writings.  Liverpool,  J.  M'Creery,  1802.  Two  letters  addressed  by 
Mrs  Lawrence  to  Goethe  have  been  printed  by  Prof.  F.  Baldensperger,  Modern  Language 
Review,  iv,  pp.  515  ft'. 


H.  G.  FIEDLER  63 

turned  with  renewed  interest  to  German  literature  and  particularly  to 
the  works  of  Goethe1. 

The  Song  of  the  Bell  and  other  Poems.  From  the  German  of  Goethe 
Schiller,  Burger,  Matthison,  and  Salis  translated  by  John  J.  Campbell, 
Esq.,  B.A.  of  Balliol  College,  Oxford.  London  :  Blackwood.  1836.  Con- 
tains translations  of  sixteen  poems  by  Goethe.  Miss  Simmons  gives  a 
list  of  them,  mistaking  however  the  Prologue  to  the  Bride  of  Messina 
on  pp.  54-56  ('  O  Heart  oppress'd !  by  storming  troubles  pent ')  for  a 
translation  of  Die  Braut  von  Korinth.  It  is  a  rendering  of  a  passage 
from  the  Maskenzug  1818  {Braut  von  Messina,  '  Bedrangtes  Herz !  um- 
sttirmt  von  Hindernissen '),  Weim.  Ausg.  XVI,  pp.  288,  289. 

Xeniola.  Poems  including  Translations  by  John  Anster,  LL.D., 
Barrister  at  Law.  Dublin,  1837.  Contains  p.  165:  Gipsy  Song,  'In 
foggy  drizzle.'  The  German  original  was  first  printed  in  England  by 
Sarah  Austin  {Characteristics  of  Goethe,  II,  159),  who  described  it  as 
untranslatable.  Reviewing  her  book  in  the  Dublin  University  Magazine, 
September  1836,  Anster  offered  his  rendering  as  '  an  imperfect  imitation, 
attempted  long  ago.'  He  had,  however,  been  forestalled  by  J.  M.  in  a 
review  of  the  same  book  in  the  Gentleman's  Magazine,  August  1833. 
J.  M.'s  and  Anster's  attempts  are  the  earliest,  though  in  Miss  Simmons' 
list  (p.  128)  two  others  are  mentioned  as  having  appeared  as  early  as 
1799.  In  assuming  that  these  are  to  be  found  in  the  translations 
of  Gotz  by  Walter  Scott  and  Mrs  Lawrence,  she  forgets  that  the 
German  version  of  Gotz  which  contains  the  poem  was  not  published  till 
after  Goethe's  death2. 

Collection  of  Select  Pieces  of  Poetry  containing  '  the  Lay  of  the  Bell ' 
and  '  Leonora '  by  George  Ph.  Maurer.  Darmstadt  :  Lange ;  London  : 
Black  and  Armstrong.    1840. 

Miss  Simmons  describes  the  contents  correctly  but  knows  only  the 
second  edition,  published  in  New  York,  1848. 

The  author  was  a  Hessian  officer  who  made  the  translations  when,  as 

1  Prof.  Carrd  mentions  Mrs  Hemans'  translation  of  a  few  short  passages  from  Iphigenie, 
but  ignores  an  article  on  Tasso,  containing  translations  of  over  200  lines,  which  she  con- 
tributed to  the  New  Monthly  Magazine  for  January  1834.  It  was  the  first  of  a  series  of 
German  studies  she  was  planning.  The  translations  from  Iphigenie,  printed  after  her 
death  (in  Poetical  Remains,  Edinburgh,  1836),  were  intended  for  a  second  article  in 
continuation  of  the  series. 

2  Geschichte  Gottfriedens  von  Berlichingen  in  VolhUhidigc  Ausgabe  letzter  Hand,  Bd  42, 
Cotta,  1833.  Sarah  Austin  printed  the  poem  in  the  form  in  which  it  appeared  separately 
in  Einsiedel's  Neuente  Vermixchte  Schriften,  1784,  and  Goethe's  Werke,  1815.  Both  J.  M. 
and  Anster  introduce  rhyme. 


64  Goethe  s  Lyric  Poems  in  English  Translation 

prisoner  of  war,  he  was  quartered  at  Lauder  in  Scotland  from  1812  to 
1814. 

Illustrations  of  German  Poetry,  by  Elijah  Barwell  Impey,  Esq.,  M.A., 
Faculty  Student  of  Christ  Church,  Oxford.  Clapham:  David  Batten.  1841. 
2  vols.  A  second  edition  was  published, after  the  author'sdeath,bySimpkin, 
Marshall,  and  Co.,  London,  1850.  Contains  p.  225  :  The  Wedding  Song, 
'  We  sing  of  the  Count,  who,  as  chronicles  say.'  p.  231 :  The  Minstrel, 
'  From  chain-drawn  bridge  to  Castle-gate.'  p.  234 :  Song,  '  Thrill'd 
with  delight,  or  distracted  with  care.'  p.  235 :  The  Rat  Catcher,  '  State 
minstrel  is  my  style  and  station.'  p.  237  :  Prologue  to  Faust,  '  Once 
more,  ye  fond  delusions! ' 

Miss  Simmons  only  mentions  The  Magicians  Apprentice.  This, 
however,  according  to  the  author's  own  note,  is  '  no  translation  but  rather 
a  jeu  d' esprit  in  the  style  of  Coleman's  parody  on  Lewis'  ballad  of  Alonzo 
the  Brave.'   It  begins  : 

Old  Pancrates,  priest  of  Osiris — alack  ! 

Was  a  wicked  idolatrous  wizard  : 
And  he  sailed  in  a  sieve,  and  he  rode  on  the  back 
Of  a  Cayman,  which  he  had  the  wonderful  knack 

Of  making  as  tame  as  a  lizard. 

The  Student-Life  of  Germany.  By  William  Howitt,  from  the  un- 
published MS.  of  Dr  Cornelius.  Containing  nearly  forty  of  the  most 
famous  Student  Songs,  with  the  original  music.  Illustrated  by  Sargent, 
Woods  and  other  eminent  artists.  London :  Longman,  Brown,  Green, 
and  Longmans.  1841.  Contains  p.  346 :  Table-Song,  '  Heavenly  joy 
entrances  me  Far  beyond  exploring.' 

William  Howitt,  the  husband  and  literary  associate  of  Mary  Howitt, 
was  born  in  1792  and  died  in  1879.  In  1840  he  went  with  his  wife  to 
Heidelberg,  remaining  in  Germany  for  two  years.  He  also  published 
The  Rural  and  Domestic  Life  of  Germany  (1842)  which  contains 
(pp.  464  ff.)  an  account  of  his  visit  to  Weimar  and  (p.  54)  the  trans- 
lation of  a  long  passage  from  Hermann  und  Dorothea,  and  a  translation 
of  Chamisso's  Peter  Schlemihl  (1843). 

The  Maid  of  Orleans,  and  other  Poems.  Translated  from  the  German 
by  E.  S.  and  F.  J.  Turner.  London :  Smith,  Elder  and  Co.  1842. 
Contains  p.  238 :  Song,  *  I  think  of  thee,  when  o'er  the  ocean  glancing ' 
(Ndhe  des  Geliebten).  p.  239 :  Consolation  in  Tears,  '  How  is  it  that 
thou  art  so  sad.'  p.  241 :  To  one  far  away,  '  Have  I  then  for  ever  lost 
thee  V  (An  die  Entfernte). 


H.  G.   FIEDLER  65 

Poems  Original  and  Translated  by  John  Herman  Merivale,  Esq., 
F.S.A.  A  new  edition.  2  vols.  W.  Pickering,  London,  1844.  The  first 
edition,  published  in  1839,  in  addition  to  original  poems  contained 
translations  from  the  Greek,  Latin  and  Italian  only.  In  this  new  edition 
translations  from  the  German  have  been  added  to  vol.  n.  They  include 
versions  of  Goethe's  Zauberlehrling1,  Nahe  des  Geliebten,  Beherzigung, 
Kophtisches  Lied  ('Geh!  gehorche  meinen  Winken'),  and  of  two  passages 
from  Faust  (' O  sahst  du,  voller  Mondenschein,'  'Du  flehst  eratmend, 
mich  zu  schauen ')  which  Miss  Simmons  has  mistaken  for  a  translation 
of  the  Prolog  irn  Himmel. 

The  author,  who  in  the  Preface  to  vol.  I  describes  himself  as  a 
'Sexagenarian  Judge  of  Bankruptcy,'  was  born  in  1779  and  died  in 
1844.  He  also  published  the  Minor  Poems  of  Schiller,  was  an  excellent 
classical  scholar  and  a  friend  of  Byron,  who  mentions  him  in  English 
Bards  and  Scotch  Reviewers.  He  is  the  father  of  the  well-known  historian 
Charles  Merivale  and  of  Herman  Merivale  (Fellow  of  Balliol  1828-34, 
Professor  of  Political  Economy  in  Oxford  1837-42,  Under  Secretary  for 
India  1860  to  his  death  in  1874)  who  contributed  to  the  Edinburgh 
Review  the  articles  on  Goethe  and  H.  C.  Robinson  referred  to  by  Professor 
Carre. 

German  Ballads,  Songs,  'etc.,  comprising  Translations  from  Schiller, 
Burger,  Goethe,  etc.  London:  James  Burns.  N.D.  [1845].  Contains  p.  54: 
The  Minstrel,  'What  strain  is  that  without  our  walls.' 

Verse  Translations  from  the  German  :  Including  Burger's  Lenore, 
Schiller's  Song  of  the  Bell,  and  other  Poems.  London :  John  Murray. 
1847.  Contains  p.  51:  Clara's  Song,  'Gladness  and  sadness.'  p.  52: 
Joy  in  Tears,  '  How  is  it  that  thou  art  so  sad.'  p.  55 :  The  Travellers 
Evening  Song,  '  Under  every  covert  is  rest.' 

The  author  is  Dr  William  Whewell,  Master  of  Trinity  College,  Cam- 
bridge, from  1841  to  his  death  in  1866 2. 

English  Hexameter  Translations  from  Schiller,  Gothe,  Homer,  Gallinus, 
and  Meleager.   London:  John  Murray.    1847.    Oblong  8°. 

1  Merivale's  translations  of  Der  Zauberlehrling  had  been  previously  printed,  though  in 
a  somewhat  different  form,  in  I.  B.  Sonderland's  Designs  and  Border  Illustrations  to  Poems 
of  Gothe  etc.,  London,  1841. 

2  See  J.  Todhunter,  William  Whewell,  D.D.  An  Account  of  his  Writings,  Macmillan, 
1876,  vol.  i,  p.  166:  '  The  authorship  of  the  volume  is  known  from  Dr  WhewelPs  corre- 
spondence.' Prof.  Carre's  notes  on  Whewell  seem  to  have  got  badly  disarranged  and 
misprinted.  On  p.  157  of  his  Bibliographie,  apart  from  minor  inaccuracies,  the  above  poems 
(together  with  Day  Dreams  which  is  not  from  Goethe)  are  mentioned  as  being  contained 
in  Whewell's  translation  of  Hermann  und  Dorothea,  privately  printed,  1839.  The  copy  in 
the  British  Museum  does  not  contain  them. 

M.  L.  R.  XVIII.  5 


66  Goethe's  Lyric  Poems  in  English  Translation 

This  volume  was  edited  by  Dr  W.  Whewell.  It  contains  translations 
by  himself  (signed  W.  W.),  Sir  John  Herschel  (J.  F.  W.  H.),  Archdeacon 
Hare  (J.  C.  EL),  J.  G.  Lockhart  (J.  G.  L.),  and  Dr  E.  C.  Hawtrey,  Head- 
master of  Eton  1834  to  1852  (E.  C.  H.)1. 

The  translations  from  Goethe  are  p.  204 :  A  Poetical  Epistle,  '  Now 
the  whole  world  reads.'  p.  212 :  A  Second  Poetical  Epistle,  'Excellent 
friend!  thou  knittest  thy  brows.'  p.  217:  Alexis  and  Bora,  'Ah!  every 
moment  the  vessel  is  driving.'  p.  229 :  The  Metamorphosis  of  Plants, 
'  Thou,  my  love,  art  perplext.'  The  first  three  are  by  Hare  and  had  been 
published  in  the  Athenaeum  eighteen  years  previously,  the  last  is  by 
Whewell  who  had  printed  eight  lines  from  it  in  a  foot-note  to  p.  435  of 
his  History  of  the  Inductive  Sciences,  London,  18372. 

A  Book  of  Ballads  from  the  German  by  Percy  Boyd,  Esqr.  James 
McClashan,  Dublin,  1848.  The  volume  is  dedicated  to  Sir  Edward  Bulwer 
Lytton.  Miss  Simmons  has  overlooked  that  in  addition  to  a  version  of 
the  Hochzeitlied  (p.  Ill:  A  Lay  of  Christmas)  it  contains  on  p.  89  The 
King  and  the  Gap,  '  A  monarch  once  in  Thule.' 

In  a  Preface,  dated  Dublin,  December  1847,  the  author  states  that 
with  the  exception  of  a  few,  which  were  made  while  he  was  resident  in 
Heidelberg,  his  translations  were  written  '  in  moments  snatched  from 
the  weary  routine  of  less  agreeable  pursuits.'  I  have  seen  him  referred 
to  as  a  great  friend  of  Dickens  and  Thackeray.  He  died  in  London  on 
January  1,  1876. 

Lays  and  Legends  by  G.  W.  Thornbury.  Saunders  and  Otley,  London, 
1851.  Dedicated  to  Washington  Irving.  Contains  p.  99  :  The  Dance  of 
Death,  '  The  sexton  looks  forth  in  the  murk  midnight.' 

George  Walter  Thornbury  was  born  in  London  November  13,  1828, 
contributed  to  the  Athenamm  and  other  journals  from  1850,  published 
The  Monarchs  of  the  Main,  3  vols.,  1855,  Life  in  Spain,  2  vols.,  1859,  and 
many  other  books,  died  London,  June  11,  18763. 

Memoirs  of  a  Literary  Veteran  by  R.  P.  Gillies.  3  vols.  London,  1851. 
Contains  vol.  in,  p.  25  :  An  epigram  '  containing  Goethe's  notion  of  a  re- 

1  A  minute  description  of  the  volume  is  given  by  Todhunter,  I.e.  vol.  i,  pp.  286,  287. 
He  omits,  however,  to  name  the  author  of  the  original  poem  introductory  to  Herman  and 
Dorothea,  signed  M.  L.  He  was,  no  doubt,  Williawt  WheweU,  who  was  fond  of  signing  his 
contributions  to  periodicals  with  the  final  letters  of  his  name. 

■  Prof.  Carre"  (I.e.  p.  157)  assumes  that  the  whole  poem  appeared  in  the  History  of  the 
Inductive  Sciences,  referring  moreover  to  the  edition  of  1837  but  to  the  paging  of  the  1859 
edition.  Miss  Simmons  (p.  145)  assumes  two  translations,  one  by  Hare,  published  in  1847 
and  another  by  Whewell,  published  1859. 

:J  See  Times,  June  13,  1876,  p.  10;  Graphic,  xm,  1876,  p.  614  (with  portrait). 


H.  G.  FIEDLER  67 

viewer,' '  You  make  a  feast,  you  spread  the  board.'  This  is  a  free  rendering 
of  Goethe's  Rezensent  ('Da  hatt'  ich  einen  Kerl  zu  Gast'). 

The  Book  of  German  Songs:  from  the  Sixteenth  to  the  Nineteenth 
Century.  Translated  and  edited  by  H.  W.  Dulcken.  London :  Ward  and 
Lock.  1836.  A  second  edition  appeared  in  1871.  Contains  p.  114:  The 
Tailor  s  Fright  {Schneider  Courage),  p.  141:  The  Water  it  Rushes  (from 
Jery  und  Biitely).  p.  211 :  The  King  of  Thule.  p.  254:  Wanderers  Song, 
'  From  the  mountain  to  the  hill-side '  (  Wanderlied). 

Original  Poems  with  Translations  by  Sophia  Milligan.  London: 
Hurst  and  Blackett.  1856.  Contains  p.  253  :  The  Minstrel,  '  Before  the 
gate  what  do  I  hear.'  p.  256 :  Nearness  of  the  Beloved,  *  I  think  of 
thee,  when  from  the  Ocean  glances.' 

H.  G.  Fiedler. 

Oxford. 


5—2 


HEINE  AND  THE  SAINT-SIMONIANS. 

The  Date  of  the  Letters  from  Heligoland. 

I. 

The  study  of  Heine  and  the  Saint-Simonians,  a  peculiarly  absorbing 
and  interesting  one,  bristles  with  notes  of  interrogation.  The  story  of 
his  personal  relations  with  the  members  of  this  remarkable  sect  is  so 
full  of  unanswered  questions  and  half-confidences,  is  haunted  by  the 
ghosts  of  so  many  lost  letters  and  elusive  manuscripts,  that  one  can  do 
little  more  than  guess  at  the  truth.  Nor  is  the  question  of  the  influence 
of  the  Saint-Simonian  religion  on  Heine's  mind  without  ambiguity  and 
obscurity.  Two  widely  different  attitudes  towards  this  question  have 
been  adopted  in  the  past.  The  more  orthodox  writers,  such  as  Strodt- 
mann1  and  Lichtenberger2,  have  taken  their  stand  on  De  VAllemagne3. 
They  have  established  by  quotations  the  obvious  parallelism  between 
the  Exposition  de  la  doctrine  de  Saint-Simon,  and  many  passages  in  the 
Romantische  Schule  and  Zur  Geschichte  der  Religion  and  Philosophie  in 
Deutschland,  which  prove  that  Heine  accepted  from  the  Saint-Simonians 
their  philosophy  of  history,  their  analysis  of  the  Christian  dualism,  their 
gospel  of  pantheism,  and  their  demand  for  the  '  rehabilitation  of  the 
flesh.'  Although  Strodtmann  may  say  that  the  religious  ideas  of  the 
Saint-Simonians  coincided  remarkably  with  Heine's  own  views4,  and 
Lichtenberger  may  allow  that  Heine  combined  the  doctrines  of  this 
school  with  his  former  revolutionary  theories  and  with  what  he  remem- 
bered of  Hegel's  teaching5,  still  neither  of  these  writers  is  much  con- 
cerned with  the  very  remarkable  foreshadowing  of  the  Saint-Simonian 
theories  which  is  to  be  found  in  Heine's  earlier  writings. 

It  is  this  latter  aspect  of  the  case  which  has  chiefly  impressed 
E.  Montegut  and  Julian  Schmidt,  who  are  perhaps  the  two  most  im- 
portant representatives  of  the  second  and  less  orthodox  attitude.   The 

1  A.  Strodtmann,  H.  Heine's  Leben  und  Werke,  second  edition,  Berlin,  1873. 

2  H.  Lichtenberger,  Henri  Heine,  penseur,  Paris,  1905. 

3  I  use  the  title  De  VAllemagne  in  this  study,  for  convenience,  to  include  only :  Die 
romantische  Schule,  1833,  and  Zur  Geschichte  der  Religion  und  Philosophie  in  Deutschland, 
1834.  In  reality  it  included  as  well  the  first  part  of  the  Elementargeister  and  various  other 
fragments. 

4  Strodtmann,  op.  cit.,  p.  82. 

5  Lichtenberger,  op.  cit.,  p.  114. 


E.  M.  BUTLER  69 

former  declares  that  Heine  owes  nothing  to  the  Saint-Simonians1,  whilst 
the  latter  allows  at  most  that  his  intercourse  with  the  school  may  have 
helped  him  to  formulate  some  of  his  views2. 

If  we  leave  the  letters  from  Heligoland  on  one  side  for  the  moment, 
the  modification  which  Heine's  philosophy  would  seem  to  have  under- 
gone after  his  arrival  in  Paris  in  1831,  that  is  to  say,  after  his  acquaint- 
ance with  the  Saint-Simonian  religion,  is  all  in  the  direction  of  synthesis, 
harmony  and  coherence.  Before  that  period,  he  certainly  held  many 
views  which  were  almost  indistinguishable  from  theirs,  notably  the 
criticism  of  Christianity  as  a  religion  which  unduly  penalised  the  senses3, 
the  glorification  of  an  earthly  paradise  at  the  expense  of  the  promised 
treasures  of  heaven4,  a  hostile  attitude  towards  the  marriage-laws5,  and 
a  conception  of  history  which  only  lacked  the  Saint-Simonian  labels 
*  epoques  organiques  et  critiques6.'  Nevertheless,  these  views,  scattered 
throughout  the  pages  of  the  Reisebilder,  are  entirely  disconnected  and 
incoherent.  He  had  no  philosophy  which  could  combine  them  into  an 
organic  whole,  and  his  religious  views  particularly  were  in  a  state  of 
chaos.  This  was  largely  the  result  of  Heine's  temperament.  There  was 
a  tragic  lack  of  harmony  in  his  personality,  and  he  has  truly  described 
himself  as  the  enfant  perdu  of  the  age.  For  he  was  bound  up  of  contra- 
dictions :  romanticism  and  reason ;  sentimentality  and  wit ;  scepticism 
and  religious  longings  ;  idealism  and  materialism  in  love ;  democratic 
principles  and  aristocratic  prejudices :  all  this  further  complicated  by 
his  artistic  impressionability,  his  extreme  susceptibility  to  beauty,  which 
made  him  at  one  and  the  same  time  an  ardent  spiritualist  and  an 
exuberant  sensualist,  with  no  religious  faith  that  could  soothe  the  fret 
occasioned  by  the  strife  of  soul  and  senses  within  him.  During  this 
period  he  was  for  ever  searching  for  a  religion  which  should  combine  these 
two  warring  tendencies  and  should  '  moralise '  them  both.  As  late  as 
1830  he  had  sought  in  vain,  and  he  has  stated  with  great  vividness  the 
dilemma  in  which  he  found  himself  between  Christianity,  which  starved 
his  senses,  and  paganism,  which  starved  his  soul. 

1  E.  Montegut,  Henri  Heine.  Annies  de  Jeunesse.  Poesies  Lyriques  (Revue  des  deux 
Monde*,  May  15,  1884). 

2  J.  Schmidt,  Bilder  aus  dem  geistigen  Leben  wiserer  Zeit,  ii,  Leipzig,  1871,  p.  328. 

3  Almansor  (1821),  Samtliche  Werke,  ed.  E.  Elster  (my  references  are  throughout  to  this 
edition,  but  in  my  quotations  I  have  retained  the  orthography  of  the  earlier  Strodtmann 
edition,  Hamburg,  Hoffmann  und  Campe,  1861-74),  ii,  pp.  281-289;  Die  Gotter  Griechen- 
lands  (1826),  i,  pp.  187-189 ;  Die  Bader  von  Lucca  (1829),  iii,  p.  318. 

4  Das  Buch  le  Grand  (1826),  iii,  pp.  175,  189  ;  Die  Stadt  Lucca  (1830),  iii,  pp.  404,  407, 
418,  421. 

5  Reise  von  Milnchen  nach  Genua  (1829),  iii,  p.  281. 

6  Die  Nordsee,  in  (1826),  iii,  p.  92 ;  Die  Bader  von  Lucca  (1829),  iii,  p.  304. 


70  Heine  and  the  Saint- Simonians 

I  refer  to  the  famous  passage  in  Chapter  VI  of  the  Stadt  Lucca  which 
is  prefaced  by  an  extract  from  the  first  book  of  the  Iliad  (11.  59 7-604) 1. 
Christ,  a  pale  Jew,  dripping  with  blood,  a  crown  of  thorns  upon  His  head, 
comes  panting  into  the  gay  assembly  of  the  Olympian  gods,  and  throws 
His  great  wooden  cross  on  to  the  tall  table,  so  that  the  golden  bowls 
trembled,  and  the  gods  fell  silent  and  became  ever  paler,  until  they 
dissolved  in  mist.  Heine  first  regrets  their  disappearance — as  a  pure 
pagan,  one  who  might  have  sung  with  Swinburne:  'Thou  hast  conquered, 
oh  pale  Galilean  :  the  world  has  grown  grey  from  thy  breath ' ;  but  the 
romantic  in  him,  the  sentimentalist,  the  sorrowful  son  of  a  sorrowful  age, 
doubts  and  hesitates,  and  finally  decides  that  a  tortured  God  and  a 
mournful  religion  make  an  irresistible  appeal  to  suffering  and  oppressed 
mankind.  Keenly  aware  of  the  antithesis  between  paganism  and 
Christianity,  unable  definitely  to  decide  between  them,  although  on 
the  whole  feeling  the  stronger  pull  towards  an  Hellenic  paganism  of 
his  own  making,  thus  Heine  stands  wavering  on  the  threshold  of  his 
acquaintance  with  Saint- Simonism. 

From  1831  onwards,  however,  first  in  the  Fravzosische  Maler  and 
then  in  De  V Allemagne,  he  speaks  with  a  very  different  voice.  Whereas 
before  1831  the  dominant  note  was  pessimism  and  the  emphasis  lay  on 
the  insoluble  problem  of  the  nature  of  man,  there  is  now  a  much  more 
hopeful  tone  in  his  writings,  and  the  emphasis  lies  on  the  harmony  to 
which  man  can  attain  by  recognising  in  his  sensual  nature  an  aspect  of 
the  manifestation  of  God.  The  Saint-Simonian  religion,  which  sought 
in  this  way  to  harmonise  soul  and  senses,  flesh  and  spirit,  came  to  him 
almost  as  a  revelation,  and  during  the  years  1831-1836  he  speaks  as  one 
who  had  found  an  escape  from  the  prison  of  his  own  temperament,  and 
foresaw  the  solution  of  one  of  the  great  conflicts  of  mankind. 

The  hope  which  Saint-Simonism  held  out  to  Heine  was  an  illusory 
one ;  he  abandoned  this  synthesis  later,  the  philosophy  which  he  had 
built  up  on  its  foundation  crumbled  into  ruins,  his  pessimism  came  creep- 
ing back,  and  he  died  amidst  the  wreck  of  his  former  ideals,  declaring 
almost  with  his  latest  breath  that  death  alone  could  bring  him  peace, 
and  that  the  strife  between  truth  and  beauty  would  never  cease  on 
earth2. 

The  debt  which  Heine  owed  to  the  Saint-Simonians  would  thus 
appear  to  be  the  short-lived  hope  that  happiness  was  to  be  found  in  the 

i  Die  Stadt  Lucca  (1830),  iii,  pp.  394-395. 

2  Filr  die  Mouche  (1856),  ii,  pp.  45-49.   According  to  Meissner,  written  two  or  three 
weeks  before  his  death. 


E.  M.  BUTLER  71 

fair  balance  between  spiritualism  and  sensualism  :  the  Christian  dualism 
spirit  versus  flesh  absorbed  in  the  Saint-Simonian  trinity :  Love  (or 
Beauty)  =  spirit  +  flesh.  This  theory  presents  itself  in  so  convincing  a 
way  when  Heine's  works  are  re-read  with  the  problem  of  the  Saint- 
Simonian  influence  uppermost  in  one's  mind,  that  it  is  something  in  the 
nature  of  a  shock  to  find  him  preaching  and  prophesying  harmony 
between  spirit  and  flesh  in  the  letters  from  Heligoland,  dated  1830 : 

Aber  nur  der  Leib  ward  verspottet  und  gekreuzigt,  der  Geist  ward  verherrlicht... 
und  die  ganze  Menschheit  strebte  seitdem,  in  imitationem  Christi,  nach  leiblicher 
Abtodtung  und  iibersinnlichem  Aufgehen  im absolutem  Geiste.... 

Wann  wird  die  Harmonie  wieder  eintreten,  wann  wird  die  Welt  wieder  gesunden 
von  dem  einseitigen  Streben  nach  Vergeistigung,  dem  tollen  Irrthume,  wodurch 
sowohl  Seele  wie  Korper  erkrankten  ! l 

Shakespeare  ist  zu  gleicher  Zeit  Jude  und  Grieche,  oder  vielmehr  beide  Elemente, 
der  Spiritualism  us  und  die  Kunst,  haben  sich  in  ihrn  versohnungsvoll  durchdrungen 
und  zu  einem  hoheren  Ganzen  entfaltet. 

Ist  vielleicht  solche  harmonische  Vermischung  der  beiden  Elemente  die  Aufgabe 
der  ganzen  europaischen  Civilisation?2 

II. 

These  letters  are  dated  from  Heligoland,  July  1  to  August  19,  1830, 

and  describe   the   impression    the   July  Revolution  made   on  Heine's 

mind :  his  depressed,  embittered  mood  before  the  great  news  reached 

him,  and  the  passionate  enthusiasm  with  which  he  greeted  the  dawn  of 

freedom  in  France.    They  were  incorporated  in  his  Borne  in  1840,  and 

Heine  is  at  some  pains  both  in  the  German  postscript3  and  especially  in 

the  French  preface4  to  impress  on  his  readers  that  they  are  being  given 

in  their  original  form  : 

Les  feuilles  suivantes  furent  ecrites  quelques  jours  avant  et  quelques  jours  apres 
la  revolution  de  Juillet....Je  les  ai  donnees  dans  leur  forme  primitive,  quoique  bien 
des  petites  inexactitudes  qui  s'y  trouvent  trahissent  parfois  nne  ingenuite  qui  pourra 
faire  sourire  le  lecteur  francais  aux  frais  du  novice  allemand  6. 

Now  since  we  are  dealing  with  Heine,  this  declaration  in  itself  looks 

a  little  suspicious ;  it  certainly  proves  nothing  more  positive  than  his 

desire  that  the  date  should  be  accepted  as  genuine.    He  often  took  a 

mischievous  delight  in -  mystifying  his  public,  and  he  was  by  no  means 

squeamish  about  altering  dates  if  it  suited  his  convenience.    Thus  we 

find  him  writing  to  Varnhagen  von  Ense  on  the  subject  of  the  Nachtrage 

zu  den  Reisebildern6 : 

Sie  werden  sich  nicht  tiiuschen  lassen  durch  meine  politische  Vorrede  und 
Nachrede,  worin  ich  glauben  mache,  dass  das  Buch  ganz  von  fruherem  Datum  sey. 

1  vii,  p.  47.  2  vii,  p.  53. 

3  vii,  pp.  65-66.  *  vii,  pp.  548-550.  5  vii,  p.  549. 

6  Die  Stadt  Lucca  and  Englische  Fragmente. 


72  Heine  and  the  Saint- Simonians 

In  der  ersten  Hiilfte  sind  etwa  drey  Bogen  schon  alt ;  in  der  zweyten  Halfte  ist  nur 
der  Schlussaufsatz  ueu.1 

Nor  can  his  statement  to  Campe,  that  these  letters  are  detached 
from  his  diaries,  and  an  integral  part  of  his  memoirs,  be  taken  to  mean 
that  he  is  giving  them  in  their  original  form.  He  is  chiefly  anxious  here 
to  impress  Campe  with  the  great  sacrifice  he  is  making  in  publishing  a 
part  of  his  memoirs,  and  thus  force  him  to  pay  the  2000  marks  which 
he  demanded  for  the  Borne,  and  which  Campe  was  extremely  unwilling 
to  disburse. 

Die  Spannung  und  die  Neugier,  wonrit  mein  'Borne'  bereits  erwartet  wird,  ang- 
stigte  mich  ein  wenig,  um  so  mehr,  da  lange  kein  Buch  von  mir  erschienen.  Ich  habe 
mich  daher  entschlossen,  ein  ganz  besonderes  Opfer  zu  bringen,  und  aus  den  Tage- 
biichern,  welcheein  integrirender  Theil  meiner  Memoiren,  detachirte  ich  eine  schone 
Partie,  welchedie  Entbonsiasmusperiode  von  1830  schildert  und  in  meinem  'Borne' 
zwischen  dem  ersten  und  zweyten  Buche  vortrefflich  eingeschaltet  werden  konnte ; 
was  dem  Ganzen,  wie  Sie  sehen  werden,  ein  gesteigertes  Interesse  verleiht....  Ist 
nun  diese  Zugabe  nicht  ein  grosses  Opfer,  und  zeigt  sich  hierin  ein  Honorargeiz? 
Sie  sehen,  ich  thue  alles  fiir  das  Werk,  und  ich  sackrifizire  ihm  nicht  bloss  den 
Honorarbetrag  von  fiinf  bis  sechs  Druckbogen,  sondern  auch  die  weit  unberechen- 
barern  Interessen  eines  meiner  kostbarsten  Manuskripte 2. 

Such,  then,  is  Heine's  own  account  of  how  he  came  to  insert  the 
letters  from  Heligoland  into  his  book  on  Borne.  Strodtmann,  Proelss  and 
Elster3  accept  the  date  without  comment.  Karpeles  is  convinced  that  it 
is  genuine.  Brandes  regards  the  letters  with  some  suspicion4,  and  Walzel, 
as  we  shall  see  later,  is  possibly  a  little  doubtful,  but  the  question  of 
whether  Heine  tampered  with  the  letters  in  1839-1840  has  never  seriously 
arisen.  From  any  point  of  view  but  that  of  the  study  of  the  Saint- 
Simonian  influence  in  Heine's  writings,  it  would  appear  to  be  of  little 
importance,  and  could  at  most  arouse  a  purely  academic  interest.  In  this 
connection,  however,  the  authenticity  of  the  date  of  these  letters  calls  for 
careful  attention.  If  the  date  is  genuine,  then  Heine  was  not  indebted 
to  Saint-Simonism  for  his  conception  of  a  new  religion  that  should  har- 
monise spirit  and  senses,  and  Montegut  and  J.  Schmidt  are  right  in 

1  F.  Hirth,  Heinrich  Heine,  Briefwechsel,  1914-20,  i,  p.  628.  The  letter  is  dated  Nov. 
19,  1830. 

2  Hirth,  ii,  p.  307.  Letter  dated  Feb.  18,  1840.  I  think  that  Heine  was  throwing  dust 
in  Campe 's  eyes  here,  and  that  he  had  already  decided  to  use  these  letters  for  the  book  on 
the  July  Bevolution  which  he  was  planning  at  the  time.  (Cp.  Hirth,  ii,  pp.  298,  312.)  It  is 
significant  that  he  abandoned  the  idea  of  this  book  after  he  had  incorporated  the  letters 
in  his  Borne.    The  sacrifice  in  this  case  was  not  so  great  as  he  would  have  Campe  believe. 

3  Cp.  Elster,  vii,  p.  648.  E.  Fiirst  makes  no  comment  on  the  date  of  the  letters,  but 
treats  them  as  if  they  had  been  written  in  1839-40  (H.  Heine,  Leben,  Werke  u.  Briefe, 
pp.  258,  328.  417-418). 

4  '  Even  if  these  expressions  have  been  strung  together  at  a  later  period,  even  if  the 
letters  are  not  genuine  but  a  fragment  of  a  memoir  inserted  later,  for  the  sake  of  contrast, 
in  the  book  on  Borne,  they  will  undoubtedly  give  us  a  correct  picture  of  Heine's  mental 
attitude  at  that  time '  (Brandes,  Young  Germany,  Engl,  transl.,  London,  1905,  p.  28). 


E.  M.  BUTLER  73 

allowing  a  very  minor  rdle  to  the  New  Church  in  the  history  of  Heine's 
thought. 

Now  we  know  from  Laube's  famous  Nekrolog  written  in  August, 

1846,  on  the  occasion  of  the  false  rumour  of  the  poet's  death,  that  Heine 

was  not  quite  frank  in  the  reasons  he  gave  to  Campe  for  including  the 

letters  from  Heligoland  in  his  Borne.   In  reality  it  was  in  order  to  meet 

Laube's  objection  to  the  bitterness  which  Heine  expressed  against  Borne, 

that  the  author  introduced  this  'mountain'  into  his  book1.    Laube  had 

declared  that  such  a  '  mountain '  was  necessary  to  throw  the  personal 

enmity  into  the  shade,  and  that  it  must  be  the  development  of  Heine's 

1  grossere  Weltanschauung '  as  against  Borne's  purely  political  opinions. 

Heine  seemed  to  agree,  and  during  the  winter  1839-1840,  whenever  he 

met  Laube  in  the  streets  of  Paris  or  came  to  see  him,  he  would  assure 

him  that  he  was  'building  the  mountain.'  Laube  was  extremely  dissatisfied 

with  the  result,  and  said  that  the  ideas  of  the  July  Revolution  were 

rather  a  valley  than  a  mountain,  and  that  it  was  just  these  ideas,  in  the 

main  Borne's,  which  Heine  ought  to  have  proved  inferior  to  his  own. 

I  think,  however,  that  he  missed  the  point,  and  that  Heine  had  done 

what  he  had  promised  to  do.    Partly,  no  doubt,  he  hoped  that  it  would 

be  apparent  in  the  letters  from  Heligoland  that  his  ideal  of  freedom 

was  a  finer  and  a  freer  thing  than  Borne's,  but  even  Heine  could  hardly 

call  freedom  a  philosophy  of  life.    Who  were  the  '  Gotter  der  Zukunft ' 

entrusted  to  his  care?2    What  was  this  'greater  philosophy,'  which  he 

possessed  in  1839,  and  which  was  so  infinitely  superior  to  Borne's  narrow 

views  ?   It  was  nothing  else  than  the  harmony  between  sensualism  and 

spiritualism,  which  he  had  been  openly  preaching  since  18313,  and  which 

the  Saint-Simonians  had  proclaimed  in  18304.    The  whole  tendency  of 

the  book  on  Borne  lies  in  the  contrast  between  the  latter's  narrow 

Nazarenism  and  Heine's  broader  Hellenism,  which  was  at  the  root  of 

their  personal  antipathy.    Heine  had  defined  this  difference  between 

them  in  the  first  book,  written  in  1839.   'Jews'  and  'Christians,'  he  says, 

are  for  him  but  two  terms  which  designate  the  same  temperament ;  he 

unites  them  in  the  epithet  'Nazarenes'  to  which  he  opposes  'Hellenes' : 

'  Menschen    mit   ascetischen,    bildfeindlichen,    vergeistigungssiichtigen 

Trieben,  oder  Menschen  von  lebensheiterem,  entfaltungsstolzem  und 

1  Laube  was  in  Paris  during  the  winter  1839-40. 

2  vii,  p.  41. 

3  I.e.,  1831,  in  Franzosische  Maler ;  cp.  Elster,  iv,  pp.  54-56;  1833  and  1834  in  De 
VAllemagne,  passim. 

4  In  the  Deuxieme  annee  of  the  Exposition  de  la  Doctrine  de  Saint-Simon,  published  in 
the  Oraanisateur,  which,  however,  does  not  seem  to  have  penetrated  into  Germany  before 
1831. 


74  Heine  and  the  Saint- Simonians 

realistischem  WesenV  This  antithesis  occurs  again  and  again  through- 
out the  Borne2. 

Now,  when  we  know  that  the  letters  from  Heligoland  were  inserted 
between  the  first  and  second  book  for  the  express  purpose  of  developing 
a  '  greater  philosophy '  than  Borne's,  which  Heine  had  preached  since 
1831,  but  not  before,  unless  in  these  very  letters ;  when  we  have  seen 
too  that  in  1830  he  still  stood  uncertain  between  paganism  and  Chris- 
tianity, and  that  no  presentiment  of  a  religion  which  might  bridge  the 
gulf  between  them  had  then  dawned  upon  his  mind,  we  are  justified, 
I  think,  in  suspecting  that  this  part  is  the  work  of  1840,  and  not  of  1830. 

Nor  is  this  suspicion  entirely  unsupported  by  proofs.  There  is  some 
internal  evidence  that  Heine  was  not  guiltless  of  textual  alterations,  and 
this  evidence  should  now  be  considered.  I  will  begin  with  a  very  slight 
slip,  which  first  caught  my  attention  whilst  I  was  puzzling  over  the 
anomaly  of  the  Saint-Simonian  synthesis  in  Heine's  pre-Paris  days.  It 
was  a  reference  to  the  'schwabische  Gelbveiglein'  rather  inconsequently 
dragged  into  the  story  of  Leah  and  Rachel :  '  Unterdessen  kommt  Ruben 
nach  Hause  und  bringt  seiner  Mutter  einen  Strauss  Dudaim,  die  er  auf 
dem  Felde  gepfliickt. . .  Was  sind Dudaim  ?. . .Es  sind  vielleicht  schwabische 
Gelbveiglein3.'  Now  it  is  a  well-known  fact,  that  the  '  Swabian  wall- 
flowers'  had  been  a  standing  joke  with  Heine  since  1837  (when  he 
first  fell  foul  of  the  'schwabische  Dichterschule'),  but  not  before.  Their 
supposed  appearance  in  1830  is  little  short  of  an  anachronism.  It  is  an 
addition  of  no  importance  in  itself,  but  at  least  it  is  a  straw  which  shows 
that  the  wind  of  1840  blew  through  the  letters  from  Heligoland. 

Then  again,  it  is  surprising  to  find  Heine  describing  himself  as  a 
'  heimlicher  Hellene4.'  It  is  cleverly  done,  since  it  would  lead  us  to 
suppose  that  the  'grossere  Weltanschauung'  dated  from  before  the 
Revolution,  but  it  is  the  first  time  that  we  find  the  term  'Hellene'  in  his 
writings,  and  this  in  a  book  whose  whole  later  tendency  is  to  glorify 
Hellenism  at  the  expense  of  Nazarenism.  It  occurs  immediately  before 
a  fine  passage  in  which  he  characterises  the  Jews  as  the  '  people  of  the 
spirit.'  This  again  is  the  first  hint  of  such  an  attitude  towards  the  Jews, 
always  supposing  that  the  date  1830  is  genuine5.  But  when  we  come  to 

1  vii,  p.  24.  2  Cp.  vii,  pp.  23,  24-25,  38-39,  116,  123,  144-146. 

3  vii,  p.  48.  Cp.  Genesis,  xxx,  14  ff.  The  earlier  editions  have  Judaim,  the  error  here 
being  Heine's.   The  Greek  version  is  mandragoras. 

4  vii,  p.  46. 

5  The  first  certain  instance  of  this  attitude  is  to  be  found  in  Schnabelewopski  (1834), 
where  he  calls  the  Jews  '  das  Volk  des  Geistes'  and  the  Christians  '  das  Geistervolk.'  Cp. 
iv,  p.  132.  There  is  a  very  striking  resemblance  between  this  passage  in  the  letters  from 
Heligoland  (vii,  pp.  46-47)  and  part  of  the  third  chapter  of  the  Rabbi  von  Bacharach  (iv, 
p.  486),  which  was  almost  certainly  written  in  1840.  Cp.  Hirth,  ii,  p.  327. 


E.  M.  BUTLER  75 

the  term  '  Jude '  applied  to  Shakespeare1,  the  alteration  of  the  original 
text  seems  to  force  itself  on  our  notice.  It  is  almost  certain  that 
Heine  would  have  used  the  antithesis  '  Christian '  and  ■  Greek '  until 
1836;  it  is  in  the  Elementargeister  (1836)  that  he  first  uses  the  term 
Nazarenism  in  a  technical  sense  which  includes  Judaism  and  Christianity. 
The  passage  is  extremely  reminiscent  of  the  corresponding  definition  in 
the  first  book  of  the  Borne  from  which  I  have  quoted  above2.  Before  1836 
he  uses  'Christian'  and  'spiritual' as  opposed  to 'Greek.'3  Moreover, 
in  Zur  Geschichte  der  Religion  und  Philosophie  in  Deutschland  (1834)  he 
still  adopts  the  Saint-Simonian  conception  of  Judaism  as  much  more 
sensual  than  Christianity4,  which  goes  to  prove  that  his  adherence  to 
Hegel's  theory  that  the  Jews  were  the  spiritual  people  par  excellence 
was  of  later  date. 

It  will,  I  hope,  be  allowed  that  it  looks  as  if  Heine  had  kept  faith 
with  Laube,  and  that,  when  he  declared  he  was  'building  the  mountain,' 
he  was  doing  a  little  more  than  copying  out  the  letters  laboriously  word 
for  word.  A  passage  or  two  to  show  that  his  religion,  the  religion  of  the 
future,  was  one  of  harmony  and  happiness5,  the  underlining  of  the  one- 
sided spiritualism  of  the  Jews,  which  would  recall  Borne  to  his  readers' 
minds6,  a  vaguely- worded  prophecy  of  the  millennium7 ;  the  whole 
cleverly  worked  in  with  his  notes  on  the  Bible,  which  he  had  been 
reading  in  18308,  and  which  had  fired  his  imagination,  and  now  Laube 
will  surely  be  satisfied,  and  Heine  can  proceed  to  enjoy  himself. 

For  the  re-writing  of  the  letters  from  Heligoland  did  not  end  with 
the  development  of  the  'greater  philosophy.'  Heine  was  always  more 
an  artist  than  a  thinker,  and  some  years  before  1840  he  had  begun  to 
fall  out  of  love  with  the  Saint-Simonian  synthesis.  He  had,  however,  no 
other  philosophy  to  put  in  its  place,  and  it  still  served  him  well  enough 
for  polemical  purposes.  I  imagine  that  he  undertook  the  modifications 
in  this  direction  airily  and  carelessly,  to  satisfy  his  friend  rather  than 
himself. 

But  the  congenial  task  of  enhancing  the  artistic  value  of  the  letters 
would  make  an  almost  irresistible  appeal  to  Heine,  and  here,  although 

1  vii,  p.  53. 

2  Elementargeister  (1836),  iv,  p.  423;  cp.  vii,  pp.  24-25,  and  also  Shakespeares  Madchen 
und  Frauen  (1838),  v,  pp.  454-455. 

3  See  De  I'Allemagne,  passim. 

*  iv,  pp.  192  and  583-4.  5  vii,  pp.  47  and  53,  quoted  above. 

6  vii,  pp.  46-47.  7  vii,  p.  50. 

8  Cp.  Hirth,  i,  p.  587  :  letter  to  Vamhagen  fromWandsbeck,  April  5,  1830;  and  Hirth, 
i,  p.  614 :  letter  to  Vamhagen  from  Wandsbeck,  June  16,  1830.  There  is  no  reference  to 
the  Bible  in  the  correspondence  from  Heligoland  which  has  been  preserved,  but  he  probably 
had  it  with  him  on  the  island.   It  was  much  in  his  thoughts  at  the  time. 


76  Heine  arid  the  Saint- Simonians 

the  alterations  are,  I  believe,  much  more  extensive,  the  motive  is  a  less 
questionable  one,  since  his  chief  concern  was  to  recapture  his  mood  on 
the  island  before  the  Revolution.  He  was  aiming  here  at  poetic  truth, 
whereas  when  he  dated  the  '  greater  philosophy '  1830,  his  object  was  to 
deceive. 

I  do  not  think  that  he  tampered  much  with  the  letters  dated 
August  6,  10  and  19,  in  which  his  enthusiasm  at  the  triumph  of  free- 
dom is  so  finely  expressed,  and  in  which  his  words  are  not  unlike  the 
flaming  stars  and  flashing  spears  with  which  he  compares  them1.  The 
emotional  truth  of  this  '  first  fine  careless  rapture '  is  not  to  be  denied, 
and  Heine  was  too  clever  an  artist  to  attempt  any  serious  alterations  in 
a  colder  mood2.  Moreover  when  he  affirms  that  he  is  giving  the  letters 
in  their  original  form,  it  is  obvious  from  the  context  that  he  is  thinking 
of  these  later  letters.  He  instances  his  ingenuous  adoption  of  the  legend 
of  'Lafayette  aux  cheveux  blancs'  and  his  uncritical  enthusiasm  for  the 
faithful  dog  Medor.  He  was  artist  enough  to  leave  these  little  mistakes 
intact,  though  he  could  not  refrain  from  commenting  on  his  restraint. 

It  is  more  difficult  to  believe  that  he  left  the  earlier  letters  untouched, 
and  there  are  signs  that  he  undertook  alterations  in  two  directions.  In 
the  first  place,  he  wished  to  combine  the  letters  from  Heligoland  into 
an  artistic  whole,  in  the  second  place  he  sought  to  intensify  the  mood  of 
depression  in  the  first  letters,  so  that  the  contrast  with  the  later  letters 
might  gain  in  vividness. 

Now  the  motif  of  the  death  of  Pan  runs  through  the  first  letters  like 
a  prophetic  refrain  and  re-echoes  triumphantly  when  the  prophecy  is 
fulfilled3.  Its  artistic  value  in  drawing  the  two  groups  of  letters  together 
is  so  great,  that  one  is  tempted  to  ascribe  its  presence  in  the  first  group, 
not  to  the  long  arm  of  coincidence,  but  to  the  hand  of  Heine  at  a  later 
date.  This  suspicion  is  heightened  by  the  prophetic  use  to  which  Heine 
puts  the  story  and  its  refrain.  For  among  his  more  harmless  vanities 
was  the  desire  to  impress  the  world  with  his  gift  of  divination :  he  saw 
himself  as  a  '  Sonntagskind4 '  whose  presentiments  came  true,  and  who 
saw  visions  and  dreamt  dreams  denied  to  the  rest  of  humanity. 

Even  more  suspect  appear  the  '  wunderliche  Ahnungen '  in  the  fifth 
letter,  dated  August  1 : 

Es  ist  heute  junges  Licht,  und  trotz  aller  wehmiithigen  Zweifelsucht,  womit  sich 
meine  Seele  hin  und  her  quiilt,  beschleichen  mich  wunderliche  Ahnungen.... Es 

1  viii,  p.  59. 

'2  Cp.  the  resemblance  of  mood  between  these  letters,  the  Spiitere  Nachschrift  to  the 
Stadt  Lucca  (Nov.  1830)  and  the  Schlusswort  to  the  Englische  Fragmente  (Nov.  29,  1830). 
3  Cp.  vii,  pp.  51-52,  56,  59,  62.  *  Cp.  iv,  p.  559. 


E.  M.  BUTLER  77 

geschieht  jetzt  etwas  Ausserordentliches  in  der  Welt.... Die  See  riecht  nach  Kuchen, 
und  die  Wolkenmonche  sahen  vorige  Nacht  so  traurig  aus,  so  betriibt.... 

...Es  sah  fast  aus/als  ob  sie  einer  Leiche  folgten....Wer  wird  begraben  1  Wer  ist 
gestorben  ?  sprach  ich  zu  mir  selber.    Ist  der  grosse  Pan  todt  I1 

This  is  just  the  kind  of  addition  which  Heine  could  hardly  have  re- 
sisted when  preparing  the  letters  for  the  press,  and  we  begin  to  under- 
stand the  motive,  half-artistic  and  half-childish,  which  made  him  insist 
on  their  forme  primitive. 

We  now  come  to  the  question  whether  Heine  undertook  any  altera- 
tions in  order  to  intensify  the  mood  of  depression  and  restlessness  which 
preceded  the  arrival  of  the  news  from  Paris.  The  first  letter  is  of  para- 
mount importance  here,  since  it  serves  as  a  prelude  to  the  concert  of 
conflicting  emotions  in  the  following  pages.  It  is  difficult  not  to  believe 
that  it  was  almost  entirely  re-written  in  1839-1840,  an  assumption 
which  is  not  based  on  the  very  different  form  in  which  F.  Steinmann 
gives  this  letter2.  Steinmann  has  been  very  generally  condemned  as  a 
literary  swindler,  and  he  certainly  cannot  be  trusted  implicitly.  Never- 
theless some  of  the  letters,  first  published  by  him,  addressed  to  himself 
and  to  other  friends  of  Heine's  student  days,  have  been  included  in  all 
the  standard  collections  of  Heine's  letters.  This  one  has  been  unani- 
mously rejected,  probably  on  account  of  the  variations  from  the  text  of 
the  first  letter  from  Heligoland.  As  Heine's  version  has  always  been 
thought  to  be  genuine,  Steinmann's  would  naturally  appear  as  yet 
another  forgery. 

Wer  einmal  liigt,  dem  glaubt  man  nicht, 
Und  wenn  er  auch  die  Wahrheit  spricht. 

In  this  case  I  believe  Steinmann  printed  the  letter  as  he  received  it, 
and  that  Heine,  either  from  memory  or  from  a  copy,  worked  it  up  later 
into  the  form  in  which  we  now  know  it.  It  would,  however,  end  in  an 
almost  Gilbertian  situation  if  one  attempted  to  disprove  the  genuineness 
of  Heine's  version  supported  by  no  better  evidence  than  a  letter  pub- 
lished by  a  man  of  Steinmann's  reputation.  There  are  other  and  less 
controversial  reasons  which  seem  to  point  to  a  very  considerable  re- 
writing in  1839-18403. 

It  is  dated  from  Heligoland  on  July  1,  and  Heine,  writing  to  his 

1  vii,  p.  56.  Heine  puts  the  supposed  declaration  of  mine  host,  that  the  sea  smelt  of 
fresh-baked  cakes  on  July  28,  to  the  same  prophetic  use  as  the  story  '  Great  Pan  is  dead ' ; 
cp.  vii,  pp.  54,  56,  56-57. 

2  F.  Steinmann,  H.  Heine:  Denkwilrdigkeiten  und  Erlebnisse  aus  meinem  Zusammen- 
leben  mit  ihm,  Prague,  1857,  pp.  214-215  ;  also  included  in  his  edition  of  Heine's  letters, 
Amsterdam,  1861,  i,  pp.  94-96. 

8  I  should  perhaps  state  that  I  came  to  the  conclusions  which  follow,  before  I  had  read 
Steinmann's  version  of  the  letter,  or  knew  that  such  a  version  existed. 


78  Heine  and  the  Saint- Simonians 

sister  on  July  28,  says  that  he  has  been  on  the  island  for  three  weeks1? 
so  that  the  date  in  itself  looks  an  unlikely  one,  and  Steinmann's  date, 
July  6,  rather  more  probable2.  Nevertheless  too  much  importance  cannot 
be  given  to  dates  here,  for,  writing  to  Immermann  on  August  103,  he 
speaks  of  this  letter  to  his  sister  as  having  been  written  four  weeks  ago, 
which  shows  that  he  was  apt  to  be  confused  about  times.  In  a  postscript 
to  a  letter  to  Varnhagen,  dated  from  Wandsbeck  on  June  21 4,  he  com- 
plains that  the  weather  will  not  permit  him  to  undertake  the  journey 
till  the  end  of  the  week.  Now,  June  21  was  a  Thursday,  and  if  he  were 
able  to  go  at  the  end  of  the  week,  the  date  July  1  may  conceivably  be 
correct6.  But  the  letter  itself  seems  to  show  certain  retrospective  cha- 
racteristics, later  moods  mingling  with  his  memories  of  those  earlier 
days,  the  Heine  of  1840  looking  over  the  shoulder  of  the  Heine  of  1830. 
Thus,  when  he  is  speaking  of  the  irony  of  fate  which  had  changed  the 
poet  into  the  pamphleteer6,  he  drops  the  tell-tale  phrase :  '  Ich,  der  ich 
mich  am  liebsten  damit  beschaftigte...die  Geheimnisse  der  Elementar- 
geister  zu  erlauschen...7,'  which  reminds  us  at  once  that  his  pre-occupa- 
tion  with  the  '  Elementargeister '  was  chiefly  noticeable  since  1834. 
Then,  too,  the  sentence:  '  ...in  Frankreich  selbst  soil  es  jetzt  schlecht 
aussehen,  und  die  grosse  Retirade  hat  noch  kein  Ende8,'  coupled  with 
the  despairing  exclamation  at  the  end  of  the  letter :  '  O  Freiheit,  du 
bist  ein  boser  Traum9!'  bringing  under  a  strange  guise  a  message  of 
hope  to  readers  who  know  that  the  July  Revolution  is  at  hand ;  are  we 
not  almost  forced  to  suspect  the  dramatic  irony  apparent  here  ? 

It  is,  however,  the  textual  resemblance  between  the  poem  Jetzt 
Wohin  ?  which  I  quote  below,  and  a  portion  of  this  letter,  which  makes 
me  so  doubtful  of  the  date,  and  this,  although  Elster  has  dated  the  poem 
1830,  on  account,  I  suppose  of  this  very  resemblance10.  It  was  first 
published  in  Romanzero,  1851,  among  the  Lamentationen11. 

1  Hirth,  i,  p.  617. 

2  According  to  Steinmann,  this  letter  was  addressed  to  himself. 

3  Hirth,  i,  p.  618.  4  Hirth,  i,  p.  613. 

5  vii,  p.  45.  Heine  says  that  July  7  was  a  Sunday,  whereas  it  was  really  a  Wednesday, 
which  is  another  little  straw  of  evidence  in  favour  of  later  re-writing. 

6  This  has  a  genuine  1830  ring.  Since  1835  his  chief  lament  was  that,  politically,  he 
was  gagged  by  the  edicts. 

7  vii,  p.  42.  8  vii,  p.  44. 

9  vii,  p.  45.  I0  See  Elster,  vii,  p.  648. 

11  i,  p.  412.  0.  Walzel,  in  his  edition  of  Heine's  Wort*  (1911-15),  seems  to  date  the 
poem  later  than  1830,  and  to  be  doubtful  about  the  date  of  the  letters  :  '  Die  franzosische 
Bearbeitung  des  zweiten  Buches  wird  eingeleitet  durch  eine  langere  Darlegung,  in  der  es 
u.  a.  heisst:  "Les  feuilles  suivantes  furent  ecrites  quelques  jours  avant  et  quelques  jours 
apres  la  revolution  de  Juillet."  Sicher  weisen  sie  dieselbe  Stimmung,  die  in  den  Briefen 
dieser  Zeit,  zunachst  in  dem  Scbreiben  an  Varnhagen  vom  19.  November  anzutreffen  ist. 
Ahnliche  Erwagungen  stellt  aber  auch  das  Gedicht"  Jetzt  Wohin"  des  "Romanzero"  an.' 
(viii,  pp.  610-611.) 


E.  M.   BUTLER  79 

It  seems  to  me  that  if  the  first  three  stanzas  of  this  poem  are  read 
with  an  open  mind,  an  obvious  interpretation  suggests  itself.  The 
'  Krieg '  is  surely  the  war  against  Young  Germany,  and  the  '  Kriegs- 
gerichte'  are  the  edicts  which  were  not  withdrawn,  even  after  the 
persecution  had  died  down1.  Whilst  Heine  was  on  Heligoland,  his 
worst  enemies  were  those  he  had  made  by  his  attack  on  Platen,  and 
though  there  is  nothing  unnatural  or  unlikely  in  the  question :  '  Aber 
in  der  That  wo  soil  ich  hin  ? '  and  though  Ave  know  that  Heine  was 
getting  more  and  more  restless  and  unhappy  in  Germany,  we  are  not 
surprised  to  find  that  the  possibility  of  being  shot  appears  in  the  letter 
as  nothing  more  terrible  than  the  discomfort  of  being  roused  from  sleep 
by  a  policeman  to  see  if  he  really  is  asleep.  Heine  had  written  nothing 
before  1830  which  could  result  in  serious  government  persecutions ;  the 
case  had  altered  since  1835.  Then  again,  in  the  poem,  Heine  considers 
the  possibility  of  returning  to  Germany  in  his  sentimental  exile  vein : 
'  Der  dumme  Fuss  will  mich  gern  nach  Deutschland  tragen ' ;  whereas 
the  letter  reflects  the  mood  of  impatient  disgust  with  Germany,  which 
was  his  in  1830.  Lastly,  in  the  poem  there  is  no  mention  of  France  as 
a  possible  country  to  fly  to.  Now  if  it  had  been  written  in  1830,  France 
would  hardly  have  been  omitted,  whereas  if  it  was  written  after  1831, 
the  reason  is  obvious.  France  is  not  omitted  in  the  letter,  on  the  con- 
trary, it  is  used  very  skilfully :  the  Bourbon  reaction  is  described  as 
being  at  its  height.  The  poem,  therefore,  1  should  date  some  time  after 
1835,  when  the  war  with  Young  Germany  was  over.  I  think  myself  that 
it  was  most  probably  written  in  October,  1836,  whilst  Heine  was  at  Aix, 
for  there  is  a  great  resemblance  of  mood  between  the  poem  and  a  letter 
to  Princess  Belgiojoso  of  that  date.  During  this  period,  '  die  schmerz- 
lichste  Passionszeit  meines  Lebens2,'  he  had  come  to  realise  that  the 
voluntary  exile  of  1831  had  become  a  matter  of  stern  necessity.  The 
result  was  an  acute  attack  of  homesickness  and  '  Weltschmerz,'  with 
their  corollaries,  restlessness  and  infirmity  of  purpose  : 

Est-ce  que,  Madame,  je  ferai  bientot  ma  paix,  paix  ignoble,  avec  les  autorites 
d'Outre-Rhin,  pour  pouvoir  sortir  des  ennuies  de  l'exil,  et  de  cette  gene  qui  est  pire 
qu'une  pauvrete  complete  ?  Helas  !  les  tentations  deviennent  grandes  depuis  quel- 
que  temps.. ..Nonje  ne  suis  pas  un  Regulus,  je  n'aimerais  nullement  etre  berce  dans 
un  tonneau  larde  de  clous.  Je  ne  suis  pas  non  plus  un  Brutus  ;  je  n'enfoncerais 
jamais  un  poignard  dans  mon  pauvre  ventre,  pour  ne  pas  servir  les  Prussiens3. 

1  The  dates  are  as  follows  :  Menzel's  denunciations  from  Sept.  1835  onwards.  Dec.  11 
1835,  the  Federal  edicts  against  the  writings  of  the  Young  Germans.    On  Feb.  16,  1836' 
the  Prussian  edicts  took  a  somewhat  milder  form,  and  were  withdrawn  in  the  summer  of 
1842. 

2  Hirth,  ii,  p.  126:  letter  to  Moses  Moser,  dated  from  Avignon,  Nov.  8,  1836. 

3  Hirth,  ii,  p.  122.    I  retain  Heine's  mistakes  in  French. 


80  Heine  and  the  Saint- Simonians 

The  poem  Jetzt  Wohin  ?  betrays  the  same  longing  to  return  to  Ger- 
many, and  the  same  half-humorous  repudiation  of  the  heroic  attitude. 
In  the  absence  of  any  definite  proof,  however,  I  do  not  care  to  insist  on 
this  date,  since  Heine  was  often  a  prey  to  such  moods1.  All  the  psycho- 
logical conditions  that  went  to  produce  the  poem  were  present  in  1836, 
and  the  line  '  Zwar  beendigt  ist  der  Krieg '  points  to  a  date  not  all  too 
remote  from  the  Young  German  fracas,  but  it  might  have  been  written 
any  time  between  1835  and  1842.  Between  those  dates,  or  so  it  seems 
to  me,  it  is  conclusively  fixed  by  the  allusion  to  the  '  Kriegsgerichte.' 

The  parallelism  between  the  letter  and  the  poem,  however,  is  a 
somewhat  double-edged  proof,  since  it  could  be  argued  that  the  date  of 
the  letter  is  not  affected  by  the  date  of  the  poem,  which  might  have 
been  suggested  to  Heine  whilst  he  was  re-reading  and  copying  out  his 
memoirs  in  1839-1840.  This  is  the  weak  point  in  my  theory,  since  I 
cannot  prove  that  Jetzt  Wohin  ?  was  written  in  1836.  Nevertheless 
Heine's  lyric  poems  were  born  of  the  mood  of  the  moment,  whereas  his 
works  in  prose  were  very  often  pieced  together  from  old  and  new 
material.  This  exile  poem  does  not  read  like  an  adaptation  of  an  old 
letter  to  fit  in  with  actual  circumstances,  whereas  the  letter  shows  other 
signs  of  having  been  re-written2.  Then,  too,  the  other  letters  present 
positive  internal  evidence  of  having  been  altered  in  1839-18403.  In 
view  of  all  these  facts,  I  think  it  is  safe  to  conclude  that  the  Jetzt 
Wohin  ?  motif  in  the  letter  was  elaborated  in  1839-1840,  and  that  a  part 
of  the  poem  was  used  for  this  purpose. 

III. 

I  have  hitherto  ignored  Steinmann's  version  of  the  first  letter  from 
Heligoland  as  completely  as  Heine's  editors,  but  I  cannot  dismiss  it 
altogether,  since  I  am  not  satisfied  that  it  is  a  forgery.  I  have  not 
adduced  it  as  a  proof  that  Heine  tampered  with  the  original,  yet  fairness 
seems  to  demand  that  it  should  now  be  considered. 

The  three  texts  are  as  follows4 : 

A.   Steinmann's  Version.    1830?  B.    Heine's  Version.    1840? 

IchselberbindesGuerillakriegesmiide  Ich   selber  bin  dieses  Guerilla-Krie- 

und  verlange  nach  Ruhe.  Es  ist  wahrlich      ges  miide  und  sehne  mich  nach  Ruhe, 

1  Cp.  Elster,  i,  p. 263  :  '  Ich  hatte  einst  ein  schones  Vaterland,'  1833 ;  and  i,  p.  272,  Anno 
1839. 

2  The  Elementargeister,  the  '  grosse  Eetirade,  O  Freiheit,  du  bist  ein  boser  Traum! ' 

3  The  epithet  '  Jude  '  applied  to  Shakespeare  points  to  a  date  after  1836.  The  Swabian 
wall-flowers  date  the  alterations  after  1837.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  stress  the  fact  that 
the  re-writing  is  most  likely  to  have  taken  place  in  1839-40,  either  whilst  Heine  was  con- 
templating a  book  on  the  July  Bevolution,  or  whilst  he  was  '  building  the  mountain.' 

4  The  poem,  the  Steinmann  letter,  and  the  first  paragraph  of  the  letter  from  Heligo- 
land are  quoted  in  full.  I  have  also  given  all  those  passages  in  Heine's  version  which  show 
a  resemblance  to  the  Steinmann  text  or  to  Jetzt  Wohiii? 


E.  M.  BUTLER 


A.   Stei?imann's  Version.    1830  ? 

seltsam,  dass  gerade  ich  aus  meinem 
beschaulicheu  Leben  herausgestort  ward, 
um  meine  armen  Landsleute  gleichfalls 
herauszustoren  und  in  die  Bewegung 
hineinzutreiben  und  mich  mit  Polizei 
und  Zensur  herumzuhetzen.  Was  niusste 
ich  auch  Reisebilder  schreiben,  politische 
Annalen  redigiren,  mich  mit  der  Zeit 
und  ihren  Interessen  abplagen,  den  ar- 
men deutschen  Michel  aus  seinem  tau- 
sendjahrigen  Dachsschlaf  aufriitteln  ? 
Was  half  s  mir  ?  Er  schlug  die  Augen 
auf,  um  sie  gleich  darauf  wieder  zu 
schliessen  ;  er  gahnte,  um  sofort  wieder 
noch  starker  zu  schnarchen ;  er  reckte 
seine  steifen  ungelenken  Gliedmaassen, 
um  gleich  darauf  wieder  im  alten  Bette 
seiner  Gewohnheiten  gleich  einer  Leiche 
leblos  zu  liegen. 


B.    Heine's  Version.    1840? 

wenigstens  nach  einem  Zustand,  wo  ich 
mich  meinen  natiirlichen  Neigungen, 
meiner  traumerischen  Art  und  Weise, 
meinem  phantastischen  Sinnen  und  Grii- 
beln  ganz  fessellos  hingeben  kann. 
Welche  Ironie  des  Geschickes,  das  ich, 
der  ich  mich  so  gerne  auf  die  Pfiihle  des 
stillen  beschaulichen  Gemiithlebens  bette, 
dass  eben  ich  dazu  bestimmt  war,  meine 
armen  Mitdeutschen  aus  ihrer  Behag- 
lichkeit  hervorzugeisseln  und  in  die  Be- 
wegung hineinzuhetzen  !  Ich,  der  ich 
mich  am  liebsten  damit  beschaftige,  Wol- 
kenziige  zu  beobachten,  die  Geheimnisse 
der  Elementargeister  zu  erlauschen,  und 
mich  in  die  Wunderwelt  alter  Marchen 
zu  versenken...ich  musste  politische  An- 
nalen herausgeben,  Zeitinteressen  vor- 
tragen,  revolutionare  Wiinsche  anzetteln, 
die  Leidenschaften  aufstacheln,  den  ar- 
men deutschen  Michel  bestandig  an  der 
Nase  zupfen,  dass  er  aus  seinem  gesun- 
den  Riesenschlaf  erwache....Freilich,  ich 
konnte  dadurch  bei  dem  schnarchenden 
Giganten  nur  ein  sanftes  Niesen,  keines- 
wegs  aber  ein  Erwachen  bewirken....Und 
riss  ichauch  heftig  an  seinem  Kopfkissen, 
so  riickte  er  es  sich  doch  wieder  zurecht 
mit  schlaftrunkener  Hand.. ..Einstwollte 
ich  aus  Verzweiflung  seine  Nachtmiitze  in 
Brand  stecken,  aber  sie  war  so  feucht  von 
Gedankenschweiss,  dass  sie  nur  gelinde 
rauchte. .  .und  Michel  lachelte  im  Schlum- 


Ich  muss  Ruhe  haben ;  aber  wo  finde 
ich  einen  Ruheplatz  ?  Vielleicht  ware 
am  Ende  der  der  beste,  worauf  die  'stil- 
len Leute'  ruhen,  und  wo  es  Betten  gibt, 
die  man  'kuhl,'  'kalt,'  'still'  und  ' duster ' 
nennt.  Doch  nein — fur  diese  Lagerpfiihle 
bin  ich  noch  zu  warm,  zu  voll  Leben.  In 
Deutschland  kann  ich  nicht  langer  blei- 
ben  ;  ich  habe  die  Wahl  zwischen  Frank- 
reich,  England,  Italien  und  Nordamerika, 
wenn  mich  nicht  am  Ende  der  Sultan, 
der  sicher  meinen  'Almansor'  gelesen 
hat,  und  mehr  fur  ihn  schwarmt  als  fiir 
seine  Fatimen  im  Harem,  noch  zu  sich 
einladet  und  mich  zu  seinem  Leibarzt 
ernennt,  da  er  weiss,  dass  ich  in  Bonn 
und  Gottingen  studirte,  und  man  in 
Deutschland  den  Katzenjammer  am  bes- 
ten  kennt  weil  er  am  haufigsten  hier 
vorkommt,  und  am  griindlichsten  und 
schmackhaftesten  mit  Haringsalat  zu 
heilen  weiss. — Doch — im  Ernst.  Gib  mir 
Rath,  wohin  ich  gehen   soil  ?    Ubereile 


Ich  bin  mude  und  lechze  nach  Ruhe. 
Ich  werde  mir  ebenfalls  eine  deutsche 
Nachtmiitze  anschaffen  und  iiber  die 
Ohren  ziehen.  Wenn  ich  nur  wiisste,  wo 
ich  jetzt  mein  Haupt  niederlegen  kann. 
In  Deutschland  ist  es  unmoglich.  Jeden 
Augenblick  wiirde  ein  Polizeidiener  her- 
ankommen  und  mich  riitteln,  um  zu 
erproben,  ob  ich  wirklich  schlafe  ;  schon 
diese  Idee  verdirbt  mir  alles  Behagen. 
Aber  in  der  That,  wo  soil  ich  hin  ?  Wie- 
der nach  Siiden  ?  Nach  dem  Lande  wo 
die  Citronen  bliihen  und  die  Goldoran- 
gen ']  [Negatived  onaccountof  Austria.]. . . 
Oder  soil  ich  nach  Norden  ?  Etwa  nach 
Nordosten  ?  Ach,  die  Eisbaren  sind  jetzt 
gefahrlicher  als  je,  seitdem  sie  sich  civi- 
lisieren  und  Glacehandschuhe  tragen. 
Oder  soil  ich  wieder  nach  dem  verteu- 
felten  England,  wo  ich  nicht  in  effigie 
hangen,  wie  viel  weniger  in  Person  leben 
mochte !  [Disquisition  on  the  resem- 
blance between  machines  and  Ensrlish- 


M.  L.  R.  XVIII. 


6 


82 


Heine  and  the  Saint- Simonians 


A.  Steinmanris  Version.  1830  ? 
dich  nicht  und  schreibe  mir  offen  deine 
Ansicht ;  ich  bleibe  wenigstens  noch  vier 
Wochen  unter  dem  Schutz  und  Schirm 
des  komfortablen  brittischen  Gouver- 
neurs  des  einsamen  Eilandsfelsens. 


B.  Heine's  Version.  1840? 
men.  Governor  of  Heligoland  cited  as 
an  instance.]... Dass  die  Insel  Helgoland 
unter  brittischer  Herrschaft  steht,  ist 
mir  schon  hinlanglich  fatal.  Ich  bilde 
mir  manchmal  ein,  ich  roche  jene  Lange- 
weile,  welche  Albion's  Sohne  iiberall  aus- 
diinsten.  In  der  That,  aus  jedem  Eng- 
lander  entwickelt  sich  ein  gewisses  Gas, 
die  todliche  Stickluft  der  Langeweile, 
[the  English  abroad ;  do  they  travel  to 
escape  from  their  boredom,  or  because  of 
the  French  cooking ?]...Aber  wie  vor- 
trefflich  auch  die  franzosische  Kiiche,  in 
Frankreich  selbst  soil  es  jetzt  schlecht 
aussehen,  und  die  grosse  Retirade  hat 
noch  kein  Ende.  [The  Jesuit  reaction.]. . . 
...Oder  soil  ich  nach  Amerika,  nach 
diesem  ungeheuren  Freiheitsgefangnis, 
wo  die  unsichtbaren  Ketten  mich  noch 
schmerzlicher  drucken  wurden,  als  zu 
Hause  die  sichtbaren,  und  wo  der  wider- 
wartigste  aller  Tyrannen,  der  Pobel, 
seine  rohe  Herrschaft  ausiibt !  [The  bad 
treatment  of  the  niggers  ;  the  greed  for 
gold.]... 


C.    Jetzt  Wohin?   1836? 


Jetzt  wohin  ?   Der  dumme  Fuss 
Will  mich  gem  nach  Deutschland  tragen  ; 
Doch  es  schuttelt  klug  das  Haupt 
Mein  Verstand  und  scheint  zu  sagen  : 

'  Zwar  beendigt  ist  der  Krieg, 
Doch  die  Kriegsgerichte  blieben, 
Und  es  heisst,  du  habest  einst 
Viel  Erschiessliches  geschrieben.' 

Das  ist  wahr,  unangenehm 
War'  mir  das  Erschossenwerden  ; 
Bin  kein  Held,  es  fehlen  mir 
Die  pathetischen  Gebarden. 

Gern  wiird'  ich  nach  England  gehn, 
Waren  dort  nicht  Kohlendampfe 
Und  Englander — schon  ihr  Duft 
Giebt  Erbrechen  mir  und  Krampfe. 

Manchmal  kommt  mir  in  den  Sinn, 

Nach  Amerika  zu  segeln, 

Nach  dem  grossen  Freiheitsstall, 

Der  bewohnt  von  Gleichheits-Flegeln — 

A  comparison  of  the  three  texts  has  led  me  to  certain  conclusions, 
which  I  offer  here  for  criticism,  but  which,  whether  right  or  wrong,  do 
not  affect  the  theory  that  the  first  letter  from  Heligoland  was  largely 
re-written  in  1840,  for  that  theory  rests  on  other  evidence,  as  I  hope  I 
have  succeeded  in  showing. 


Doch  es  angstet  mich  ein  Land, 
Wo  die  Menschen  Taback  kauen, 
Wo  sie  ohne  Konig  kegeln, 
Wo  sie  ohne  Spucknapf  speien. 

Russland,  dieses  schone  Reich, 
Wiirde  mir  vielleicht  behagen, 
Doch  im  Winter  konnte  ich 
Dort  die  Knute  nicht  ertragen. 

Traurig  schau'  ich  in  die  Hoh' 
Wo  viel'  tausend  Sterne  nicken — 
Aber  meinen  eignen  Stern 
Kann  ich  nirgends  dort  erblicken. 

Hat  im  giildnen  Labyrinth 
Sich  vielleicht  verirrt  am  Himmel, 
Wie  ich  selber  mich  verirrt 
In  dem  irdischen  Getummel. 


E.  M.  BUTLER  8  3 

The  conclusions  are  :  that  the  Steinmann  letter  is  genuine ',  that  this 
new  factor  does  not  affect  the  date  of  the  poem,  and  that  the  first  letter 
from  Heligoland,  re-written  in  1840,  is  based  on  the  Steinmann  text 
and  on  Jetzt  Wohin  ? 

To  begin  with  the  Steinmann  letter.  As  it  was  first  published  in 
1857,  the  assumption  that  it  is  not  genuine  must  lead  to  the  theory  that 
it  is  a  garbled  version  of  the  first  letter  from  Heligoland — published  in 
1840.  The  obvious  parallelism  between  them  allows  of  no  other  explana- 
tion. Now,  if  the  opening  passages  of  the  two  letters  are  compared,  the 
differences  between  them  tell  strongly  in  Steinmann's  favour.  His  ver- 
sion is  less  carefully  written  and  less  elaborate ;  the  Elementargeister  of 
doubtful  date  are  absent,  the  Reisebilder  on  the  other  hand  are  hall- 
marked 1830.  Then  the  absence  of  the  dramatic  irony  of  Heine's  version 
is  significant,  while  the  change  from  the  '  Weltschmerz '  to  the  '  Katzen- 
jammer'  motif  in  the  body  of  the  letter  is  altogether  characteristic  of 
Heine's  technique.  There  is  also  a  curious  resemblance,  which  seems  to 
me  more  than  a  coincidence,  between  the  phrase  'des  einsamen  Eilands- 
felsens '  and  a  very  similar  expression  in  a  letter  to  Varnhagen  dated 
from  Wandsbeck  on  June  16, 1830 :  '  Wenn  Ihr  Brief... mich  nicht  mehr 
hier  trafe,  so  wiirde  er  mir  auf  dem  noch  isolirteren  Meerfelsen  Helgo- 
land nicht  minder  willkommen  seyn2.'  It  would  argue  an  uncanny  degree 
of  luck,  indeed,  if  Steinmann  chanced  on  this  phrase  by  pure  accident. 

We  now  come  to  the  date  of  the  poem.  It  will  have  been  noticed 
that  the  question  :  '  Gib  mir  Rath,  wohin  ich  gehen  soil  ? '  and  the  care- 
less sentence:  'Ich  habe  die  Wahl  zwisch en... England... und  Nordame- 
rika'  form  the  leitmotif  oi  the  poem.  Heine  probably  had  this  letter  in 
his  mind  when  he  wrote  Jetzt  Wohin  P,  but  it  cannot  be  said  to  have 
inspired  the  poem,  which  at  most  reflects  a  similar  state  of  indecision. 
The  mood  is  a  completely  different  one.  It  is  the  mournful  mood  of  the 
exile,  whereas  the  Steinmann  letter  expresses  a  firm  determination  to  flee 
from  Germany  at  all  costs.  The  textual  resemblance  is  slight.  France,  Italy 
and  Turkey  are  omitted  in  the  poem,  Germany  and  Russia  are  added. 
Moreover  the  '  Kriegsgerichte '  remain  an  unanswerable  argument.   The 

1  That  is  to  say,  it  was  addressed  to  Steinmann  in  1830,  and  reproduced  by  him  with 
approximate  faithfulness.  I  cannot  vouch  for  the  absence  of  slight  textual  alterations. 
Steinmann  was  not  an  ideal  editor.  I  think,  however,  that  it  deserves  a  place  among 
Heine's  letters  equally  with  the  three  letters  which  he  published  in  Mefistofeles  in  1842  ; 
dated  Oct.  29,  1820,  Feb.  4,  1821  and  April  10, 1823,  and  which  have  been  included  in  the 
standard  collections,  although  the  MSS.  have  not  been  accessible;  cp.  here  Hirth,  i,  p.  15. 

2  Hirth,  i,  p.  614.  This  letter  was  first  published  in  1865  in  Briefe  von  Stagemann, 
Heine  und  Bettina  von  Arnim,  nebst  Brief  en,  Anmerkungen  und  Notizen  von  Varnhagen  von 
Ense. 

3  It  is  entitled  Fragment  eines  Brief es  in  the  MS.    See  Elster,  i,  p.  556. 

6—2 


84  Heine  and  the  Saint- Simonians 

Steinmann  letter,  therefore,  if  genuine,  does  not  shake  my  opinion  that 
the  poem  was  written  between  1835  and  1842. 

Heine's  version  of  the  letter  combines  two  themes :  the  pre-revolu- 
tion  mood  of  weariness  and  disgust  expressed  in  his  longing  for  peace, 
and  his  determination  to  escape  from  Germany,  with  the  despairing 
feeling  that  freedom  is  nowhere  to  be  found,  reflected  in  his  cynical 
review  of  other  lands.  With  one  notable  exception,  all  this  is  to  be  found 
in  embryo  in  the  Steinmann  letter.  The  first  theme  needed  only  slight 
alterations  for  style  and  intensification  of  mood.  It  is  clear  why  the 
'  revolutionare  Wunsche '  were  added,  and  why  the  irony  of  the  poetic 
dreamer  forced  into  politics  was  emphasised.  Carried  away  by  the  con- 
genial mood  of  self-pity,  Heine  let  slip  the  Elementargeister  unnoticed. 

The  treatment  of  the  second  theme  in  Steinmann's  version  did  not 
suit  his  purpose.  It  was  altogether  too  flippant  in  tone,  and  did  not 
reflect  the  poetic  truth  of  his  mood  on  the  island,  which  he  was  par- 
ticularly anxious  to  recapture.  The  passionate  seeker  after  freedom  must 
not  be  found  wandering  in  harems.  The  poem  was  then  drawn  into 
service,  and  the  attitude  towards  England  and  America  elaborated  on 
the  lines  of  Jetzt  Wohin?  The  half-contemptuous  irony  towards  Russia 
in  the  poem  was  retained,  although  somewhat  differently  treated1. 
England  was  enriched  with  memories  of  the  Reisebilder  days2;  Italy, 
much  in  his  thoughts  in  1830,  must  play  her  part  as  an  example  of  the 
oppression  then  rampant  in  the  world,  and,  most  important  of  all,  a 
retrospective  account  of  France  before  the  July  Revolution  must  be 
added.  The  letter  was  then  as  faithful  a  reproduction  of  mood  as  he 
could  make  it.  The  tempting  sentence  '  O  Freiheit,  du  bist  ein  boser 
Traum!'  probably  first  suggested  to  him  the  idea  of  a  preface  that  might 
lull  suspicion  to  sleep. 

IV. 
We  have  wandered  far  indeed  from  the  Saint- Simonian  synthesis,  as 
Heine  himself  had  wandered  away  from  it  before  1840.    But  the  ad- 

1  The  attitude  towards  America  and  Eussia  points  to  a  date  after  1830.  In  the  Iieise 
von  Milnchen  nach  Genua,  published  in  December,  1829,  he  gives  both  countries  generous 
praise :  '  Wiirde  auch  ganz  Europa  ein  einziger  Kerker,  so  gabe  es  jetzt  noch  immer  ein 
anderes  Loch  zum  Entschlupfen,  das  ist  Amerika,  und  gottlob  !  das  Loch  ist  noch  grosser 
als  den  Kerker  selbst'  (iii,  p.  279);  '  "  Ja,  ich  bin  gut  russisch."  Und  in  der  That. ..hat  es 
sich  jetzt  so  gefiigt,  dass  der  gliihendste  Freund  der  Eevolution  nur  im  Siege  Eusslands  das 
Heil  der  Welt  sieht  und  den  Kaiser  Nikolas  als  den  Gonfaloniere  der  Freiheit  betrachten 
muss'  (iii,  pp.  277-278). 

2  In  Sept.  1839  Heine  was  occupied  with  a  fourth  edition  of  the  Reisebilder  (cp.  Hirth, 
ii,  pp.  297,  301).  There  is  a  certain  parallelism  between  passages  in  the  Englische  Frag- 
mente  and  the  criticism  of  England  in  his  letter.  Cp.  iii,  p.  438,  where  he  speaks  of  the 
'  maschinenhafte  Bewegung '  of  the  English ;  and  p.  443,  where  he  mocks  at  their  barbarous 
cookery. 


E.  M.  BUTLER  85 

ditional  evidence  which  has  been  considered  serves  to  strengthen  the 
conviction  that  we  cannot  accept  the  passages  which  proclaim  it,  under 
the  date  1830.  Otherwise,  with  the  exception  of  moments  when  the 
writer's  hand  has  slipped  or  when  the  artist's  temperament  has  betrayed 
him,  the  compliment  must  be  paid  to  this  arch-mystifier  that  it  is  im- 
possible to  separate  the  new  from  the  old  definitely  in  these  pages1.  The 
tribute  to  Christ  beginning:  'Welche  siisse  Gestalt  dieser  Gottmensch!2' 
is  quite  in  the  style  of  the  Reisebilder,  and  extremely  reminiscent  of 
Christ  walking  on  the  sea  in  the  Nordsee3.  The  topic  of  the  banishment 
of  the  gods  is  an  old  friend  with  a  slightly  new  face4,  and  the  inception 
of  his  religious  interest  in  dsemonology5  may  claim  in  1830  an  authentic 
date;  we  have  no  right  to  question  it.  The  pre-occupation  with  religion 
had  reached  an  acute  stage  during  Heine's  journey  to  Italy,  and  we 
expect  to  find  it  occupying  a  large  place  in  his  diaries  at  this  time.  It 
is  surprising  to  find  him  preaching  harmony  between  flesh  and  spirit  in 
1830, and  Laube's  Nekrolog  leads  us  to  look  at  the  'mountain'  with  a 
certain  scepticism.  The  carelessness  into  which  Heine's  mocking  dislike 
of  the  '  Schwabische  Dichterschule '  unconsciously  led  him,  confirms  this 
sceptical  attitude,  and  the  term  '  Jude '  applied  to  Shakespeare  tends  to 
justify  it.  Coming  to  examine  the  letters  more  closely  we  find  that 
Heine  seems  to  have  modified  them  rather  extensively  to  enhance  their 
artistic  value.  As  a  side-issue  the  date  of  a  poem  has  been  called  into 
question,  and  a  dog  with  a  very  bad  name  may  escape  the  gallows. 

The  real  importance  of  these  facts  in  throwing  a  new  light  on  the 
influence  of  Saint-Simonism  on  Heine's  mind,  lies  beyond  the  scope  of 
this  paper.  I  have  been  unable  to  do  more  than  adumbrate  it.  So  much, 
however,  seems  certain.  The  passages  which  would  seem  to  foretell  the 
Saint-Simonian  religious  synthesis  are  under  the  deepest  suspicion ;  it 
would  be  extremely  unsafe  to  affirm  with  Montegut  and  Schmidt  that 
Heine  had  attained  to  this  conception  before  he  became  acquainted  with 
their  doctrine. 

E.  M.  Butler. 

Cambridge. 

1  It  seems  more  and  more  unlikely  that  any  new  part  of  that  mysterious  book,  Heine's 
Memoirs,  will  ever  come  to  light.  He  himself  probably  burnt  the  greater  part  of  the  original 
in  the  'forties  and  'fifties.   But  even  his  revised  version  would  be  of  the  utmost  interest  here, 

2  vii,  p.  51.  3  i,  pp.  177-178. 
4  vii,  pp.  51-52,  59.                                5  vii,  pp.  54-55. 


MISCELLANEOUS  NOTES. 

The  Word  'Abloy'  in  'Sir  Gawayne  and  the  Green  Knight/ 

1.  1174. 


* 


e  lorde  for  blys  abloy 
ul  oft  con  launce  &  ly3t. 


In  the  Glossary  to  the  E.E.T.S.  edition  of  the  poem,  the  word  abloy 
is  explained  thus :  '  an  exclamation  used  in  hunting ;  equivalent  to 
On !  on !  O.Fr.  ablo.'  It  is  the  only  quotation  for  the  word  in  the  New 
English  Dictionary,  and  the  derivation  given  there  is  the  same,  except 
that  it  is  prefixed  by  the  qualification  '  perhaps.'  Regarded  then  as  a 
hunting  cry,  ablo  must  be,  grammatically,  the  object  of  the  verb  launce, 
used  transitively  in  the  sense  of  '  throw  out,  utter.'  Cp.  '  be  lady  lanced 
bo  bourde3,'  1.  1212,  'bay  lanced  wordes  gode,'  1.  1766. 

The  difficulty  now  lies  in  the  words  and  lytf,  where  ly%t  would 
normally  seem  to  belong  to  launce,  as  a  second  infinitive  dependent  on 
the  auxiliary  verb  con.  But  there  is  no  evidence,  as  far  as  I  know,  for  a 
transitive  use  of  ly$t  '  to  alight,'  to  warrant  us  in  taking  it  here  to  mean 
'  cause  to  alight,  let  fall.'  Professor  Napier  took  ly$t  to  be  an  adverb, 
and  translated  it :  'in  a  light-hearted  manner,'  and  Professor  Emerson 
arrived  independently  at  the  same  conclusion. 

This  explanation  has  always  struck  me  as  making  the  best  of  a  bad 
business,  and  I  have  often  felt  that  the  real  difficulty  is  a  phonological 
one,  viz.  how  could  an  O.Fr.  word  ablo  give  the  form  M.E.  abloy  ?  That 
the  author  wrote  abloy  is  evidenced  by  his  rhyme  with  joy,  1.  1176. 

Now,  the  Glossary  suggests,  though  with  a  query,  that  launce  in 
1.  1175  means  'ride  forth,'  as  in  1.  1561,  'be  lorde  ouer  be  londe3  launced 
ful  ofte.'  Translated  thus.  lyjt  would  then  be  the  infinitive  of  the 
common  verb  'to  alight,  dismount,'  cp.  254,  526,  etc.,  naturally  coupled 
with  the  preceding  launce.  But  with  these  verbs  in  their  intransitive 
meanings,  we  should  expect  to  find  in  abloy  an  adjective,  and  not  a  noun 
in  the  objective  case,  and  it  is  here  that  I  wish  to  make  a  tentative 
suggestion.  In  the  Dictionnaire  Historique  de  I'Ancien  Langage 
Francois,  par  La  Curne  de  Sainte-Palaye,  I  find  the  verb :  '  Esbloyr,  v. 
Eblouir.  Etonner,  troubler,  etc Esbloy,  part.  AveugleV 

The  O.Fr.  prefix  es-  does  occur  as  a-  in  our  author's  writings,  e.g. 
achaped  Clean.  1.  970,  from  O.Fr.  eschaper;  achavfed  Gaw.  1.  883,  Clean. 


Miscellaneous  Notes  87 

1.  1143,  from  O.Fr.  eschaufer.  Our  author  uses  a  number  of  words  not 
found  elsewhere  in  M.E.  literature,  and  he  has,  besides,  a  perfect  genius 
for  transferred  meanings,  hence  it  is  not  an  impossible  assumption  to 
suppose  that  he  knew  the  O.Fr.  word  esbloy,  and  that,  starting  out  from 
the  literal  sense  'aveugle,'  he  arrived  at  the  figurative  sense  of  'dazed 
transported,  reckless ' : 

The  lord,  reckless  out  of  pure  bliss, 
Full  oft  did  ride  forth,  and  alight. 

One  of  the  characteristics  of  the  '  lord '  is  his   faculty  for  wild, 

exuberant  joy,  v.  11.  1955-6,  1086-7,  and  981-2.    We  can  well  imagine 

him  dashing  with  gay  irresponsibility  from  one  '  trystor '  to  another,  and 

indeed  the  first  line  of  the  next  stanza,  immediately  following   the 

passage  in  question,  would  bear  out  the  same  idea : 

pus  layke3  }>is  lorde  by  lynde  \v0de3  eue3, 

where  layke%  has  a  general  rather  than  a  definite  technical  sense. 

Elizabeth  M.  Wright. 
Oxford. 

The  Year  of  Fray  Luis  de  Leon's  Birth. 

By  simple  subtraction  the  date  of  Fray  Luis  de  Leon's  birth  was 
long  accepted  as  1527,  since  according  to  his  epitaph  '  obiit  an.  mdxci 
xxiii  Augusti  aet.  lxiv.'  So  Nicolas  Cruesen,  Monasticon  Augustinianum 
cap.  XL.  (repr.  in  Revista  Agustiniana,  vol.  ii,  p.  216):  'obiit  emeritus 
Anno  mdxci  die  23  August,  aetat.  suae  64.'  The  publication  of  the 
account  of  Luis  de  Leon's  trial  before  the  Inquisition  came  to  sift  this 
as  other  accepted  facts  about  his  life.  We  know  now  from  Luis  de  Leon's 
own  words  that  on  April  15,  1572  he  was  'forty-four,  more  or  less' 
(Documentos  ineditos,  vol.  x,  p.  180),  that  after  attaining  his  fourteenth 
year  at  Valladolid  his  father  sent  him  to  study  law  at  Salamanca  and 
four  or  five  months  later  he  became  a  novice  in  the  Augustinian 
convent  at  Salamanca  (ibid.  p.  182) ;  and  we  know  that  he  professed 
on  January  29,  1544.  On  the  basis  of  these  facts  Fray  Luis  Alonso 
Getino  (Vida  y  procesos,  1907,  pp.  5-7)  fixed  his  birth  in  1528  or 
1529,  and  it  is  now  generally  given  as  1528  ?  Professor  Fitzmaurice- 
Kelly  in  his  Fray  Luis  de  Leon  (1921),  p.  7,  gives  1527  or  1528.  There 
is  little  reason  to  doubt  that  Luis  de  Leon  was  44  on  April  15,  1572. 
His  mind  was  accurate  and  his  memory  keen,  and  his  '  more  or  less ' 
may  be  taken  to  mean  merely  that  he  was  not  born  exactly  44  years 
ago,  on  April  15,  1528.    His  assertion  is  not  irreconcilable  with  the 


/ 


88  Miscellaneous  Notes 

date  of  the  epitaph,  but  it  enables  us  to  fix  the  date  of  his  birth  more 
narrowly:  between  April  15  and  August  23,  1527.  Perhaps  we  may 
without  rashness  fix  it  still  more  accurately,  in  the  third  week  of  August : 
in  that  case  his  father  sent  him  to  Salamanca  in  the  middle  of  August 
1542,  when  he  was  still  fourteen;  four  or  five  months  afterwards,  in  the 
beginning  of  January  1543,  he  entered  the  Augustinian  Order  and  after 
a  year's  novitiate  professed  on  January  29,  1544,  in  his  seventeenth 

year. 

Aubrey  F.  G.  Bell. 

S.  JOAO  DO  ESTOKIL,  PORTUGAL. 

'  IJfriden '  in  '  Meier  Helmbrecht,'  1.  428. 

sit  dich  mln  zuht  sol  mlden 
an  dem  ufrlden. 

Haupt  in  1844  (Z.f.d.A.,  iv,  p.  336 :  'ich  weiss  diese  zeile  nicht  mit 
sicherheit  zu  deuten ')  probably  knew  of,  but  did  not  accept  the  inter- 
pretation already  given  by  Schmeller  {Bayer.  Wb.,  1827-37,  ii,  p.  58)  as 
'das  Haar  krauseln';  but  Beneke  in  1863  (Mhd.  Wb.,  2a,  p.  697a),  Lexer 
in  1876  (Mhd.  Handwb.  ii,  p.  1715)  and  Lambel  in  1883  (in  his  second 
edition  of  Helmbrecht)  follow  Schmeller's  lead.  To  this  interpretation 
two  objections  may  be  raised.  That  the  meier,  learning  of  his  son's  in- 
tention to  lead  a  life  of  crime,  refers  to  a  matter  of  greater  importance 
than  hair-curling  after  the  cessation  of  his  fatherly  zuht.  Also  that 
Wernher  and  his  audience  would  have  accepted  Hfriden  in  one  of  the 
more  usual  meanings  of  the  common  verb  riden,  and  probably  without 
reference  to  the  adjective  reide  (11.  11,  273,  1898).  For  'curling'  the 
factitive  verb  reiden  (=  crispare,  cf.  Schmeller,  Bayer.  Wb.  ii,  p.  53  ;  Lexer, 
Mhd.  Wb.  ii,  p.  386)  might  have  been  expected. 

tffriden,  a  verbal  noun,  written  in  one  word,  as  it  is  in  the  more  re- 
liable MS.  A  (aufreiden),  is  a  compound  of  riden  ('writhe'),  which  could 
be  used  either  transitively  or  intransitively.  Another  compound  of  riden 
is  employed  in  Helmbr.  1808  in  an  intransitive  and  figurative  sense,  ez 
mac  sich  verriden  means  '  things  may  take  a  different  turn '  (cf.  Schmeller, 
Bayer.  Wb.  ii,  p.  58 ;  Beneke,  Mhd.  Wb.  2  a,  p.  697  b ;  Lexer,  Mhd. 
Handwb.  iii,  p.  202).  If  riden  used  intransitively  denotes  a  serpentine 
movement,  iXfriden  might  denote  a  wriggling  or  writhing  upwards, 
worming  one's  way  into  good  society,  '  Strebertum '  or  '  Aufwarts- 
schleichen.' 

Young  Helmbrecht  (cf.  11.  226,  262  f.,  362  f.),  like  Nithart's  Hildemdr 
(Bartsch,  L.D.  xxv,  728-735),  his  prototype,  'wil  ebenhiuzen  sich  ze 


Miscellaneous  Notes  89 

werdem  ingesinde  |  daz  bi  hoveliuten  ist  gewahsen  und  gezogen.' 
Since  persuasion  fails,  the  meier  tries  what  scorn  can  do.  His  warning 
to  his  son  almost  amounts  to  a  paraphrase  of  the  last  stanza  of  Nithart's 
poem.  Lines  427-430  may  be  translated :  'Since  I  must  avoid  (exercising) 
my  fatherly  guidance  in  your  wriggling  upwards,  just  take  care  of  your  cap 
yourself,'  etc. 

Charles  E.  Gough. 
Leeds. 

Kosegarten's  'Legenden'  and  Sebastian  Brant. 

In  his  Die  Quellen  zu  Kellers  Sieben  Legenden  (Halle,  Niemeyer, 
1919),  Leitzmann  does  not  claim  to  give  a  final  account  of  the  sources 
of  Kosegarten's  Legenden,  the  precursor  of  Keller's  work.  The  following 
notes,  based  on  a  study  of  Sebastian  Brant's  Passional  (Strassburg, 
1502),mentioned  by  Kosegarten  in  his  'Vorrede,'  correct  and  supplement 
some  of  Leitzmann's  suggestions. 

(1)  The  legend  of  the  Virgin  as  Knight  (p.  19).  Leitzmann  prints 
a  passage  from  Caesarius  of  Heisterbach  as  a  close  parallel,  having  been 
unable  to  determine  the  exact  source.  Kosegarten's  story  is  a  literal 
transcription  of  Brant,  II,  f.  lviiib. 

(2)  The  two  legends  on  which  Keller's  Tanzlegendchen  is  based 
(pp.  29-31).  Regarding  the  first  of  these,  Leitzmann  says  :  '  Eine  Quelle 
fur  diese  Legende  habe  ich  nirgends  auffinden  konnen  :  selbst  Mussafia's 
reiche  Listen  mittelalterlicher  Marienlegenden  enthalten  keine  auch 
annahernd  parallele  Erzahlung.'  Here  again  Kosegarten  has  merely 
modernised  the  version  in  Brant,  I,  f.  cxxiiia.  A  Latin  version  of  the  late 
thirteenth  century  is  to  be  found  in  MS.  Brit.  Mus.  Add.  18,929  (Ward's 
Catalogue,  Vol.  n,  p.  656). 

For  the  second  story,  the  legend  of  M-usa,  Leitzmann  prints  the 
original  version  from  the  Dialogue  of  Gregory  the  Great  as  direct  source, 
but  a  careful  comparison  shows  that  Kosegarten  did  not  use  a  Latin 
original,  but  copied  the  story  almost  word  for  word  from  Brant,  n,f.lxxxixb. 

(3)  The  legend  of  Beatrix,  the  nun  who  loved  the  world  (p.  20). 
Leitzmann  prints  a  passage  from  Caesarius  as  direct  source  in  opposition 
to  Watenphul  {Die  Geschichte  der  Marienlegende  von  Beatrix,  Neuwied, 
1904,  p.  68),  who'  rightly  refused  to  hold  Kosegarten  responsible  for 
certain  variations.  One  of  these  motives,  the  nun's  penitence,  credited 
by  Leitzmann  to  Kosegarten's  invention,  is  present  in  the  story  told 
by  Brant,  I,  f.  cxlixa,  and  if  the  character  of  her  seducer  is  not  entirely 
omitted,  as  in  Kosegarten,  he  is  dismissed  with  scantiest  mention,  and 


90  Miscellaneous  Notes 

is  far  from  having  the  importance  of  the  '  clericus '  of  Caesarius.  The 
third  change,  the  substitution  of  a  woman  as  porter,  may  occur  in  a 
less  faulty  edition  of  the  Passional  than  that  at  my  disposal.  It  is  a 
'  portnerin,'  who  plays  the  part  in  the  contemporary  version  of  Cgm. 
626,  f.  233b-234b  (written  in  1493),  and  we  may  take  it  that  here,  too, 
the  change  is  none  of  Kosegarten's  making.  His  was  not  an  inventive 
mind.  He  may,  on  occasion,  shorten  a  story,  but  he  rarely  takes  any 
liberties  with  the  actual  material. 

Margaret  D.  Howie. 
Munich. 


REVIEWS. 

Language.     Its  Nature,  Development  and  Origin.    By  Otto  Jespersen, 
London:  Allen  and  Unwin.    1922.    8vo.    448  pp.    18s. 

In  these  days  of  practical  linguistic  experiments  such  as  the  official 
use  of  Irish,  the  propagation  of  colloquial  Hebrew  among  the  Zionists 
and  the  inclusion  of  Esperanto  in  the  agenda  of  the  League  of  Nations, 
a  reliable  and  judicious  introduction  to  the  science  of  language  should 
be  welcome  to  the  layman.  This  latest  book  of  Jespersen's  will  be  read 
with  no  less  interest  by  the  philologist,  who  will  find  in  it  not  merely  a 
clear  and  comprehensive  survey  of  the  chief  problems  of  general  lin- 
guistics, but  also  a  detailed  discussion  of  many  specific  questions  still 
sub  judice.  Some  of  the  ideas  go  back  to  the  author's  Progress  in 
Language  (1894),  but  the  present  is  much  more  than  a  new  and  revised 
edition  of  that  work  with  the  English  chapters  omitted.  It  is  hardly 
too  much  to  say  that  it  is  the  best  and  most  stimulating  philological 
treatise  of  a  general  appeal  in  the  English  language. 

Following  a  sound  procedure  Jespersen  begins  with  a  history  of 
linguistic  science,  which  clearly  traces  the  progress  from  chaos  to  cosmos 
in  the  formulation  and  precise  circumscription  of  each  new  problem. 
This  well  organized  introduction,  compressed  into  about  100  pages, 
stimulates  the  reader  to  analyze  and  synthetize  by  easy  stages  as  he 
passes  in  review  the  earl}T  efforts  of  Indians  and  Greeks — chiefly  practical 
in  their  aims — and  the  preoccupation  of  man  with  linguistic  problems 
down  to  the  present  day.  Two  interesting  pioneers  are  rescued  from 
undeserved  oblivion,  Jespersen's  compatriot  Bredsdorff,  whose  ideas  came 
50  years  too  early,  and  the  German  pastor  Jenisch,  whose  study  of  the 
energetics  of  language  published  in  1796  has  not  even  yet  secured  him  a 
place  in  the  Allgemeine  Deutsche  Biographie.  As  to  Rask  his  great  work 
appears  in  full  relief.  At  the  risk  of  captiousness  it  might  be  suggested 
that  some  English  readers  would  have  welcomed  a  reference  to  the  Basque 
problem,  to  the  early  Celtists  like  Lhuyd,  to  the  part  played  by  philology 
in  the  reform  of  Latin  pronunciation,  to  Sievers'  studies  of  speech-melody 
and  to  linguistic  palaeontologists  like  Pictet,  Hirt,  and  Schrader.  In  §  2 
— in  view  of  the  paucity  of  names — allusion  might  have  been  made  to 
Filippo  Sassetti's  early  comparisons  between  Sanskrit  and  Latin  (cf.  L. 
Wagner,  Germanischrromanische  Monatschrift,  vol.  viii,  p.  45)  and  to 
Comenius'  realization  of  the  kinship  of  Finnish  and  Hungarian. 

In  Book  ii  (The  Child)  the  author  has  utilized  much  of  the  material 
of  his  Nutidsprog  hos  Born  og  Voxne,  supplementing  his  illustrations  by 
contributions  from  English  friends.  The  remarks  on  the  various  stages 
of  child-speech  and  the  progressive  organization  of  sounds,  words  and 
sentence-equivalents  display  acute  observation  and  telling  judgment. 


92  Reviews 

The  reviewer  can  parallel  many  phenomena  from  his  son's  speech-history. 
Thus  at  2.1  numbers  above  two  were  designated  as  more  (cf.  p.  119), 
request  for  repetition  of  sentence  was  made  by  m  with  rising  tone 
(p.  134),  at  2.3  no  was  used,  but  not  yes  or  other  affirmative  (p.  136). 
The  use  of  three  in  Schuchardt's  example  (p.  122)  perhaps  indicates 
'  much/  just  as  a  German  boy  used  hundert  Honig.  The  following  extra 
illustrations  may  interest  the  author : — William  de  Morgan's  title  Alice- 
for-short  in  word-division  (p.  132),  popular  use  of  mother  for  'wife'  by 
the  husband  (p.  118),  children's  gibberish  when  pretending  to  read — 
noted  by  Stern  also — (p.  148),  pleasant  taste  indicated  by  popular  English 
yumyum  (p.  158),  similarity  of  expressions  for  peep-bo  in  various  countries 
(§  8).  In  theory  Jespersen  concurs  with  Stern  against  Meumann  in 
opposing  the  exclusive  rdle  assigned  to  volition  in  the  child's  first 
utterances  and  combats  the  modern  scepticism  as  to  the  child's  power 
to  invent  words.  Both  Meringer's  and  Herzog's  views  touching  the 
influence  of  the  child  and  the  adult  respectively  upon  sound  change 
receive  some  well-aimed  criticisms,  the  author  holding  that  'gradual' 
shiftings  proceed  independently  of  transmission  to  the  next  generation, 
but  that  '  leaps '  like  kv>p  and  abbreviations  due  to  '  echoisms '  are 
probably  the  work  of  children.  Book  II  well  exemplifies  Jespersen's 
command  of  both  induction  and  deduction. 

Chapter  xi  (The  Foreigner)  sharply  attacks  the  overstraining  of  the 
racial  substratum  theory  by  recent  philologists  with  special  reference 
to  the  fronting  of  Latin  u  in  the  Romance  and  Celtic  languages  and  to 
Feist's  and  Wessely's  explanations  of  the  Germanic  shifts.  Jespersen 
attaches  little  importance  to  '  sound  substitution '  (as  the  result  of  ethnic 
mixture)  in  the  development  of  language.  He  quotes  with  approval 
Hempl's  useful  differentiations  of  types  of  intermixture  and  supports 
Windisch's  general  theory  of  loan-words.  It  is  possible  to  agree  with 
much  of  the  criticism  levelled  against  Ascoli's  theory  of  Gallic  influence 
in  Latin  [u]  >  [y] — one  is  tempted  to  add  the  argument  that  the  N. 
Welsh  u  as  a  high  flat  unrounded  vowel  could  only  be  adduced  to  show 
an  advancement  of  the  tongue  position — but  it  is  legitimate  to  ask  what 
Jespersen  makes  of  the  apparent  consensus  of  other  convergent  changes 
as  between  French  and  Brythonic1  (not  Goidelic),  e.g.  substitution  of  g# 
for  u,  prothesis  of  vowel  before  s  +  cons.  (Fr.  escole,  Welsh  ysgol ;  but 
also  Span,  escuela),  diphthongization  of  e  (Fr.  peis,  poids,  Welsh  pwys), 
treatment  of  -act,  etc.  (Fr.  kbit,  Welsh  llaeth).  The  next  victim,  Feist, 
has  already  received  a  hammering  from  Boer  and  Frantzen  in  Neophilo- 
logus  and  from  Behaghel  in  the  Geschichte  der  deutschen  Sprache,  4th 
ed.,  p.  265.  Wessely's  arguments  are  reduced  by  Jespersen  to  their  proper 
proportions  and  to  my  mind  the  general  agreements  between  Germanic 
and  Finnish  boil  down  to  a  tendency  in  each  towards  initial  or  root  stress 
and  to  the  limitation  of  synthetic  temporal  forms  to  two — present  and 
past.  As  to  Translation-loans, p.  215,  reference  may  now  be  made  toSeiler, 
Zeitschrift  fur  den  deutschen  Unterricht,  vol.  31,  pp.  241-246. 

1  For  the  treatment  of  Latin  loan-words  in  Welsh  cf.  S.  J.  Evans,  The  Latin  Element 
in  Welsh,  Newport,  1908. 


Reviews  93 

The  chapter  on  '  Pidgin  and  Congeners '  collects  fascinating  material 
from  Beach  la  Mar,  Chinook  and  other  jargons,  which,  in  Jespersen's 
view,  are  not  so  much  mixed  languages  as  debased  forms  of  civilized 
languages  owing  their  inception  to  the  European's  disdain  for  the  native 
intelligence,  and  must  not  be  adduced  to  illustrate  the  evolution  of  the 
Romance  languages  (p.  236).  Woman  as  a  factor  in  linguistic  develop- 
ment is  next  considered — rather  unconvincingly.  The  historical  sections 
are  good,  but  in  the  others  many  statements  challenge  opposition.  In 
contemporary  English,  common  and  kind  (p.  245),  emphatic  interrogative 
whoever  and  whatever,  mild  expletives  like  good  gracious,  and  intensives 
like  awfully,  quite,  to  a  degree  are  no  more  specially  characterisic  of 
women  than  are  several  of  those  adduced  by  Wyld  in  The  Growth  of 
English,  p.  68.  Daniel  Jones'  assertion  (p.  245)  that  soft  is  pronounced 
differently  by  men  and  women  is  preposterous,  as  are  also  the  alleged 
women's  pronunciations  of  children,  girl  and  waistcoat.  The  fact  is  that 
the  spelling  pronunciation  is  encroaching  on  the  older  one  quite  irrespec- 
tive of  sex.  Apart  from  the  frequency  in  women's  speech  of  the  intensives 
so  and  sweet,  the  more  exact  knowledge  of  fabrics,  costumes  and  colours 
(eau  de  nil,  nigger-brown,  etc.),  the  chief  differentia  between  the  sexes  in 
language  to-day  is  the — somewhat  relaxed — inhibition  which  keeps 
women  from  using  certain  swear- words  and  vulgarisms  and  the  intrusion 
of  child-like  diminutives,  pet  forms  and  adjectives  suffixed  with  -y  into 
the  language  of  those  who  have  much  to  do  with  children.  Jespersen's 
material  is  rather  old-fashioned  and  his  resume  of  women's  characteristics 
thin. 

Under  '  Causes  of  Change '  the  author  clears  out  of  his  way  theories 
built  upon  considerations  of  analogy,  geography,  national  psychology 
and  speed,  but  neglects  to  treat  the  factor  of  occupation,  discussed  by 
Wyld  in  Historical  Study  of  the  Mother  Tongue,  p.  88.  He  himself 
supports,  with  qualifications,  the  ease-theory.  Such  questions  as  extreme 
weakenings,  the  connexion  between  phonetic  latitude  and  semantics, 
the  implications  of  convergent  and  divergent  sound  change,  are  clearly 
posed.  For  'sound  law'  the  term  'phonetic  formula'  or  'rule'  is  suggested, 
and  an  instructive  comparison  made  with  Darwinian  laws. 

Next  the  etymologists  receive  some  invigorating  douches.  Jespersen 
shows  the  importance  of  the  ascertainment  of  all  the  historical  data  (as 
Skeat  did)  in  proposing  a  new  etymology  of  hope1.  Miss  Pound's  investiga- 
tions on  'blends'  have  been  followed  by  an  article  by  W. Horn, Germanisch- 
romanische  Monatschrift,  vol.  ix,  p.  342  (especially  syntactical  blends, 
cf.  Jespersen,  p.  282).  A  reference  to  Meringer's  work  in  Worter  und 
Sachen  would  have  been  welcome. 

In  chapters  xviii  and  xix  Progress  in  language  still  means  to 
Jespersen  the  increasing  use  of  analysis  according  to  the  principle  of 
sufficiency  ('  a  maximum  of  efficiency  with  a  minimum  of  effort ').  Jes- 
persen is  right  in  thinking  that  the  native  is  sometimes  conscious  of 

1  Cf.  Holthausen's  comments  on  the  etymology  (as  given  in  the  Nord.  tidskr.f.  fil.,  4. 
rsekke,  viii,  151  f.)  in  Beitr.  zur  Gesch.  der  deatschcn  Sprache  und  Literatur,  xlvi,  p.  143. 


94  Reviews 

effort — I  could  add  a  Chinaman's  view  to  back  Gabelentz's  opinion 
(p.  325).  It  is  noteworthy  that  he  considers  the  fixation  of  word-order 
not  the  result  but  a  cause  of  the  '  phonetic  decay '  of  the  old  case, 
personal  and  gender  affixes.  This  question  naturally  leads  to  the  dis- 
cussion of  a  supposititious  root-stage  in  language.  Kuhn's  investigations 
into  word-order  in  isolating  languages  and  Karlgren's  discovery  of  case- 
distinctions  in  ancient  Chinese  help  Jespersen  to  doubt  the  primitive- 
ness  of  monosyllabism  and  confirm  his  view  as  to  the  priority  of  inflexion 
or  rather  '  entanglement.'  But  it  might  be  well  to  suspend  judgment 
till  Jespersen  has  extended  his  field  of  induction  to  include  other  isolating 
languages  with  significant  tones  like  Ewe  in  W.  Africa.  Agglutination 
('  coalescence '  p.  376)  is  not  permitted  to  account  for  all  the  facts  of 
derivation  and  inflexion,  but  though  an  imposing  mass  of  authorities 
rejects  the  pronominal  original  of  -mi,  etc.  in  the  Indo-european  verb, 
one  cannot  but  recall  the  occurrence  of  a  number  of  coalesced  pronouns 
in  various  languages,  viz.  Ger.  -t  <  du,  Welsh  2nd  pi.  in  -ch,  or  the  alter- 
native conjugation  in  the  Nama  of  S.  Africa  with  its  root  +  pronoun  (cf. 
Seidel,  Die  Hauptsprachen  Deutsch-Sudwestafrikas,  p.  11).  'Secretion' 
(his'n,  -en  and  -er  as  plural  suffixes),  suffix  extension  and  contamination 
are  well  analyzed.  To  the  modern  theories  of  gender  Jespersen  contributes 
the  suggestion  that  fern,  -i  may  be  a  diminutive  suffix. 

§  2  of  the  next  chapter  (Sound  Symbolism)  prompts  me  to  hint  that 
expressive  symbolism  may  have  encouraged  the  foreigner  to  popularize 
in  his  own  speech  such  English  words  as  bluff,  spleen,  box,  rowdy,  stop, 
borrowed  originally  owing  to  their  characteristically  British  significance. 
Originator  nicknames  (§  4)  were  common  in  all  armies  during  the  war  ; 
Bergmann  in  Wie  der  Feldgrave  spricht  quotes  Parlewuh,  Herr  Servus 
(Austrian),  Herr  Morgen  (German).  The  Englishman  will  probably 
demur  to  Jespersen's  valuation  of  the  diphthong  in  light,  will  associate 
the  word  with  bright,  shine,  fire  and  feel  into  it  greater  luminosity  than 
into  the  short  vowel  of  glimmer.  Reinforcement  by  doubling  of  consonant 
is  well  treated  by  R.  Loewe  in  the  3rd  edition  of  Germanische  Sprach- 
wissenschaft,  vol.  I,  p.  77.  Like  Paul,  Jespersen  is  struck  by  the  modernity 
of  many  echo-words  (p.  410).  He  thinks  onomatopoeia  has  become  more 
prevalent,  as  the  time  of  psychological  reaction  has  become  shorter,  but 
brings  no  evidence  in  support  of  the  latter  thesis  nor  does  he  show  how 
reaction-time  affects  onomatopoeia.  Against  this  view  I  would  point  to 
the  prevalence  of  sound  painting  in  the  native  Australian  languages 
(cf.  A.  F.  Chamberlain,  The  Child,  p.  116)  and  the  extensive  use  of 
sound  symbolism  in  the  Middle  High  German  poem  Das  Schrdtel 
und  der  Wasserbdr  included  in  Bernt's  edition  of  Heinrich  von  Freiberg 
(Halle,  1906). 

The  culminating  chapter — The  Origin  of  Language — has  been  little 
modified  since  1894.  The  threefold  approach  through  the  language  of 
children  (at  the  '  lalling '  stage),  savage  languages  and  the  known  history 
of  language  still  leads  the  author  back  to  primitive  speech-complexes, 
entangled  jungle  growths,  rich  in  difficult  articulations  and  wide  ranged 
intonations,  utterances  from  which  subsequently  various  elements  have 


Reviews  95 

been  gradually  separated  out  to  act  as  words  and  affixes.  Two  types  of 
primitive  complex  are  postulated — one  roughly  equivalent  to  a  proper 
noun  (potentially  the  progenitor  of  many  concrete  and  abstract  designa- 
tions) possibly  evolved  from  an  attempt  to  imitate  the  '  leitmotiv '  of  a 
particular  lover  singing  to  his  lass  (p.  438),  the  other — more  in  the 
character  of  a  sentence  word — being  perhaps  derived  from  the  exultant 
shouts  evoked  by  some  exciting  situation  such  as  the  slaying  of  an 
enemy,  and  repeated  by  the  group  in  similar  contingencies.  Both 
theories  courageously  tackle  the  fundamental  problem,  the  union  of 
sound  and  sense.  To  Professor  Williams  of  Belfast  I  am  indebted  for  the 
suggestion  that  communicative  speech  might  have  arisen  among  a  party 
of  hunters,  when,  as  they  sat  feasting  upon  their  spoils,  some  member 
might  have  stirred  his  companions'  memory  of  events  still  fresh,  evoking 
the  latter  by  imitative  and  'symbolic'  cries  eked  out  by  appropriate 
gestures  and  possibly  getting  the  others  to  join  in.  This  latter  theory 
emphasizes  more  considerably  the  part  played  by  onomatopoeia  (a  process, 
in  addition,  very  popular  with  children)  and  memory  in  speech-formation. 
A  curious,  though  perhaps  not  helpful,  parallel  to  Jespersen's  assumed 
dissection  of  original  entangled  complexes  is  afforded  by  the  evolution 
of  a  secret  language  in  adolescence  described  by  Chamberlain,  op.  cit. 
p.  140.  But  it  is  especially  the  threefold  approach  which  seems  to  invite 
attack  at  several  points:  (1)  in  taking  the  first  year  of  child-speech 
Jespersen  is  selecting  rather  a  pre-linguistic  or  preparatory  stage,  one 
marked  by  expressiveness  rather  than  communicativeness  :  the  babbling 
monologues  can  hardly  be  taken  as  evidence  of  complexity  in  communi- 
cative speech,  which  in  the  child — admittedly  dependent  upon  the 
mother  tongue — tends  to  rather  overshort  utterance ;  (2)  in  savage 
languages  he  seems  to  over-emphasize  the  importance  of  the  American 
Indian  type ;  (3)  if  it  is  assumed  that  analysis  proceeds  pari  passu  with 
culture,  it  is  hard  to  see  why  relatively  uncultured  speakers  like  the 
Ewe,  Otomi  and  Khassi  should  have  advanced  further  on  the  road  to 
isolation  than  most  European  languages ;  (4)  in  his  chief  approach — '  to 
find  a  system  of  lines  which  can  be  lengthened  backwards  beyond  the 
reach  of  history '  (p.  418) — he  seems  to  narrow  the  reference  to  Indo- 
european  and  possibly  Semitic,  but  surely  it  would  be  necessary  to  see 
whether  any  analogous  tendencies  can  be  traced  in  Ancient  Egyptian 
and  Sumerian  ;  (5)  the  period  of  language  development  known  to  history 
is  probably,  even  on  a  conservative  estimate,  a  small  fraction  of  the  time 
which  has  elapsed  since  man  first  acquired  speech ;  (6)  investigations 
into  the  communicative  powers  of  the  higher  apes,  especially  their 
danger  and  hunger  cries,  might  throw  further  light  on  the  pre-linguistic 
stage.  Though  Jespersen's  explanation  does  not  seem  to  be  complete, 
the  enterprise  was  worth  the  effort,  for  we  can  no  longer  rest  content 
with  the  dry  bones  of  philology. 

Hearty  congratulations  are  due  to  the  author  on  his  smooth  and 
idiomatic  English.  His  is  no  mummified  language, but  alive  and  personal. 
Some  readers  will  perhaps  frown  at  Gothortic  and  apophony — I  wonder 
how  his  Danish  readers  took  tyd\ — but  we  can  all  be  grateful  for  'stump- 


96  Reviews 

words/  '  pull-up '  sentences  and  many  other  neat  applications.  No  one 
can  doubt  that  this  is  the  work  of  a  man  who  combines  great  scholarship 
with  a  remarkable  artistry  of  expression. 

W.  E.  COLLINSON. 
Liverpool. 


Beowulf.  An  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  the  Poem  with  a  Discussion  of 
the  Stories  of  Off  a  and  Finn.  By  R.  W.  Chambers.  Cambridge  : 
University  Press.    1921.    xii  +  417pp.    30s. 

This  volume  has  been  long  and  impatiently  expected.  With  memo- 
ries of  his  edition  of  the  text  of  Beowulf  and  the  commentary  on  Widsith 
fresh  in  one's  mind,  one  had  high  hopes  of  what  Professor  Chambers 
would  do  for  the  great  Beowulf-problem,  in  all  its  varied  aspects  and 
they  have  not  been  disappointed.  The  Introduction  finally  and  definitely 
places  its  author  in  the  front  rank  of  the  great  English  scholars  who 
have  handled  the  problems  of  Anglo-Saxon  literature  and  at  the  same 
time  removes  the  last  vestige  of  reproach  that  might  be  brought  against 
English  scholars  of  letting  themselves  be  outrivalled  by  scholars  of 
German  and  Scandinavian  nationality  in  the  interpretation  of  the  longest 
and  in  many  ways  the  finest  of  Anglo-Saxon  poems. 

It  is  no  easy  task  to  write  an  Introduction  of  this  kind.  The  lite- 
rature of  the  Beowulf-question  is  a  vast  one,  as  is  excellently  shown  in 
the  very  full  and  useful  bibliography  given  at  the  end  of  the  book.  The 
evidence  upon  which  most  of  the  theories  and  interpretations  of  the 
poem  have  been  built  up  is,  as  a  rule,  of  a  most  fragmentary  and  often 
of  a  most  difficult  type,  and  what  was  chiefly  needed  was  a  scholar  with 
a  keen  critical  gift  for  weighing  evidence  and  balancing  interpretations, 
for  there  was  little  hope  that  any  new  or  decisive  evidence  upon  doubtful 
points  could  be  discovered  at  this  late  date.  This  gift  Professor  Chambers 
has  in  rich  measure,  but  he  has  others  even  greater  and  far  more  rare. 
He  has  a  keen  sense  of  humour,  an  innate  feeling  for  the  true  atmo- 
sphere of  ancient  poem  and  saga  and  a  sure  instinct  for  the  modern 
parallel  which  makes  the  whole  business  live  before  one's  eyes. 

In  his  judgments  upon  the  various  problems  of  interpretation,  as  in 
his  textual  criticism,  he  inclines  to  the  right ;  but  he  is  never  unduly 
dogmatic.  He  clearly  has  much  sympathy  with  Uncle  Remus'  point  of 
view  with  regard  to  the  deluge,  aptly  quoted  on  the  title  page,  '  Dey 
mout  er  bin  two  deloojes :  en  den  agin  dey  moutent.'  He  seldom  leaves 
us  in  any  doubt  as  to  his  own  views  upon  the  matter,  but  no  one  could 
~be  more  scrupulously  fair  in  dealing  with  an  opposing  theory. 

The  first  chapter  deals  with  the  historical  elements  in  the  poem  and 
here  perhaps  the  most  important  part  is  the  final  vindication  of  the 
identity  of  the  Geatas  and  Gotar  and  the  very  full  treatment  of  the 
Offa  story,  an  old  love  of  Dr  Chambers.  In  Chapter  ii  on  the  Non- 
Historical  Elements  the  most  important  sections  are  those  on  Bothvar 
Bjarki  and  on  Scef  and  Scyld.    On  the  former  question,  after  pointing 


Reviews  97 

out  the  parallel  lines  and  incidents  of  the  English  and  Scandinavian 
stories,  the  author  passes  a  characteristic  comment  when  he  says : 

It  is  conceivable  for  a  situation  to  have  been  reconstructed  in  this  way  by  a  mere 
accident,  just  as  it  is  conceivable  that  one  player  may  have  the  eight  or  nine  best 
trumps  dealt  him.  But  it  does  not  seem  advisable  to  base  one's  calculations  upon 
such  an  accident  happening. 

Of  Scyld  and  Scef  Dr  Chambers  believes  that  each  originally  stood 
at  the  head  of  a  famous  dynasty,  Scyld  at  the  head  of  the  Danish,  and 
Sceaf  or  Sceafa  at  the  head  of  the  Longobardic,  and  that  the  two  stories 
have  mutually  contaminated  one  another.  One  point  may  be  noted 
here.  Dr  Chambers,  though  he  does  not  believe  that  Scyld  Scefing, 
meaning  originally  '  Scyld  with  the  sheaf,'  has  been  misinterpreted  as 
'  Scyld,  son  of  Scef/  does  not  deny  the  possibility  of  the  '  Scyld  with  the 
sheaf  interpretation.  In  this  he  of  course  agrees  with  many  other 
scholars,  but  is  there  any  justification  for  it?  The  suffix  -ing  is  un- 
doubtedly of  wide  use  and  interpretation  in  Anglo-Saxon  but  is  there 
any  parallel  for  a  second  personal  name  formed  by  adding  -ing  to  some 
common  object  generally  associated  with  the  man  who  bears  it? 

On  the  folk-tale  element  we  have  some  keenly  critical  remarks. 
Dr  Chambers  believes  in  its  existence  and  importance  but  rightly  pro- 
tests against  the  somewhat  uncritical  fashion  in  which  parallels  drawn 
the  world  over,  from  China  to  Peru,  have  been  compounded  together 
into  an  entirely  artificial  story  which  is  adduced  as  a  close  parallel  to 
the  Beowtdf -story. 

Chapter  iii  deals  with  the  origin,  date  and  structure  of  the  poem. 
Most  scholars  will  now  agree  with  the  author's  rejection  of  any  idea  of 
a  Scandinavian  original  for  the  poem,  most  will  also  agree  with  his 
warning  against  a  too  implicit  and  uncritical  acceptance  of  the  Lichtenfeld 
and  Morsbach  tests  as  a  means  of  dating  it.  More  controversial  are  the 
sections  on  the  structure  of  the  poem  and  on  the  relation  of  the  heathen 
and  Christian  elements  in  it.  As  to  the  former  the  author  is  all  against 
Schucking's  views  of  an  independent  poem  dealing  with  Beowulf's 
Return  and  gives  good  reasons  for  his  own.  He  is  equally  emphatic  in 
his  rejection  of  Chadwick's  views  upon  the  latter.  He  shows  that  there 
is  not  that  close  familiarity  with  ancient  funeral  rites  which  has  been 
claimed  as  reason  for  assigning  a  heathen  origin  to  the  poem  and  he  makes 
an  effective  counter-stroke  against  the  arguments  based  on  the  vagueness 
of  the  Christian  references  when  he  points  out  that  they  might  equally 
well  be  used  to  prove  the  very  early  date  of  the  Battle  of  Maldon. 

Part  II  is  a  valuable  collection  of  the  various  Latin  and  Scandi- 
navian documents  which  furnish  parallels  for  the  various  episodes  in  the 
poem,  and  here  a  word  of  tribute  must  be  given  to  the  excellence  of  the 
English  renderings  of  the  passages  from  Hrolfs  Saga  Krdka,  Grettis 
Saga  and  other  Scandinavian  sagas. 

Part  III  is  an  exhaustive  discussion  of  the  Fight  at  Finnsburg  and 
of  the  relation  of  the  Finn-episode  in  Beowulf  to  the  Finnsburg  frag- 
ment.   There  are  no  better  pages  in  the  book  and,  even  if  the  chapter 

M.  L.  R.  XVIII.  7 


98  Reviews 

does  not  convey  conviction  to  every  one  upon  the  most  difficult  problem 
in  the  whole  range  of  Anglo-Saxon  literature,  no  one  can  read  it  without 
understanding  in  fuller  measure  than  he  has  ever  before  done  the  whole 
spirit  and  power  of  Teutonic  Heroic  poetry. 

An  appendix  deals  more  fully  with  some  of  the  earlier  problems  and 
takes  up  fresh  ones.  The  most  welcome  is  perhaps  the  excursus  on 
Beowulf  and  the  archaeologists.  Hitherto  we  have  been  almost  entirely 
dependent  on  the  very  valuable  but  somewhat  uncritical  work  of  Knut 
Stjerna.  Dr  Chambers  enables  us  to  see  his  work  in  the  right  light, 
and,  still  better,  shows  us  the  extent  to  which  we  may  be  helped  by 
a  study  of  the  archaeology  of  our  own  island. 

With  a  theme  of  this  kind  there  was  a  serious  danger  that  we  might 
have  had  to  be  content  with  a  learned  but  intolerably  Dryasdust  and 
inhuman  book.  Fortunately  for  us  and  for  the  repute  of  English  scholar- 
ship the  task  fell  into  the  hands  of  a  scholar  who  is  as  witty  and  humane 
as  he  is  learned,  and  the  result  is  a  book  in  which,  where  the  author 
himself  is  speaking,  there  is  not  a  dull  page. 

Allen  Mawer. 

Liverpool. 

The  Laws  of  the  Earliest  English  Kings.  Edited  and  translated  b}^ 
F.  L.  Attenborough.  Cambridge :  University  Press.  1922.  8vo. 
xii  +  256  pp.    15s. 

Mr  Attenborough  begins  by  disclaiming  the  attempt  to  compete 
with  Liebermann's  Oesetze  der  Angelsachsen ;  but  a  new  edition  of  the 
laws  of  the  earliest  English  kings  cannot  avoid  the  comparison.  Lieber- 
mann  was  extraordinarily  equipped  for  the  task  by  his  marvellous 
patience  and  accuracy,  by  his  lifelong  study  of  early  English  documents, 
and  of  general  and  legal  history ;  and  when  his  third  volume  appeared 
in  1916,  one  had  the  comfortable  feeling  that  here  at  last  was  a  work 
that  would  not  soon  find  a  rival.  Following  so  close  upon  it,  an  English 
edition  of  the  earlier  laws  must  stand  a  critical  scrutiny.  The  editor 
meets  the  point  fairly  in  his  preface,  where  he  explains  that  many  who 
are  interested  in  the  Old  English  laws  are  not  proficient  in  German, 
and  that  others  are  likely  to  be  bewildered  by  the  bulk  of  Liebermann's 
apparatus  and  by  the  conciseness  of  his  treatment  of  details.  This  book, 
then,  must  be  judged  as  an  attempt  to  bring  within  the  reach  of  the 
ordinary  student  some  of  the  material  which  Liebermann  has  edited  for 
experts. 

The  laws  selected  are  the  earliest — from  iEthelbert  (d.  616-7)  to 
(  Athelstan  (d.  940);  but  the  preface  announces  the  preparation  of  another 
volume  by  Miss  A.  J.  Robertson,  which  will  cover  the  period  from 
Edmund  to  Canute.  For  the  double  page  of  Liebermann's  text-volume, 
presenting  in  several  parallel  columns  the  chief  Old  English  MSS.,  the 
early  Latin  versions  and  a  German  translation,  Mr  Attenborough  gives 
one  Old  English  text  with  a  modern  rendering  on  the  opposite  page. 
There  are  brief  Introductions  to  each  group  of  Laws;  Notes  which  con- 


Reviews  99 

tain  far  too  many  references  to  Liebermann  if  the  book  is  designed  for 
readers  who  find  him  difficult  or  inaccessible;  and  a  useful  Index:  in 
all,  a  compact  volume,  in  which  the  matter  of  the  laws  is  given  a  fitting 
prominence. 

For  the  Old  English  texts  the  editor  has  collated  the  more  important 
manuscripts,  though  he  admits  that  his  gleanings  were  scanty :  indeed, 
the  footnotes  do  not  disclose  any  corrections  of  Liebermann's  MS. 
readings,  and  where  the  text  shows  slight  variations,  it  is  often  hard  to 
tell  whether  they  are  the  result  of  accident  or  design.  Misprints  are 
rather  frequent,  e.g.  &yrnum  for  dyrnum  p.  52  §  52 ;  &eora  for  ftreora 
p.  loO  §  6,  2  ;  gefer stipes  for  geferscipes  p.  160  §  3;  and  no  purpose  is 
served  by  printing  7  slea  nwn  pa  hond  of  pe  he  hit  mid  \sttel]  gedyde 
at  p.  68  top,  where  stsd  (3  sg.  pa.  t.)  is  interlined  in  a  MS.  which  is  not 
the  basis  of  the  text,  as  a  'mere  variant  for  {ge)dyde.  In  general,  where 
there  is  a  difference,  Liebermann's  text  has  the  advantage  in  accuracy 
and  critical  quality. 

The  translation,  which  is  far  ahead  of  the  previous  English  version 
by  Thorpe,  is  the  most  valuable  part  of  the  book.  The  language  of  the 
laws  is  often  crabbed  or  vague,  and  the  difficulty  of  turning  it  into  lucid 
and  readable  English  is  much  greater  than  might  appear  from  the 
result.  Some  of  Mr  Attenborough's  renderings  point  to  interpretations 
which,  if  not  always  decisive,  are  still  well  deserving  of  attention ;  and 
although  details  are  open  to  criticism  (e.g.  the  rendering  of  tu  ealdhri&eru 
o&&e  .x.  we&eras  by  '2  full-grown  cows  or  10  wethers'  at  p.  59),  it  is 
greatly  to  his  credit  that  he  makes  criticism  possible  by  expressing  his 
meaning  clearly  and  precisely. 

With  this  foundation,  a  very  attractive  book  might  have  been  pro- 
duced had  the  editor  seen  his  way  to  fill  a  gap,  which  Liebermann  has 
as  yet  left  unfilled,  by  exhibiting  in  a  general  essay  the  development  of 
the  Old  English  laws,  the  social  conditions  they  reflect,  their  relation 
to  the  Continental  systems,  their  place  in  the  history  of  later  English 
law,  and  their  practical  and  literary  quality  of  which  the  43rd  law 
of  Ine  is  a  classic  example  :  '  If  a  tree  in  a  wood  is  destroyed  by  fire, 
and  there  is  proof  against  him  who  did  it,  he  shall  pay  a  full  fine :  he 
shall  pay  60  shillings,  because  fire  is  a  thief.  If  a  man  cut  down  many 
trees  in  a  wood,  and  it  becomes  known,  he  shall  pay  30  shillings  for 
each  of  three  trees :  he  need  not  pay  any  more,  however  many  they  be, 
because  the  axe  is  an  informer,  not  a  thief  The  absence  of  such  an 
essay  from  a  book  designed  to  be  an  introduction  to  the  Old  English 
laws  is  the  more  disappointing  because  not  much  is  done  to  cover  the 
ground  in  the  brief  Introductions  or  the  Notes. 

In  another  respect  there  is  room  for  improvement.  Where  the 
solution  of  a  difficulty  requires  commonsense,  the  editor  is  usually  suc- 
cessful— and  this  is  one  of  the  most  constant  and  valuable  qualities  of 
English  editing.  But  where  a  technical  point  is  involved,  he  is  often 
silent,  or  falters,  or  misses  the  mark.  For  instance :  at  p.  10  §  56  MS. 
Iterestan  (=  Isesestan,  Imstan  '  least ')  is  retained  without  explanation, 
and  of  course  good  authorities  have  defended  it  as  an  isolated  archaism, 


100  Reviews 

comparable  with  Frisian  lerest ;  but  it  was  worth  noting  that  the  form 
occurs  only  in  this  passage,  that  the  MS.  is  the  Textus  Roffensis  of  the 
twelfth  century  and  that  p.  and  f  in  late  OE.  MSS.  are  often  almost 
indistinguishable ;  so  that  the  defence  of  Iserestan  as  an  archaism  may 
be  too  recondite.  At  p.  20  §  9  seo  sacy  occurs  in  the  same  MS.,  and  the 
editor  remarks:  'sacy,  presumably  for  sacu' ;  but  as  sio  sace  appears 
in  the  next  paragraph,  and  forms  like  folcy  =folce  are  familiar  enough 
in  this  and  other  late  MSS.,  the  presumption  is  that  -y  represents  un- 
accented -e.  The  19th  law  of  Wihtred  reads :  Cliroc  feowra  sum  hine 
cl&nsie  his  heafodgemacene  j  ane  his  hand  on  wiofode ;  opre  tetstanden, 
ap  abycgan;  and  the  comment  is  'abycgan,  perhaps  3rd  pi  conjunct. 
Schmid  suggested  the  insertion  of  and  before  ap.'  '  Perhaps '  raises 
doubt  unnecessarily;  and  as  opre  zetstanden,  ap  abycgan  is  an  alliterative 
line,  the  omission  of  and  is  regular  and  essential  to  the  rhythm.  In  the 
discussion  of  the  words  his  agne  forfongen  at  p.  194  of  the  Notes,  the 
question  is  put :  '  Is  it  possible  that  in  the  archetype  MS.  the  reading 
was  his  agenne  forfong,  and  that  owing  to  an  error  of  omission  and  a 
subsequent  marginal  correction,  the  en  of  ag[en]ne  has  been  transposed 
to  the  end  of  the  sentence  ? '  The  answer  is  that  in  Old  English  MSS. 
the  omission  of  two  or  three  letters  is  repaired  by  interlining,  and  not 
by  inserting  them  in  the  margin,  as  a  modern  corrector  of  proofs  would 
do.  In  themselves  these  are  trifles,  and  it  would  be  cavilling  to  notice 
them  were  they  not  symptoms  of  a  method  of  editing  in  which  the 
patient  study  of  technical  details  is  undervalued.  Yet  without  it  not 
much  steady  progress  can  be  made  on  well-worked  ground.  Mr  Atten- 
borough  in  fact  passes  by  without  curiosity  problems  that  were  almost 
forced  upon  his  attention — such  as  the  textual  history  of  /  Athelstan 
(pp.  122  ff.)  and  Athelstan's  Ordinance  on  Charities  (pp.  126  f.),  which 
is  not  adequately  covered  by  the  customary  reference  to  Liebermann. 

For  the  Old  English  text  of  the  Ordinance,  Lambard's  Archaionomia 
of  1568  is  the  sole  authority.  For  i"  Athelstan  Lambard  has  an  Old 
English  text  which  is  entirely  independent  of  that  of  the  known  MSS. 
It  is  assumed  here,  as  elsewhere,  that  he  had  MS.  sources  which  are 
now  lost.  Of  course  some  manuscript  material  has  disappeared  in  modern 
times.  The  present  reviewer  has  a  script  facsimile  made  by  Richard 
Taylor  in  1811  from  a  late  twelfth-century  binding  leaf  which  was  then 
in  the  possession  of  '  Mr  Stevenson,  printer,  of  Norwich  ' :  it  contained 
the  Old  English  text  of  II  Edgar,  and  III  Edgar  as  far  as  the  word 
he  in  §  6,  without  the  interpolations  of  the  Harleian  and  Corpus  MSS. ; 
and  apparently  no  editor  has  come  upon  it.  But  the  disappearance  of  a 
MS.  from  one  of  the  collections  accessible  to  antiquaries  in  Lambard's 
time  is  uncommon  enough  to  be  matter  for  inquiry. 

To  begin  with,  the  double  text  of  /  Athelstan  is  puzzling.  It  is  not 
unusual  to  find  more  than  one  recension  of  a  single  Old  English  text, 
but  nowhere  else  does  a  series  of  laws  appear  in  two  quite  independent 
Old  English  drafts ;  and  it  is  not  easy  to  see  how  two  such  drafts  came 
to  be  produced  and  promulgated.  Liebermann  does  not  consider  the 
problem  from  this  side,  and  his  analysis  of  the  relations  of  the  versions 


Reviews  101 

(i  xxxiii,  in  96-8)  is  not  altogether  clear :  but  his  conclusion  seems  to 
be  that  Lambard's  Old  English  texts  of  2"  Athelstan  and  the  Ordinance 
derive  directly  from  a  lost  MS.  of  the  early  twelfth  century,  that  this 
MS.  was  once  part  of  CCCC.  MS.  383,  and*  that  the  Latin  text  of  the 
Quadripartitus  was  translated  from  its  archetype. 

That  Lambard's  texts  of  /  Athelstan  and  Ordinance  have  a  single 
source  appears  to  be  certain,  for  they  are  distinguished  from  the  other 
texts  of  the  Archaionomia  by  an  extraordinary  neglect  of  the  rules  of 
Old  English  accidence  and  syntax,  and  by  a  diffused  caninity  of  expres- 
sion. But  it  is  hard  to  believe  that  this  source  was  a  part  of  CCCC. 
MS.  383 :  the  positive  evidence  adduced  for  the  identification  is  value- 
less; and  as  Lambard  prints  other  parts  of  the  MS.  with  tolerable 
accuracy,  it  is  not  obvious  why  he  or  his  printer  should  have  produced 
from  it  the  remarkable  jargon  of/  Athelstan  and  the  Ordinance. 

It  must  be  granted  that  Lambard  was  habitually'  careless  about 
accidence.  Throughout  his  book  final  -e  is  added  or  omitted  almost  at 
random,  and  there  is  a  fair  sprinkling  of  bad  forms  and  misprints.  But 
it  would  be  hard  to  find  anywhere  else  in  the  Archaionomia  such  a  riot 
of  inflexions  in  so  short  a  space,  e.g.:  &urh  ealle  mine  rice;  mines  agenes 
eehtes  gen.  sg.  (the  only  example  of  teht  masc.  cited  in  Boswbrth-Toller 
Suppl.) ;  to  &am  tide ;  &&s  beheafdunges  gen.  sg.  (where  editors  retain 
the  misprint  ftter  for  &tes);  dn  earm' Engliscmon  (ace.) gif  ge  him  habbaj?, 
etc.  These  are  not  the  forms  or  spellings  of  a  twelfth-century  MS.,  and 
if  Lambard  used  such  a  MS.,  his  text  could  only  be  explained  as  the 
result  of  exceptional,  deliberate,  and  unintelligent  archaism.  Even  then 
it  is  not  easy  to  see  why  he  should  change  a  presumable  twelfth-century 
*to  ftere  tide  into  to  (Jam  tide. 

The  syntax  is  stranger  still.  The  distinction  of  strong  and  weak 
adjectives,  and  of  the  indicative  and  subjunctive  moods  in  the  present 
tense,  long  survived  the  twelfth  century ;  but  here  they  have  no  place ; 
e.g.:  ge  $ms  libbendes  yrfes  ge  d'ms  gearlices  westmes;  &a  heofonlica 
&inga...j  &a  ecelic  (ace.) :  ic  bebeode...pmt  hi . . .gesyllap . . . ;  ic  nylle  pset 
ge  me  hwtet  mid  woh  begytap ;  ic  wille  past  ge  fedap,  etc.  In  warniap 
eow...&ses  Drihtenes  eorres,  the  verb  warnian  is  used  with  the  genitive, 
which  is  the  Old  English  construction  of  wyrnan ;  and  gebyrian  is 
twice  construed  with  the  simple  infinitive :  ...eallum  &e  hio  gehyrsumian 
gebyrap  and  mi  ge  gehyrap . .  .hwset  us  fulfremian  gebyrap.  It  cannot  be 
supposed  that  a  printer  changed  his  copy  in  this  manner,  and  Lambard 
was  not  in  the  habit  of  perverting  his  MSS.  so  thoroughly. 

Then  there  are  disconcerting  oddities  of  expression :  on  pees  Drihtsenes 
nama  '  in  the  name  of  the  Lord ' ;  to  ftam  Drihten  '  to  the  Lord ' ;  &ses 
Drihtenes  eorres  '  the  wrath  of  the  Lord.' '  The  article  is  commonly  used 
in  Old  English  with  Htelend  but  not  with  Drihten.  Longer  specimens 
are  :  Ic  wille  pmt  ge  fedap  ealle  wsega  an  earm  Engliscmon,  gif  ge  him 
habbap,  oppe  operne  gefindap  = '  volo  ut  pascatis  omni  via  pauperem 
unum  Anglicum  indigentem,  si  sit  [t]ibi,  vel  alium  inveniatis '  {Quadri- 
partitus) ;  under  ps&s  bisceopes  gewitnesse,  on  (5ms  rice  it  sie  — '  sub  testi- 
monio  episcopi  in  cuius  episcopatu  sit'  (Quadripartitus);  and,  finally, 


102  Reviews 

an  scone  spices  oJ?J?e  an  ram  weorpe  .iiii.  peningas,  j  scrud  for  twelf 
monfia  selc  gear,  '  a  leg  of  bacon,  or  a  ram  worth  Jf,  pence,  and  clothing 
for  twelve  months  '  =  '  una  perna,  vel  unus  aries  qui  valeat  quattuor 
denarios,...ad  vestimentum  duodecim  mensium  unoquoque  anno.' 

This  is  too  great  a  strain  on  our  faith.  Lambard's  ancient  MS.  is 
a  ghost,  despite  the  pedigree  Liebermann  has  prepared  for  it :  and 
Lambard's  texts  of  /  Athelstan  and  the  Ordinance  are  translations  of 
the  Quadripartitus  into  Elizabethan  Anglo-Saxon.  Hence  the  modernity 
of  the  constructions,  and  the  sudden  freedom  from  the  grammatical 
restraints  imposed  by  an  old  manuscript;  hence  too,  some  half-Eliza- 
bethan spellings,  like  gereafa  for  gerefa  (4  times  out  of  5)  which  does 
not  appear  elsewhere  in  Archaionomia. 

Let  us  now  examine  some  difficulties  in  the  text  from  this  stand- 
point. In  /  Athelstan  §  5  the  use  of  the  word  geornian  is  so  unnatural 
that  Liebermann  (in,  98)  thinks  it  was  suggested  by  geunnan  of  the 
other  version ;  but  it  is  the  natural  translation  of  cupire  in  Quadri- 
partitus. In  Ordinance  §  2  occurs  the  aira^  oferhealdan  'to  neglect,' 
which  is  recorded  in  Bosworth-Toller  and  in  NED.  sv.  Overhold :  it  is 
a  mechanical  rendering  of  supertenere  in  the  Quadripartitus,  and  super  - 
tenere  elsewhere  renders  OE.  forhealdan,  which  probably  stood  in  the 
lost  Old  English  text  of  the  Ordinance.  An  scone  spices  stands  alone 
among  Bosworth-Toller's  examples  of  scone  and  spic,  and  in  NED.  sv. 
Shank  the  passage  requires  a  special  paragraph  for  the  meaning,  as 
well  as  an  etymological  note  on  the  form.  This  is  not  surprising;  for 
perna  of  Quadripartitus  is  the  regular  equivalent  of  OE.  flicce  '  flitch,' 
and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  flicce  stood  in  the  lost  OE.  Ordinance. 
But  the  Elizabethan  translator  did  not  know  this.  He  understood  by 
perna  what  we  now  call  a  '  ham,'  and  yet  '  ham '  in  the  modern  sense 
of  '  a  cured  leg  of  pork '  was  neither  Old  English  nor  Elizabethan,  and 
'gammon'  was  plainly  not  a  native  word.  So  he  decided  to  give  a  para- 
phrase, and  having  come  across  sconca  '  leg,'  produced  the  monstrosity 
an  scone  spices !  It  does  not  seem  to  have  occurred  to  him  or  to  his 
editors  that  the  choice  between  '  a  leg  of  bacon '  and  '  a  ram '  was  a 
strange  one :  the  dn  earm  Engliscmon  required  food  and  not  breeding- 
stock  ;  and  since  aries  in  the  Quadripartitus  elsewhere  renders  we&er, 
we  may  be  confident  that  the  lost  OE.  Ordinance  specified  ,i.  we&er,  not 
dn  rdm.  The  spuriousness  of  Lambard's  text  is  thus  confirmed :  and 
even  the  plausible  siblac  =  hostias  paciflcas  (I  Ath.  §  2)  must  be  ex- 
punged from  the  dictionaries. 

The  barbarous  '  Old  English '  helps  to  identify  the  Latin  MS.  of  the 
^Quadripartitus  that  the  translator  used.  It  was  certainly  one  of  the 
'  London '  group,  with  near  affinities  to  Liebermann's  K  (Cott.  MS. 
Claudius  D.  II)  and  Or.  (Oriel  College  MS.  46),  both  of  the  early 
fourteenth  century.  Note  for  instance,  in  /  Ath.  §  5  :  Quadripartitus 
'quid  Deo  precupiam  etquidcompleredebeatis':  but  iT,  Or.  'precipiam... 
debeamus,'  which  is  closer  to  Lambard's  hwmt  Drihtene  us  bebeod  j  hwset 
us  fulfremian  gebyrap ;  or  again,  in  Ord.  (Prologue) :  Quadripartitus  'si 
sit  ibi ' ;  but  K,  Or.  '  si  sit  tibi '  =  Lambard  gif  ge  him  habbap.   In  one 


Reviews  103 

place  K  alone  gives  a  corresponding  text,  and  it  is  certainly  corrupt : 
I  Ath.  §  3:  Quadripartitus  '  Recolendum  quoque  nobis  est,  quam  terri- 
biliter  in  libris  positum  est ' ;  K...'quod  terribiliter  in  hiis  [so  others  of 
the  London  group]  libris...':  Lambard  We  moton  eac  &ses  ftencan,  Se 
egeslic  on  Sissum  bocum  is  gewriten.  Use  of  K  would  also  explain  the 
failure  to  translate  I  Ath.  §  4,  which  is  made  unintelligible  by  K's 
reading  chericete  for  cyricsceatta.  But  account  must  be  taken  of  Ord. 
§  1  where  K  has  witadefceop :  Lambard  (correctly)  wite&eowne ;  and  of 
Ord.  (Prologue)  where  K  has  'omni  villa' :  rest  'omni  via':  Lambard  ealle 
w&ga.  It  must  be  assumed  either  that  the  translator  used  a  Latin  MS. 
now  lost  which  was  very  close  to  K,  or — what  is  more  likely — that  he 
followed  a  transcript  of  K  which  had  been  collated  with  another  MS. 
for  at  least  two  awkward  readings. 

If  Lambard  was  the  translator,  he  must  have  had  his  tongue  in  his 
cheek  when  he  wrote  in  the  Preface  :  Jam  vero  ne  quis  domi  nostras  has 
natas  esse  leges  arbitretur,  plane  suscipio  atque  profiteor,  magna  fide  et 
religione  ex  vetustissimis. .  .exemplaribus  fuisse  desumpta.  But  there  is 
evidence  of  his  good  faith.  In  1567,  the  year  before  the  Preface  was 
written,  Lawrence  Nowell  gave  him  an  Anglo-Saxon  dictionary  in  manu- 
script, which  is  now  Bodleian  MS.  Selden  supra  63.  It  is  significant 
that  none  of  the  rarities  of  the  spurious  laws  are  in  Nowell's  word-list ; 
but  among  the  later  additions — made  apparently  by  Lambard's  hand — 
appear  the  following:  (under  Sibbe)  ' Siblac.  hostia  pacifica';  (after 
'  Sceanca,  the  legges,  see  Scanca ')  '  7  Scone,  idem,  opinor.  Scone  spices. 
a  gamon  of  Bacon,  perna  Lat.'  This  is  not  the  language  of  a  forger 
contemplating  his  own  handiwork.  It  rather  suggests  that  Lambard 
received  the  texts  from  some  friend  and  printed  them  without  a  doubt 
of  their  authenticity.  Now  in  his  Preface  he  writes  :  Obtulit  mihi  supe- 
riori  anno  [i.e.  1567]  Laurentius  Noel  us,...  qui  me  (quicunque  in  hoc 
genere  sim)  ejficit,  priscas  Anglorum  leges,  antiquissima  Saxonum  lingua, 
et  Uteris  conscriptas,  atque  a  me  (quoniam  ei  turn  erat  trans  mare  eundum) 
ut  Latinas  facerem,  ac  pervidgarem  vehementer  flagitavit.  These  words 
might  refer  to  the  loan  of  an  old  MS.;  but  it  is  more  likely  that  Nowell 
sent  a  transcript  of  the  Laws  in  the  imitative  Anglo-Saxon  script  that 
scholars  of  the  time  used  in  making  copies,  whether  for  private  use  or 
for  the  printer.  The  spurious  passages  might  easily  creep  into  such  a 
transcript :  for  if  Nowell  copied  from  a  MS.  like  CCCC.  383,  or  Cotton 
Otho  B  XI,  which  begin  Athelstan's  Laws  with  II  Athelstan,  reference 
to  a  MS.  of  the  Quadripartitus  would  at  once  disclose  the  gap ;  and 
what  more  natural  to  an  Elizabethan  antiquary  than  to  fill  it  as  best 
he  could,  not  with  intent  to  deceive,  but  simply  to  complete  his  col- 
lection of  Old  English  texts  ?  Once  embedded  in  the  transcript,  the 
fictitious  laws  might  be  forgotten  by  their  author;  there  would  be 
nothing  in  the  script  to  reveal  them  to  Lambard ;  and  even  when  the 
true  text  of  /  Athelstan  came  to  his  notice  in  the  course  of  collation,  he 
would  hardly  recognise  its  superior  claims. 

A  thorough  study  of  the  whole  body  of  Lambard's  texts  would  pro- 
bably throw  more  light  on  their  origin.    His  section  headings  particularly, 


/ 


104  Reviews 

unless  they  have  MS.  support,  should  be  regarded  as  adventitious  until 
they  are  proved  genuine. 

K.  Sisam. 
Oxford. 

The  Gild  of  St  Mary,  Lichfield,  being  Ordinances  of  the  Gild  of  St  Mary 
and  other  Documents.  (E.E.T.S.  Extra  Series,  No.  cxiv.)  London : 
Kegan  Paul ;  H.  Milford.    1920.   82  pp.   15s. 

This  slender  collection  of  documents,  the  earliest  of  which  were 
copied  by  Dr  Furnivall  from  the  Gild  register  at  Lichfield  as  long  ago 
as  1889,  is  of  more  value  to  the  social  historian  than  to  the  student  of 
English  prose.  The  English  version,  made  in  1538,  of  the  ordinances 
which  were  issued  at  the  foundation  of  the  gild  of  St  Mary  in  1387,  is 
an  interesting  addition  to  the  series  of  ordinances  printed,  more  than 
fifty  years  ago,  in  Toulmin  Smith's  English  Gilds.  At  its  outset,  this 
gild  was  simply  a  religious  organisation,  founded  mainly  for  the  purpose 
of  maintaining  an  unspecified  number  of  chantry-priests  in  the  chapel 
of  St  Mary.  Its  founders  were  evidently  well-to-do  citizens,  and,  within 
a  hundred  years  of  its  foundation,  it  had  become  the  governing  body  in 
municipal  affairs.  The  second  set  of  ordinances,  made  in  1486-7,  is 
almost  entirely  devoted  to  this  side  of  its  activity,  and  indicates  that, 
from  a  gild  of  unlimited  though  carefully  chosen  membership,  it  had 
developed  into  a  close  corporation  of  a  master  and  forty-eight  brethren. 
The  city  of  Lichfield  received  its  first  charter  from  Edward  VI,  after  the 
second  Chantry  act  had  put  an  end  to  religious  gilds:  its  later  govern- 
ment, by  two  bailiffs  and  twenty-one  brethren,  is  a  sign  that  here,  as  at 
Newark-on-Trent  and  other  places,  the  new  corporation  was  a  revised 
edition  of  the  old  gild,  with  its  chantry  endowments  confiscated  or 
diverted  to  other  uses. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  no  historical  introduction  has  been  added 
to  Dr  Furnivall's  transcripts.  The  research  involved  would  have  cleared 
up  some  points  which  the  documents  leave  to  inference,  e.g.  the  relation 
of  the  gild  in  its  municipal  capacity  to  the  Bishop  as  lord  of  Lichfield, 
which  would  have  thrown  further  light  upon  its  survival  in  the  Edwardian 
corporation.  The  Latin  certificate  of  the  gild,  returned  in  pursuance  of 
the  act  of  September  1388,  might  also  have  been  given  in  an  appendix  : 
it  is  of  value  not  only  as  showing  that  only  one  chantry-priest  had  been 
appointed  up  to  that  time,  but  as  supplying  the  secondary  dedication  to 
St  John  Baptist,  not  mentioned  in  the  ordinances.  The  English  text  of 
the  1387  document  has  been  collated  with  the  Latin  original,  and  the 
English  oath  prescribed  to  members  in  1387  is  printed  parallel  with 
the  form  given  in  1538.  The  translator  did  his  work  freely  and  roughly, 
and  was  no  skilled  Latinist.  One  of  his  mistakes  is  corrected  in  a  note 
on  p.  7 ;  but  the  same  page  contains  another,  which  shows  how  lightly 
he  leaped  over  phrases  which  he  did  not  understand.  The  order  for  the 
expulsion  of  ill-livers  from  the  gild  is  followed  by  directions  for  the 
treatment  of  minor  offences.    To  translate  aliquo  errore  uel  uicio  non 


Reviews  105 

notorio  irretiti  by  '  in  ony  errour,  or  ony  other  detestable  crime,'  implies 
a  very  casual  treatment  of  the  text,  and  probable  ignorance  of  the  legal 
meaning  of  notorius.  When,  on  p.  8,  we  find  capitali  domino  seruicia 
debita  et  consueta  rendered  as  '  cheef  honour  to  godd,'  our  suspicion  of 
his  capacity  deepens :  the  true  significance  of  the  phrase  is  suggested 
with  too  much  caution  in  a  note,  and  it  was  quite  needless  to  add  that 
Canon  Curteis,  who  collated  the  two  texts,  thought  that  the  translator 
was  justified  by  the  passage  of  Scripture  which  follows.  It  doubtless 
misled  him,  but  there  were  clerks  in  Lichfield  who  could  have  set  him 
right.  There  are  several  misprints  in  the  Latin  notes :  uixta  for  iuxta 
(p.  7),  intromitant  (possibly  in  the  original)  for  intromittant,  and  infor- 
tunum  for  infortunium  (p.  8),  innitacionem  for  inuitacionem  (p.  9)  and 
libracionem  for  liberacionem  (p.  10). 

The  most  interesting  documents  in  the  book  after  the  two  ordinances 
are  those  relating  to  our  Lady's  alms-chest  or  '  Herwood's  coffre,'  a  mont- 
de-piete  established  in  St  Mary's  in  1457  by  two  canons  of  the  cathedral 
church,  and  placed  under  the  administration  of  the  gild-master,  the 
cathedral  sacrist,  the  chapel-warden  and  one  of  the  chantry-priests.  In 
1486  their  negligence  had  brought  the  capital  fund  down  from  £40  to 
£13,  and  Dean  Hey  wood,  in  his  visitation  as  ordinary  of  the  city  of 
Lichfield,  recovered  certain  bad  debts  and  made  the  rest  good  from  his 
own  pocket,  leaving  strict  injunctions  for  its  careful  maintenance.  The 
ordinances  (1576  and  1697)  of  the  company  of  Tailors,  and  (1601  and 
1630)  of  that  of  Smiths,  two  out  of  the  seven  crafts  of  Lichfield,  call  for 
little  comment.  The  craft  of  Smiths,  including  several  associated  trades, 
was  of  much  earlier  origin  than  1601 ;  and  it  is  probable  that  the  Tailors 
in  1576  had  been  long  established.  In  both  cases,  however,  their  ordi- 
nances were  thoroughly  revised  for  confirmation  by  the  judges  of  assize, 
and,  at  the  later  dates,  by  the  two  bailiffs  and  twenty-one  brethren,  and 
contain  nothing  which  enables  us,  as  compilations  of  the  same  kind 
sometimes  do,  to  distinguish  between  original  clauses  and  subsequent 
additions  or  modifications.  Short  illustrative  documents  relating  to  the 
Tailors  of  Lynn  and  Southampton,  and  some  other  fugitive  notes,  taken 
from  the  reports  of  the  Historical  MSS.  Commission,  remind  us  how 
much  remains  to  be  done  in  publishing  and  collating  the  numerous 
ordinances  and  minute-books  of  crafts  and  mysteries  which  in  many 
places  are  in  private  hands. 

A.  Hamilton  Thompson. 

Leeds. 


The  Donet  by  Reginald  Pecock,  D.D.  Now  first  edited  from  MS.  Bodl. 
916  and  collated  with  The  Poore  Mennis  Myrrour  (Brit.  Mus.  MS. 
Addl.  37788)  by  Elsie  Vaughan  Hitchcock.  London:  Published 
for  the  Early  English  Text  Society  by  Humphrey  Milford,  Oxford 
University  Press.    1922.   35s. 

Whoever  may  claim  to  be  the  'father'  of  English  prose,  it  was 
Reginald  Pecock  who  first  showed  the  fitness  of  our  mother-tongue  for 


106  Reviews 

the  expression  of  abstract  thought  and  profound  learning.  And  he 
showed  it  so  well  that  fear  led  the  official  medicine-men  of  the 
fifteenth  century  to  a  most  thorough-going  pursuit  and  destruction  of 
his  works.  The  six  books  that  escaped  their  panic  hatred  have  survived 
each  in  a  single  copy. 

Until  lately  our  knowledge  of  Pecock's  work  has  been  derived  mainly 
from  The  Repressor  (ed.  Babington,  1860).  The  Book  of  Faith  was 
edited  by  J.  L.  Morison  in  1909  ;  and  from  James  Gairdner's  Monograph 
(1911)  we  have  some  idea  of  the  contents  of  The  Reule  of  Cristen  Reli- 
gioun,  now  in  private  hands.  Pecock's  other  three  extant  books,  after 
more  than  four-and-a-half  centuries  of  oblivion,  now  see  the  light  again 
through  the  painstaking  and  scholarly  care  of  Miss  Hitchcock. 

The  book  before  us,  The  Donet,  is  a  guide  to  the  '  Seven  Matters '  of 
the  Christian  Religion:  1.  The  Nature  of  God;  2.  His  benefits;  3.  His 
punishments ;  4.  His  Commandments ;  5.  Our  natural  wretchednesses ; 
6.  Our  natural  wickednesses;  7.  Remedies  against  5  and  6.  Of  these 
the  '  fourth  matter '  is  accorded  the  fullest  treatment.  A  critical  exami- 
nation is  made  of  the  Ten  Commandments  of  Moses,  and  in  place  of 
these  are  put  Four  Tables,  containing  Thirty-one  Moral  Virtues  '  com- 
manded or  counselled  by  reason  or  faith,'  and  thus  embracing  '  all  God's 
commandments  and  counsels.' 

Students  of  history  or  of  theology  will  find  that  their  path  through 
the  intricacies  of  this  book  is  made  easy  by  Miss  Hitchcock's  full  mar- 
ginal notes,  excellent  Summary  of  Contents,  and  exhaustive  General 
Index.  Students  of  language  and  literature  owe  still  more  to  her.  The 
Donet  is  the  first  work  of  Pecock's  to  be  printed  strictly  in  accordance 
with  the  manuscript.  The  trustworthy  and  scholarly  editing  leaves 
nothing  to  be  desired ;  there  are  notes  critical  and  explanatory,  and  a 
very  full  glossary. 

The  Poore  Mennis  Myrrour  is  a  simplified  version  of  part  of  the 
Donet,  made  for  the  less  learned.  Miss  Hitchcock  found  it  to  agree  so 
closely  with  the  larger  work  that  printing  in  full  was  unnecessary ;  she 
has  given  it  in  the  more  useful  form  of  collations,  supplemented  by  an 
appendix. 

We  understand  that  Miss  Hitchcock's  edition  of  The  Folower  to  the 
Donet  is  ready  for  press,  and  will  contain  a  discussion  of  the  author's 
language  and  style.  We  trust  that  the  editing  of  The  Reule  of  Cristen 
Religioun  may  also  fall  to  her  lot. 

J.  H.  G.  Grattan. 

London. 

The  Life  and  Works  of  John  Heywood.  By  R.  W.  Bolwell.  New  York  : 
Columbia  University  Press;  London:  Humphrey  Milford.  1921. 
xiii  +  188  pp.     10s.  6d. 

Dr  Bolwell's  Life  of  John  Heywood  is  seriously  inaccurate  and  often 
ill-informed.  One  regrets  that  he  has  overlooked  the  studies  published 
in  The  Library  in  1917-18  and  republished  by  Alexander  Moring,  Ltd., 


Reviews  107 

under  the  title  of  John  Heywood  and  his  Friends  and  The  Canon  of  John 
Heywood's  Plays.  The  errors  of  Wallace  and  others  corrected  in  these 
papers  reappear  with  additions  in  Dr  Bolwell's  work  and  he  has  omitted 
much  that  is  new  and  significant.  Thus  there  is  no  reference  to  the 
Heywood  family  and  its  association  with  the  village  of  Harvard  Stock  in 
Essex,  a  connexion  which  has  not  died  out,  and  which  is  of  peculiar 
interest.  It  explains,  amongst  other  things,  the  baffling  line  in  Heywood's 
Play  of  Wether : 

Ynge  Gyngiang  Jayberd  the  paryshe  of  Butsbery, 

which  is  one  of  the  various  forms  of  the  manorial  name  found  on  all  the 
manor  rolls  of  Stock  where  Heywood's  brother  William  was  a  comfortable 
copyholder.  Another  brother,  Richard  Heywood,  Armiger,  was  a  wealthy 
and  eminent  legal  officer  of  Lincoln's  Inn,  colleague  and  close  friend  of 
William  Roper  as  Prothonotary  of  the  King's  Bench.  A  third  brother, 
Thomas,  a  monk  of  St  Osyth's  in  Essex,  was  executed  in  Elizabeth's  reign 
for  saying  Mass.  The  family  wills  show  how  closely  the  brothers  held 
together  and  how  intimate  their  legal  associations  were.  Many  points  in 
Heywood's  writings  are  lost  on  those  who  do  not  know  the  Heywood 
circle.  Working  apparently  away  from  original  sources  of  information, 
depending  on  the  brief  summaries  in  the  Calendars  of  State  Papers  and  re- 
lying a  little  unwisely  on  Dr  C.W.Wallace's  Heywood  gleanings,  hurriedly 
gathered  in  the  course  of  wider  searches,  Dr  Bolwell  has  kept  a  beaten 
track  and,  like  Wallace,  has  over-emphasised  Heywood's  association  with 
the  Court.  He  nowhere  alludes  to  Heywood's  intimate  and  official  con- 
nexion with  the  City,  just  as  he  fails  to  notice  his  family  associations  with 
legal  circles. 

His  reconstruction  of  Heywood's  early  days  turns  on  an  error  which 
has  had  too  long  a  life.  Heywood  was  not  in  Court  service  at  the  age 
of  17.  It  was  not  the  dramatist  but  an  elderly  yeoman-usher  of  the 
same  name  who  was  paid  the  wage  of  8d.  a  day  in  1514.  He  says 
that  no  list  of  Royal  choristers  occurs  during  Heywood's  boyhood; 
the  Lord  Chamberlain's  accounts  contain  one  for  1509  when  he  was  12, 
and  Heywood  was  not  a  Royal  chorister.  Heywood  went  to  Court  at 
the  age  of  22  in  1519  in  the  same  year  as  More,  and  from  1519  to  1528 
he  enjoyed  his  first  period  of  Court  favour,  his  wages  rising  from  £20  to 
£26. 13s.  4>d.  Then  in  1528  he  was  'discharged'  to  use  a  technical  term 
on  an  annuity  or  pension  of  £10  for  life  and  from  this  point  to  the  close 
of  Henry's  reign  his  Court  activities  were  unimportant.  At  this  point 
(1528)  Dr  Wallace  creates  a  fictitious  office  for  Heywood,  dapifer  cameras 
or  sewer  of  the  chamber.  Dr  Bolwell  improves  on  this  by  providing  a 
salary  for  the  '  dapifer,'  a  second  £10.  Heywood  did  become  a  '  sewer  of 
the  chamber,'  but  it  was  twenty-five  years  later.  It  is  one  of  the  marks 
of  a  second  period  of  royal  favour  which  extended  over  the  reigns  of 
Edward  VI  and  Mary.  Heywood  first  appears  in  the  Lord  Chamberlain's 
accounts  as  '  sewer  of  the  chamber '  when  he  drew  his  livery  of  cloth  for 
himself  and  two  servants  for  the  funeral  of  Edward  VI.  By  making 
Heywood's  career  at  Court  continuously  and  increasingly  prosperous 


108  Reviews 

Dr  Bolwell  misrepresents  the  important  years  of  his  life  between  the  ages 
of  30  and  50. 

In  dealing  with  the  circumstances  and  causes  of  Heywood's  exile  in 
his  old  age,  Dr  Bolwell  is  handicapped  by  his  neglect  of  the  four  docu- 
ments at  the  Record  Office  recording  the  findings  of  the  Inquisitions  held 
on  his  property,  rents  and  misdemeanours.  This  is  an  unfortunate  bio- 
graphical oversight.  Dr  Bolwell  says  that  '  it  is  hazardous  to  suggest  the 
date  of  his  departure  from  England.'  The  Inquisitions  give  the  date  as 
20  July  1564,  a  fact  of  importance  for  bibliographers.  Hey  wood  was  not 
an  exile  when  the  1562  edition  of  the  Epigrams  was  published.  The 
Inquisitions  give  clear  and  explicit  information  as  to  Heywood's  property 
at  and  connexion  with  North  Mimms,  Hinxwell  and  Romney  Marsh  and 
lift  us  entirely  out  of  the  field  of  conjecture.  We  learn  that  his  widowed 
daughter  Mistress  Marvin — his  son-in-law,  John  Donne,  was  too  cautious 
— collected  the  rents  after  Heywood  and  his  old  wife  Joan  had  fled. 
Dr  Bolwell  misnames  Heywood's  wife  Eliza  throughout. 

The  accounts  given  of  Heywood's  royal  grants  of  land  are  singularly 
unhappy.  Dr  Bolwell  records  a  grant  of  an  annuity  of  10  marks  charged 
on  the  cameral  manor  of  Maxey  and  Torpul  and  proceeds  to  construe  it 
as  a  grant  of  the  manor  itself.  He  prints  in  an  appendix  a  record  of  a 
grant  of  the  manor  of  Heydon,  but  fails  to  note  that  it  occurs  only  in  a 
legal  commonplace  book  of  precedents  etc.,  and  is  not  enrolled  or  other- 
wise confirmed.    The  grant  was  not  made. 

In  1545-6  two  lawyers,  a  goldsmith  and  two  others,  acquired  for  a 
great  sum  of  money  through  the  Augmentation  Office  certain  properties 
formerly  monastic.  The  property  is  fully  described  and  further  identified 
as  being  '  in  tenura  x  or  y  &c.'  Among  many  other  tenants  are  a  John 
Heywood  in  the  Midlands  and  another  in  Dorset.  Neither  is  the  drama- 
tist, but  Dr  Bolwell  identifies  him  with  these  tenants  and  then  treats 
him  as  being  thus  the  recipient  of  monastic  lands  from  the  king.  He  is 
again  at  fault  in  dealing  with  Heywood's  manor  of  Broke  Hall  in  Essex, 
which  he  leased  for  a  term  of  years  from  Abbot  Whederyk  before  the 
dissolution  of  St  Osyth's.  He  retained  his  lease  when  the  abbey  lands 
fell  into  Cromwell's  possession,  but  on  Cromwell's  attainder  he  only 
secured  a  renewal  from  the  Crown  at  an  increased  rent.  To  claim  this  as 
a  royal  favour  and  grant  of  land  is  as  strange  as  Dr  Bolwell's  reference 
to  Heywood  as  '  holding  monastic  land  to  his  own  profit  and  at  his 
Church's  expense.'  Heywood  was  made  a  landed  gentleman  by  Henry  VIII 
according  to  Dr  Bolwell.  Actually  he  received  no  royal  grant  of  land  or 
property  until  Mary's  reign. 

Heywood's  connexion  with  the  City  is  nowhere  referred  to  by  Dr 
Bolwell.  In  1523  he  was  admitted  to  the  freedom  of  the  City  by  royal 
request  and  '  payment  of  the  old  hanse,'  and  to  membership  of  the  Sta- 
tioners' Company — every  freeman  was  a  member  of  a  Company — to 
which  John  Rastell,  printer,  doubtless  introduced  his  son-in-law.  This 
year  was  seemingly  the  year  of  his  marriage  to  Joan  or  Johanna  Rastell,  for 
19  years  later  his  daughter  Joan  Stubbes  was  married  and  conveyancing 
property.    Thus  he  became  a  London  citizen  and  married  householder. 


Reviews  109 

If,  as  Dr  Bolwell  asserts,  he  was  born  in  the  City,  his  freedom  would  have 
been  by  '  patrimony,'  not  '  request.' 

Shortly  after  his  'discharge'  from  Court  in  1528  on  an  annuity  of 
£10,  he  was  appointed  Common  Measurer  of  Linen  Cloths  to  the  City 
and  '  transmuted '  from  the  Stationers'  to  the  Mercers'  Company. 

Dr  Bolwell  writes  inaccurately  of  Hey  wood's  father-in-law,  Rastell, 
that  he  was  an  Oxford  and  Lincoln's  Inn  man  and  had  property  at  North 
Mimms.  We  do  not  know  Rastell's  university,  he  was  of  the  Middle 
Temple  and  his  property  was  at  Monken  Hadley,  Finsbury,  Paternoster 
Row  and  in  Warwickshire.  Much  more  is  known  of  Rastell  than  Dr 
Bolwell's  references  suggest. 

In  dealing  with  Hey  wood's  plays,  Dr  Bolwell  does  not  face  the  problem 
of  the  remarkable  dissimilarity  of  the  Four  P.  trilogy  and  the  trilogy  of 
debats.  He  accepts  the  traditional  canon  but  does  not  trace  its  history. 
His  suggested  dates  for  the  Four  P.  group  are  surely  too  late.  He  writes 
well  on  the  debats.  There  is  remarkable  evidence,  which  should  have 
been  considered,  that  Gentleness  and  Nobility  is  the  work  of  John  Rastell, 
and  Dr  Bolwell  blunders  in  finding  '  the  most  convincing  evidence  of 
Hey  wood's  authorship'  in  a  woodcut  frontispiece  of  Hey  wood.  This 
woodcut  is  pasted  in — from  The  Spider  and  the  Flie  in  the  B.M.  imper- 
fect copy  of  Gentleness  and  Nobility.  J.  S.  Farmer's  facsimile  reproduces 
this  imperfect  copy  and  he  explains  the  woodcut  in  his  handlist.  It 
does  not  occur,  of  course,  in  the  Bodleian  and  Pepysian  sound  copies. 
J.  S.  Farmer's  attribution  of  Galisto  and  Meleboea  to  Heywood  is  not 
supported  by  recent  research  and  Thersites  has  been  withdrawn  by 
Mr  A.  W.  Pollard  who  once  thought  there  was  '  a  fairly  strong  case ' 
for  ascribing  it  to  him.  The  treatment  of  the  Proverbs  and  Epigrams, 
in  many  ways  Heywood's  most  intimate  work  and  least  '  courtly,'  is  in- 
adequate. His  private  and  family  life  finds  some  odd  reflections  in  them. 
Dr  Bolwell  is  certainly  right  in  identifying  Cranmer  with  the  Spider  in 
The  Spider  and  the  Flie,  but  a  more  intimate  acquaintance  with  the 
last  years  of  John  Rastell,  the  litigious  victim  of  Cranmer,  would  have 
enabled  him  to  identify  him  with  the  Fly.  Rastell  died  in  prison  con- 
tumaciously fighting  Cranmer  and  the  clerics  on  the  question  of  tithes 
and  offerings,  and  Heywood  dropped  his  fable  for  twenty  years.  The 
suggestion  that  More  was  the  Fly  does  violence  to  Heywood's  relations 
with  him.  The  legal  knowledge  displayed  in  this  strange  and  interesting 
work  has  its  explanation  in  Heywood's  close  associations  with  lawyers, 
just  as  much  of  the  homely  wit  of  the  Proverbs  and  Epigrams  was  in- 
tended for  familiar  and  citizen  approval ;  but  throughout  his  study 
Dr  Bolwell  has  over-emphasised  the  Court  service  of  Heywood  and 
overlooked  his  family  and  city  connexions. 

Arthur  W.  Reed. 
London. 


110  Reviews 

Seneca  and  Elizabethan  Tragedy.   By  F.  L.  Lucas.    Cambridge :  Univer- 
sity Press.    1922.    136  pp.    7s.  Qd. 

Mr  Lucas'  book  reads  so  briskly  and  so  gaily  that  a  reviewer,  having 
braced  himself  to  solemn  effort  at  the  threat  of  the  title-page,  is  soon 
prepared  to  forgive  largely.  He  would  indeed  forgive  entirely :  but 
Mr  Lucas  will  have  none  of  it.  Not  content  to  have  his  volume  recog- 
nized as  a  very  presentable  specimen  of  its  kind,  Mr  Lucas  insists  on 
our  putting  it  into  another  category  and,  unfortunately,  into  one  to 
which  for  good  and  evil  it  has  no  claim  to  belong. 

He  tells  us  that  its  main  purpose  is  to  estimate  Seneca's  influence, 
and  to  trace  the  line  of  descent  from  him  to  the  Elizabethans,  adding 
that  for  the  sake  of  completeness,  a  sketch  of  the  rise  and  progress  of 
Greek  drama  is  also  included.  The  expectations  thus  excited  of  a  com- 
prehensive and  historical  treatment  of  the  theme  are  not  even  remotely 
satisfied.  In  fact,  the  author  hardly  gets  to  the  subject  at  all.  The  best, 
and  a  very  good,  part  of  the  book  is  the  first  77  pages,  which  are  solely 
concerned  with  Greek  and  Latin  drama  and  dramatists.  Of  these,  again, 
the  best  are  the  27  pages  on  Seneca  the  man.  The  pity  of  it  is  that 
there  remain  but  55  pages  for  the  main  purpose  of  the  book :  and,  of 
these,  another  dozen  are  immediately  thrown  away  on  pleasantly  pre- 
sented, but  commonplace  and  not  very  relevant  material  concerning 
popular  mediaeval  drama.  With  but  43  pages  to  go,  the  author  can 
still  waste  a  few  more  on  customary  generalities  such  as  those  on  the 
spirit  of  the  Renaissance  at  large.  So  when  at  last  we  get  to  the  Eliza- 
bethans, there  are  no  more  than  23  pages  for  the  lot  of  them :  and  yet 
one  feels  that  Mr  Lucas  thinks  they  are  getting  more  than  their  due, 
for  he  is  positively  profligate  in  his  allowances  of  space  for  quotations 
which  could  be  spared.  Thus  all  that  Shakespeare  gets  is  four  pages, 
and  of  these  nearly  the  whole  of  one  is  used  to  reprint  28  lines  from 
Richard  III,  merely  to  illustrate  stichomythia.  Even  more  palpably 
inappropriate  in  view  of  the  title  of  the  book,  is  Ben  Jonson's  share ; 
one  page,  and  23  lines  of  it  are  extracts  from  the  plays. 

The  case  is  clear.  Mr  Lucas  knows  his  Latins.  He  likes  the  Eliza- 
bethans :  but  his  book  provides  no  evidence  that  he  knows  them  any 
better  than  do  most  men  of  reading.  He  has  nothing  to  say  about  them 
which  has  not  been  said  frequently  before ;  and  he  limits  the  little  he 
has  to  say  to  half  a  dozen  of  them.  But  it  is  still  more  unfortunate 
that,  having  chosen  this  particular  subject,  the  author  has  apparently 
little  sympathy  with  research  and  with  historical  method  in  literary 
scholarship.  A  pleasant  gird  at  scholars,  a  propos  of  Legge's  Richardus 
Tertius,  seems  to  suggest  that  the  historical  importance  of  any  given 
material  is  to  be  determined  mainly  by  its  capacity  to  bore  or  not  to 
bore  the  average  man  of  to-day.  Mr  Lucas  is  clearly  impatient  with 
piddling  Theobalds:  he  looks  rather  askance  at  Cunliffe,  Fischer  and 
others  who,  working  on  his  subject,  have  nailed  themselves  down  to 
minutise  and  have  forgone  the  temptation,  so  alluring  to  Mr  Lucas, 
to  soar  to  dizzy  heights  and  thence  to  give  judgment  on  mankind  and 


Reviews  111 

all  his  doings  through  large  stretches  of  time.  Sed  nunc  non  erat  his 
locus.  But  of  course,  Mr  Lucas'  point  of  view  is  defensible:  for  one  thing, 
it  is  likely  to  inspire  a  more  entertaining  book  than  that  of  the  scholar 
and  investigator  in  the  stricter  sense.  Yet  you  cannot  have  your  cake 
and  eat  it.  Mr  Lucas  must  wear  his  rightful  laurels,  without  claiming 
to  have  earned  those  of  the  literary  historian.  For  instance,  after  a 
ludicrously  rapid  glance  at  France  and  Italy,  he  writes  '  we  have  traced 
the  Senecan  revival  in  Italy,  France,  etc'  He  most  certainly  has  not : 
he  has  a  line  or  two  of  the  commonplaces  from  the  textbooks  thereon : 
and  they  are  commonplaces  we  believe  to  be  wrong,  though  for  particular 
reasons  we  say  so  with  all  humility. 

In  short,  Mr  Lucas'  book  has  nothing  for  the  professed  scholar.  But 
it  should  be  an  excellent  book  to  put  into  the  hands  of  the  undergraduate 
who  is  setting  out  on  the  study  of  modern  drama.  It  will  appeal  parti- 
cularly to  the  clever  young  man.  The  more  obvious  of  Seneca's  own 
rhetorical  tricks,  particularly  the  purple  patch:  a  Pacuvian  smartness 
pleasant  to  the  ear  of  the  common  room :  the  manner  and  the  mannerisms 
of  fashionable  contemporary  litterateurs — these  give  the  volume  a  dash 
of  modernity  which  is  perhaps  meant  to  compensate  for  the  lack  of  up- 
to-dateness  in  the  nominal  content. 

Manchester.  H.  B.  CHARLTON. 

Lord  Byron :  Arnold  and  Swinburne.  By  H.  J.  C.  Grierson.  Warton 
Lecture  on  English  Poetry,  no.  xi.  (Proceedings  of  the  British 
Academy,  Vol.  IX.)   London:  H.  Milford.    1921.    31pp.    2s. 

Professor  Grierson's  vindication  of  Byron  is  fervid,  and  I  believe  it 
to  be  mainly  just.  It  is  well  guarded  with  critical  warnings  and  reserves. 
These  are  doubtless  less  needful  to-day,  when  the  problem  is  not  to  keep 
people  from  admiring  the  poet  too  much,  but  to  get  them  to  read  him 
at  all.  The  disputes  and  balancings  of  Matthew  Arnold  and  Swinburne 
are  also  passing  out  of  mind.  It  is  a  service  on  Mr  Grierson's  part  to 
recall  them  so  skilfully,  and  to  trace  the  curve  of  Byron's  fame  with  a 
keen  historical  sense.  He  describes  the  ups  and  downs  of  that  fame ; 
quotes  critics  from  France  and  Italy  to  show  how  Byron  is  at  last  ignored 
even  in  those  countries  ;  and  draws  many  acute  distinctions  to  show  what 
Byron  is  and  is  not ;  the  upshot  being,  that  whatever  Byron  may  not  be, 
he  is  at  all  events  alive.  So  he  is  ;  but  alive  to  whom  ?  To  Mr  Grierson, 
undoubtedly ;  and,  it  may  be  added,  to  many  other  students  here  and 
there  (including  the  present  writer) ;  and  to  many  unstudious  persons 
too,  especially  among  the  elder  generation.  To  the  living  poets,  elder  or 
younger,  Byron  appears  to  be  very  much  of  a  shadow,  and  nothing  that 
professors  say  is  likely  to  move  them.  None  the  less,  Mr  Grierson  does 
well  to  recall  us  to  Byron's  good  and  great  things,  above  all  to  his  satire 
and  wit,  and  to  the  verse  novelle  and  to  the  unmatched  love-passages  in 
Don  Juan,   Of  the  Haidee  episode  he  writes  : 

Is  there  any  love-poetry  of  the  romantics  which  vibrates  with  so  full  a  life  of 
sense  and  soul  as  these  verses  ?  Compared  with  it,  '  I  arise  from  dreams  of  thee '  or 


112  Reviews 

*  A  slumber  did  my  spirit  seal '  are  the  love-strains  of  a  disembodied  spirit  or  a  rapt 
mystic.  There  is  nothing  like  it  in  English  poetry  except  some  of  the  songs  of  Burns 
and  the  complex,  vibrant  passion,  sensual  and  spiritual,  of  Donne's  songs  and  elegies 
(p.  23). 

It  might  be  debated  whether  they  are  very  '  like '  it ;  and  it  might  be 
suggested  that  much  of  the  imagery  of  Byron's  sea-shore  is  actually 
Shelleyan ;  but  the  praise  remains.  Mr  Grierson  also  speaks  up  well  for  the 
grander  parts  of  Childe  Harold.  He  brings  out  afresh  what  Keats  and 
Wordsworth  and  other  poets  provide,  while  Byron  cannot  provide  it. 
(Probably,  on  p.  28,  he  overstates  the  influence  of  Keats ;  but  this  would 
call  for  a  long  argument.)  As  a  critic,  he  has  plenty  of  courage,  and  has 
a  welcome  streak  in  him,  if  I  mistake  not,  of  sympathy  with  Byron  the 
rebel.  I  wish  he  had  named  The  Dream,  Darkness,  and  The  Prophecy  of 
Dante,  all  flawed  but  magnificent  poems.  The  obvious  fact  is  that  Byron, 
whoever  may  or  may  not  read  him,  is  always  there.  Like  Dryden,  with 
whom  he  has  curious  likenesses,  he  stands.  His  best  oratory  (which 
Mr  Grierson  justly  distinguishes  from  his  rhetoric)  stands,  in  its  own 
order;  his  satires  and  pictures  of  manners  stand,  even  more  firmly,  in 
their  order.  His  high  and  excellent  poetry — what  there  is  of  it — abides 
no  less.  Byron's  performance  may  recall  those  maps  of  mountain-ranges 
where  a  few  undoubted  peaks  rise  well  above  the  10,000-feet  line. 
Below  that,  there  are  more  numerous  summits.  The  miles  of  shapeless 
moraine,  which  are  also  there,  do  not  matter.  Nor  does  it  matter  to  the 
range  how  many  persons,  or  how  few,  may  ascend  it,  or  may  look  at  it. 

Oliver  Elton. 

Liverpool. 

Ysopet-Avionnet:  The  Latin  and  French  Texts.  By  Kenneth  McKenzie 
and  William  A.  Oldfather.  (University  of  Illinois  Studies  in 
Language  and  Literature,  Vol.  v,  No.  4.)  Urbana,  111. :  Univ.  of 
Illinois.    1919.   8vo.   $1.50. 

This  is  a  handsomely  printed  volume  of  286  pages,  with  reproductions, 
on  a  rather  minute  scale,  of  the  mediaeval  illustrations  to  the  fables  as 
found  in  one  MS.  (P)  and  specimens  of  those  in  the  others.  It  is  the 
first  complete  edition  of  the  Latin  text  of  this  compilation  of  the  Romulus 
and  Avianus  fables,  and  also  the  first  edition  of  the  French  text  which 
claims  to  be  '  critical.'  We  shall  confine  our  attention  to  the  French 
portion,  the  work  of  the  first-named  editor. 

Three  fourteenth-century  MSS.,  B  (Brussels),  L  (London)  and  P 
(Paris)  contain  both  Latin  and  French  versions;  three  others  of  the 
fifteenth  century,  a,  b  and  c,  all  in  Paris,  contain  the  French  version 
alone.  These  three  MSS.  also  lack  the  long-winded  and  often  pointless 
'  addiciones '  which  encumber  both  Latin  and  French  in  the  first  three 
and  which,  so  say  the  editors,  are  the  work  of  a  woman. 

Mr  McKenzie's  treatment  of  the  question  of  the  authorship  of  the 
compilation  is  not  particularly  happy,  nor  very  complete.  He  is  at  pains 
to  prove  that  two  (possibly  three)  authors  are  responsible  for  the  work 


Reviews  113 

as  it  stands  at  present :  firstly,  the  monkish  compiler  and  translator  of 
the  original  twin  collection  of  fables,  of  which  a,  b  and  c  represent  the 
French  version ;  then  the  composer  of  the  later  work,  characterised  by 
the  adjunction  and  omission  of  several  fables  and  by  the  above-named 
'  addiciones,'  and  lastly,  perhaps,  an  interpolator  of  such  fables  as  Avion- 
net xix1. 

This  is  doubtless  true,  but  scarcely  brings  us  any  further  than  a 
precise  statement  in  the  Epilogue  to  Avionnet  itself,  which  the  editor 
fails  to  utilise.  In  this  passage  (missing,  of  course,  in  a,  b,  c),  the  second 
author  continues  the  original  Epilogue  of  six  lines,  found  in  all  MSS.,  with 
the  following  words : 

Aucune  chose  ai  trespass^ 

Et  aucune  autre  ai  amasse  [added] ; 

Ajouste  y  ai  aucun  compte  [i.e.  conte] 

De  venter  ne  vuil  faire  feste 

Que  j'aie  fait  tout  de  ma  teste ; 

Mes  (en)  ai  trouve  plus  grant  partie 

De  compile,  se  Dieus  m'aye, 

Et  du  frangais  et  du  latin. 

We  should  like  to  have  been  told  why  the  editors  think  that  the 
French  translation  of  the  'addiciones'  is  necessarily  by  the  same  (female) 
hand  as  the  Latin  original.  We  should  have  liked  to  know  further  what 
linguistic  differences  distinguish  the  earlier  portions  of  the  French  version 
from  the  later,  the  more  so  as  it  is  possible  to  date  this  later  portion  with 
absolute  certainty  as  having  been  rimed  between  1339  and  1348.  Not 
only  might  this  have  afforded  an  instructive  comparison  of  two  stages 
of  the  language,  but  we  should  perhaps  have  learnt  as  well  something 
about  the  author  of  the  original  unexpanded  translations. 

The  stylistic  differences  in  the  two  strata  are  indeed  most  marked. 
The  second  author  is  a  wearisome  rimester,  the  first  is  no  indifferent 
writer  and  had  a  clever  knack  of  terse  pictorial  description,  very  re- 
freshing beside  the  frigidity  of  the  Latin;  witness  this  sketch  of  a  cock: 

Un  coc  en  un  fumier  estoit, 
Du  bee  bechoit,  des  pies  gratoit 
Comme  pour  sa  viande  querre2. 

An  examination  of  the  rimes  betrays  a  divergence  in  speech  almost 
as  marked  as  that  in  literary  skill.  Whereas  in  the  portions  attributable 
to  the  second  author  there  are  scarcely  any  dialect  peculiarities  (I  have 
noted  two  cases  of  the  reduction  of  -iee  to  -ie  and  two  of  -eine  >  oine), 
the  work  of  the  second  shows  a  considerable  sprinkling  of  dialect  rimes, 
sufficient  to  throw  light  on  the  author's  origin.  He  was  undoubtedly 
from  the  south-east,  as  the  following  rimes  will  show,  and  used  a  literary 
medium  strongly  tinged  with  non-standard  forms  which  flourished,  some 
in  eastern  Champagne,  others  in  Lorraine  and  particularly  Burgundy. 
The  rimes  oreille  :  veroille,  p.  64 ;  corbiau  :  diau  {duel),  p.  76 ;  vaut  : 
quiaut  (colligit),  p.  99 ;  Rooviaus  :  viaus  (voles),  p.  159  ;  miaus  :  solaus, 

1  By  no  means  certainly,  as  this  fable  might  very  well  be  one  of  the  additions  of  which 
the  author  of  the  Epilogue  to  Avionnet  speaks. 

a  Ysopet,  i.    The  Latin  says:  '  Dum  rigido  fodit  ore  fimum,  dum  queritat  escam.' 

M.L.R.  XVIII.  8 


114  Reviews 

p.  220 ;  haus  :  miaus,  p.  278 ;  chevox  (capillos)  :  Pols  (Paulus),  p.  225, 
are  familiar  enough  to  readers  of  Chretien  de  Troyes.  The  following  go 
further  east  and  more  especially  south-east :  beste  :  heste  (haiste  <  haste), 
p.  116;  net  (nitidum)  :  net  (ait  <  habet),  p.  120;  endables  (endebles)  : 
pendables,  p.  123 ;  loiche  (leche)  :  aproiche,  p.  131 ;  ters  (tergis)  :  sentiers, 
p.  165.  Moreover,  the  south-eastern  present  subjunctives  gardoit  and 
s'acordoit,  pp.  190, 191,  and  the  rimes  plaige  (plege) :  ostaige,  p.  175  ;  tes 
(tais)  :  tes  (tas),  p.  181 ;  loie  (loue)  :  joie,  p.  186;  vache  :  crache  (creche), 
p.  194,  all  help  to  mark  as  authentic  the  fables  Ysopet  lvii,  Lix,  lxi, 
lxii,  lxiv  which  a,  b,  c  omit. 

With  regard  to  the  second  author,  Mr  McKenzie  does  not  accept 
Robert's  view  that  he  was  a  Norman.  This  was  based  on  the  fact  that 
in  the  Epilogue  to  Avionnet,  v.  75,  he  (or  she)  says,  by  way  of  special 
mention,  after  invoking  King  Philip  (1328 — 1350)  and  his  line,  'I  would 
not  pass  over  my  lord  the  Duke,  the  eldest  son  of  the  good  king  of 
France  ...  Lady  Bonne  (f  1348)  his  consort  ...  and  the  fair  succession 
of  her  children  for  whom  we  pray....'  The  Duke  is  John,  Duke  of 
Normandy,  afterwards  King  Jean  le  Bon,  1350 — 1364.  Mr  McKenzie 
opposes  Robert's  supposition,  not  on  linguistic  grounds  but  because  in 
the  same  Epilogue,  speaking  of  Philip's  wife,  Jeanne  of  Burgundy,  the 
author  calls  her  '  fille  du  due  d'icelle  terre.'  This  ought  to  mean,  ac- 
cording to  Mr  McKenzie,  '  that  the  author  was  in  Burgundy  when  she 
wrote.'  To  my  mind  it  ought  to  mean  exactly  the  opposite ;  icelle  is  not 
iceste,  and  means  '  that '  and  not  '  this.'  Robert's  supposition  'is  in  no 
wise  disproved  by  such  a  'definite  statement'  as  this,  and  receives  some 
linguistic  confirmation  from  the  fact  that,  with  the  possible  exception  of 
the  terminations  -ence,  -ance,  the  author,  unlike  his  predecessor,  does  not 
rime  en  with  -an. 

In  constructing  his  text,  Mr  McKenzie  seems  to  waver  at  times 
between  a  '  critical '  edition  and  a  diplomatic  reproduction  of  his  main 
manuscript.  He  is  not  always  consistent  and  is  sometimes  incorrect  in 
his  use  of  accents  and  the  diaeresis,  and  often  shows  a  lack  of  insight  into 
his  author's  meaning.  His  text  contains  many  obscure  passages.  Some 
of  these  are  due  to  bad  punctuation,  others  to  a  maiming  of  the  text  by 
a  faulty  division  of  letter  groups,  and  are  fairly  easy  to  rectify.  Many 
others,  however,  remain  and  should,  we  think,  have  been  discussed, 
especially  as  the  list  of  variant  readings,  on  the  editor's  own  showing, 
is  incomplete.  We  regret,  moreover,  that  Mr  McKenzie  did  not  follow 
the  example  of  his  co-editor  and  give  us  a  glossary  of  rare  words,  a  con- 
siderable number  of  which  are  not  to  be  found  in  Godefroy. 

Mr  McKenzie  has  taken  as  the  basis  of  his  text  the  MS.  B,  the  most 
reliable  of  those  that  contain  both  the  Latin  text  and  the  '  addiciones.' 
He  has  given  the  variants  of  a,  b  and  c  '  only  where  it  seems  possible 
that  they  may  preserve  the  original  version,  or  where  they  are  of  par- 
ticular interest.'  In  a  complete  critical  edition  of  the  French  version 
alone,  intrinsically  well  worth  publishing,  this  group  of  MSS.  would  need 
to  be  much  more  completely  utilised,  representing  as  it  does  an  earlier 
tradition  than  BLP. 


Reviews  115 

The  following  is  a  list  of  observations  and  suggestions  concerning 
Mr  McKenzie's  text.    It  leaves  many  difficulties  unsolved. 

Ys.,  Prologue,  vv.  23 — 26,  faulty  punctuation ;  v.  23,  read  quil  and 
put  full  stop  after  essaucies ;  del.  comma  of  next  line.  v.  29,  read  envoie 
with  P  and  del.  semi-colon. 

Ys.  I,  v.  11,  read  a  qui.  in,  36,  del.  semi-colon,  autre  is  object  offerir. 
iv,  21,  read  mains  jug e  ment, '  many  a  judge  goes  astray,'  mentir  as  equi- 
valent oifaillir.  vi,  4,  full  stop  after  entremettre ;  6,  del.  semi-colon  after 
nice ;  entre  has  here  its  common  enumerative  use.  33,  34,  amour  is  subj., 
heritage  is  complement,  bien  goes  with  convient.  vii,  4,  5,  change  punc- 
tuation as  ce  dit  refers  to  preceding  line,  viii,  4,  del.  full  stop;  s'  of 
line  5  means  'and.'  IX,  5,  delivre  (adj.)  not  delivre;  6,  livre  not  livre.  X,  2, 
serpent  is  here  feminine,  as  in  Marie  de  France  (cf.  vv.  8,  9  and  xix,  19) ; 
the  correct  reading  is  therefore  trouve  une  serpent ;  v.  22,  charpe  with  P. 
xii,  50,  a  seurer ;  58,  for  en  oblit  read  enublist,  '  clouds  over,  darkens ' ; 
62,  A  seur  et  a  pais  de  cuer;  79,  probably  Et  estre  and  receus  (two 
syllables,  like  eusse  lower  down);  81,  82,  veau  and  preau  are  dissyllabic, 
and  probably  peur  also,  xni,  22,  soit  li  lai  ou  biaus  goes  better  with  the 
following  line ;  29,  30,  read  victor'iens,  liens  (cf.  xxix,  33,  34,  anc'iens  : 
mctoriens).  xv,  34,  siuelent  <  solent,  not  si  vuelent.  xvn,  9,  read  Qu'U ; 
18,  del.  semi-colon ;  45,  De  livrison,  i.e.  *  livraison,'  a  common  expression, 
especially  with  coups,  xvin,  9,  What  is  espied?  is  it  for  espinciee  ? ;  v.  11; 
for  sa  sovaige  read  sasouaige,  '  is  softened,' ;  18,  for  sove  read  soue  *  his ' ; 
23,  L,  a,  b,  c  give  the  right  reading ;  29,  an,  i.e.  en,  not  au  lieu ;  32,  read 
veneeur ;  39,  il  with  LP.  xix,  38,  meaning  ?  xxil,  36,  del.  full  stop,  and 
read  tant  v.  38.  xxiii,  22,  a  gogue,  '  farce,  joke ' ;  25,  sest.  xxiv,  17,  re- 
place semi-colon  by  question  mark  after  que  dut  ce,  '  why  was  it.'  xxvi, 
34,  35,  del.  full  stop,  and  put  comma  after  aler.  xxvn,  7,  Que  il;  13,  ce 
que  doit? ;  30,  m'antention.  xxvm,  2,  s'atapissoient.  xxix,  6,  del.  comma. 
xxx,  36,  del.  full  stop  as  36  goes  with  37.  xxxi,  3,  the  correct  reading  is 
de  legat  ou  d'apostoille ;  the  author  rimes  oi  and  open  e  quite  frequently 
(cf.  p.  91,  loist :  paist ;  p.  103,  marchois :  pres ;  p.  109,  doit :  pait).  xxxvi, 
1,  2,  ata'ine,  halnne;  20,  cuisenment,  'sharply';  86,  Haineus  and  full 
stop  at  end  of  line,  xxxvn,  22,  ensele,  '  saddled.'  xxxvn,  65,  escrache 
seems  to  be  for  escache  and  is  probably  a  quasi-synonym  of  mortier,  for 
*  it  has  the  smell  of  what  it  contains ' :  escrache  does  not  make  sense ; 
70,  read  envis  <  invitus  and /iu're  <  fugere.  XL,  63,  delivres.  xli,  21,  re- 
decoit.  xlii,  56,  del.  full  stop ;  57,  full  stop  after  pleist.  xliii,  49,  seisoit, 
probably  s'eisoit  from  eisier  (aisier).  xliv,  3,  s'em  but  XLVii,  32,  si. 
xlviii,  37,  entour  prime ;  88,  delivres.  li,  45,  vent ;  55,  a" ;  62,  Es ;  70, 
full  stop  after  asouppe ;  75,  comma  instead  of  full  stop,  as  what  follows 
is  in  apposition  with  qui,  etc.  lii,  3,  ata'ine.  Lin,  8,  does  not  make  sense, 
read  quel  pois  a  ennui;  9, 10,  tra'ine,  ha'ine.  lvi,  36,  c'on.  lvii,  18,  part, 
tparc.  Lix,  38,  del.  stop  as  le  peuple  is  obj.  of  emprint.  LXI,  94,  question 
mark,    lxiii,  18 — 21,  faulty  punctuation. 

Av.  I,  15,  aproie.  x,  22,  for  cil  read  s'il.  xiv,  26,  Courtois  is  not  a 
proper  noun  here,  but  an  adjective.  XV,  13,  read  a  monter,  as  frequently 
elsewhere  in  the  text,    xvn,  12,  del.  stop,  as  this  line  goes  with  14. 

8—2 


116  Reviews 

xviii,  26,  read  poujois, '  piece  of  money ' ;  42,  donte.  xix,  19,  m'a  tourne, 
probably  rriatourne.  Epilogue,  68,  full  stop  after  garde,  as  le  roy,  v.  69, 
is  one  of  the  subjects  of  soient,  v.  74. 

John  Orr. 
Manchester. 

Moliere.    By  Arthur  Tilley.    Cambridge:   University  Press.    1921. 
8vo.    vii  +  363pp.    12s.  Qd. 

This  valuable  addition  to  English  interpretation  of  Moliere  comes  at 
a  particularly  opportune  time,  during  the  tercentenary  celebrations.  The 
result  of  life-long  study,  it  contains  not  only  appreciations  of  the  work 
of  the  best  French  critics  on  the  subject,  but  personal  views  and  sug- 
gestions of  great  interest,  both  to  the  student  and  to  the  general  reader, 
in  connection  with  certain  aspects  of  Moliere's  dramatic  genius. 

The  author  disclaims  any  freshness  in  the  biographical  treatment, 
but  desires  to  lay  special  stress  on  certain  features  of  the  works.  He 
gives  a  careful  chronological  study  of  the  plays  and  groups  of  plays,  and 
the  development  of  powers  which  they  indicate,  devoting  a  chapter  to 
each  special  phase.  First  the  '  experiments '  in  simple  farce,  inherited 
from  the  Middle  Ages  or  inspired  by  Italy,  most  of  which  Moliere  '  trouva 
a  propos  de  supprimer,  lorsqu'il  se  fut  propose  pour  but  dans  toutes  ses 
pieces  d'obliger  les  hommes  a  se  corriger  de  leurs  defauts.'  Such  is  La 
Jalousie  du  Barbouille,  a  series  of  short  scenes,  later  utilised  by  Moliere 
in  George  Dandin,  but  now  revived  in  its  original  form  (more  or  less)  at 
the  Theatre  du  Vieux  Colombier.  Passing  to  the  social  plays  and  then 
to  the  character  studies,  Mr  Tilley  traces  the  circumstances  of  composition 
of  each  group  of  plays ;  he  examines  the  cast  of  the  first  production,  and 
the  principal  actors  in  important  subsequent  performances,  thus  throwing 
light  on  the  dramatist's  conception  of  his  characters.  Moliere  is  studied 
as  manager,  artist,  moralist,  but  above  all  as  comic  genius,  whose  primary 
function  was  to  amuse,  to  create  laughter. 

Here  the  author  finds  himself  to  some  extent  in  conflict  with  such 
critics  as  Lanson,  Faguet,  and  Brunetiere,  who  hold  that  in  certain  of 
Moliere's  plays,  notably  L'Ecole  des  Femmes,  Tartuffe,  Don  Juan,  Le 
Misanthrope,  and  L'Avare,  the  serious  character  of  the  problems  pre- 
sented for  solution  is  so  marked  as  to  give  more  than  a  suggestion  of 
tragedy  underlying  the  visible  and  external  comedy.  In  particular 
Alceste  has  seemed  to  many  a  wholly  tragic  figure,  a  man  of  virtue  and 
intellect  at  war  with  an  evil  world,  in  whose  case  the  elements  of  struggle 
and  uncertainty  provoke  pity  rather  than  the  gaiety  of  true  comedy. 
(Certainly  as  played  at  the  present  time  at  the  Vieux  Colombier,  not 
only  Alceste  but  Celimene  in  her  confession  of  her  failing  may  almost 
be  called  tragic.)  But  Mr  Tilley  emphasises  the  other  point  of  view :  it 
is,  he  says,  the  ridiculous,  illogical  automatism  of  Alceste,  as  of  Arnolphe, 
Orgon,  Harpagon,  Argan,  it  is  the  '  pli  professionnel '  which  is  thrown 
into  relief  and  creates  the  comic  aspect.  We  laugh  at  Alceste  even  while 
we  admire  and  sympathise  with  him :  he  has  the  exaggeration  of  youth 


Reviews  117 

without  its  sense  of  humour.  So  with  Arnolphe :  as  he  groans  '  Chose 
etrange  d'aimer '  we  are  moved  with  compassion,  but  who  that  has  heard 
it  at  the  Comedie  Francaise  can  forget  the  final  line  of  the  tirade  '  Et 
cependant  on  fait  tout  pour  ces  animaux-la  ! '  or  the  burst  of  gaiety  with 
which  it  is  greeted  by  the  audience  ?  Tartuffe  is  terrible :  Brunetiere 
calls  it  a  '  drame,'  yet  the  contrast  between  the  hypocrite's  profession 
and  his  well-nourished  appearance  ('  le  pauvre  homme ')  is  of  the  essence 
of  comedy.  Don  Juan  is  indeed  more  sinister;  and  as  for  L'Avare, 
Mr  Tilley  allows  that  it  maybe  considered  nearer  the  modern  drama 
than  classical  comedy :  the  alternations  are  too  violent  for  perfect  art, 
and  give  the  impression,  especially  when  compared  with  the  figures  of 
Tartuffe  and  of  Alceste,  that  the  comic  and  tragic  elements  have  not 
been  completely  fused,  that  Moliere  the  moralist  is  not  in  complete 
harmony  with  Moliere  the  dramatist.  There  are  in  each  case  undertones 
of  deep  thought,  but  not  more  than  may  legitimately  belong  to  high 
comic  art.  It  is  a  characteristic  of  works  of  genius  that  they  have  a  wider 
application  than  their  authors  seem  to  have  had  actually  present  to 
consciousness.  And  Mr  Tilley  maintains  that  comedy,  if  it  truly  repre- 
sents life,  cannot  fail  to  touch  the  deeper  and  more  sinister  sides  of 
human  nature,  in  which  strands  of  good  and  evil  are  inextricably  entwined. 
It  may  even  be  held  that  Moliere,  in  these  darker  lines,  foreshadows  the 
mixed  '  comedie  bourgeoise '  of  later  days,  without  ceasing  for  that  to 
have  as  his  chief  end  the  '  etrange  entreprise  de  faire  rire  les  honnetes 
gens.'  We  are  reminded  that,  if  we  compare  Moliere  with  that  other 
great  master  of  the  'comedie  humaine '  (the  word  'comedie'  used  here 
in  a  different  sense)  whose  novels  are  tragedies,  we  see  clearly  that  '  it 
is  the  ridiculous  and  not  the  tragic  side  of  evil  that  quickens  Moliere's 
imagination.  He  is  the  lord  of  laughter,  from  the  smile  which  shows 
itself  only  in  the  eyes  to  the  convulsive  merriment  which  shakes  the 
sides.'  '  S'il  lui  arrive  d'etre  tragique,  c'est  comme  malgre  lui  et  par  la 
force  des  choses.'  After  a  serious  scene  we  have  an  extra  dose  of  mirth. 
'All  sense  of  the  tragedy  which  underlies  Argan's  character  is  dissipated 
effectually  by  the  final  ballet.' 

Thus  Mr  Tilley  concludes  that  it  is  an  over-sentimental  age  that 
reads  tragedy  into  the  highest  comic  art.  The  exaggeration  and  distor- 
tion that  excite  our  merriment  are  accentuated  in  the  theatre  (where 
buskins,  so  to  speak,  must  be  worn)  in  order  that  the  want  of  common 
sense  (another  point  insisted  upon)  may  be  apparent.  Comedy  is  'the 
first-born  of  common-sense,'  '  an  interpretation  of  the  general  mind,'  and 
thus  it  is  that  shrewd  maid-servants  rather  than  high-brows  often  appear 
in  the  comedies  of  Moliere  as  normal  and  admirable  human  beings.  This 
glorification  of  common  sense  seems  to  lie  at  the  root  of  the  charge  of 
want  of  poetry  frequently  brought  against  Moliere.  Moderns  are  inclined 
to  prefer  Armande  to  Henriette,  and  English  readers  or  spectators  are 
apt  to  make  unfavourable  comparisons  between  Shakespeare's  heroines 
and  those  of  the  great  French  dramatist.  There  is  probably  something 
national  in  this,  but  Mr  Tilley  makes  an  important  point  in  insisting 
that  the  creative  imagination  which  is  of  the  essence  of  poetry  is  to  be 


118  Reviews 

found  in  high  comic  art,  that  there  is  '  the  lyricism  of  laughter '  or  of 
irony  and  gaiety,  as  Sainte-Beuve  says,  where  the  grotesque  meets  the 
sublime. 

But, apart  from  the  lyricism  inherent  in  the  highest  comedy,  Mr  Tilley 
reminds  his  readers  that  there  are  '  passages  of  really  poetic  sentiment 
and  language '  in  the  pastoral  pieces.  He  quotes  a  charming  little  song, 
which  apparently  is  not  to  be  found  in  any  anthology  of  French  verse, 
and  which  is  taken  from  the  Pastorale  Comique : 

Croyez-moi,  hatons-nous,  ma  Sylvie, 
Usous  bien  des  moments  prdcieux  ; 

Contentons  ici  notre  envie, 
De  nos  ans  le  feu  nous  y  convie 

The  whole  song  seems  an  echo  of '  Cueillons  des  aujourd'hui  les  roses  de 
la  vie,'  in  sentiment,  while  it  uses  the  nine-syllable  line  which  ■  is  only 
found  very  rarely  in  the  sixteenth,  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries/ 
and  which  Verlaine  uses  in  his  Art  Poetique:  '  De  la  musique  avant 
toute  chose.'  In  connection  with  the  technique  of  Moliere's  vers  libres, 
there  are  illuminating  observations  on  the  artistic  triumph  of  Amphitryon, 
which  '  novel  experiment  in  versification  is  a  striking  testimony  at  once 
to  his  metrical  genius  and  to  his  high  standard  of  artistic  achievement.' 

F6nelon's  famous  criticism — 'En  pensant  bien  il  parle  souvent  mal 

J'aime  bien  mieux  sa  prose  que  ses  vers' — is  condemned:  from  the 
dramatic  point  of  view  his  verse  has  the  supreme  quality  of  producing 
the  illusion  of  reality.  The  psychological  analyses  of  the  passions  of 
ordinary  men  and  women  require  a  prosaic  and  conversational  style  'qui 
rase  la  prose.'  So,  with  regard  to  Vauvenargues'  accusation  of  '  negli- 
gences et  expressions  impropres,'  while  '  it  would  be  impertinent  in  a 
foreigner  to  attempt  to  defend  Moliere  against  these  criticisms,'  the  real 
defence,  as  Brunetiere  has  shown,  is  that  '  Moliere  is  incorrect  because 
spoken  language  is  often  incorrect,  and  Moliere  aims  before  all  things  at 
being  natural.' 

As  for  the  apparent  weakness  of  the  somewhat  mechanical  or  melo- 
dramatic endings  to  some  of  the  plays,  this  is  shown  to  be  due,  not  to 
deficiency  in  the  power  of  constructing  a  plot,  nor  even  always  to  haste, 
but  rather  to  be  the  outcome  of  Moliere's  overwhelming  interest  in 
character :  the  main  idea  of  the  play  is  worked  out  in  dramatic  fashion 
through  and  by  the  characters. 

And  Moliere's  morality  ?  What  of  J.  J.  Rousseau's  attack,  followed 
to  some  extent  by  Lavisse  and  Brunetiere :  '  La  morale  de  Moliere  est 
tres  modeste.  On  ne  trouve  pas  dans  tout  son  theatre  un  devoir  qui 
commande  un  renoncement  a  soi,  meme  un  effort  qui  coute.'  There  are 
undoubtedly  moments  when  we  prefer  Pascal  to  Moliere,  but  to  each 
man  his  work.  As  Mr  Tilley  shows,  Moliere  makes  no  exalted  claim  on 
behalf  of  human  nature  ;  '  he  is  a  healthy  rather  than  a  lofty  moralist.' 
The  very  nature  of  comedy,  which  instructs  by  amusing,  is  contrary  to 
the  utterance  of  lofty  sentiments  :  her  business  is  not  to  preach  virtue, 
but  to  ridicule  vice  and  folly.  She  deals  not  with  Cids  and  Polyeuctes 
but  with  average  men.   There  is  moreover  a  striking  agreement  between 


Reviews  119 

Moliere's  implicit  teaching  on  hypocrisy  and  evil  speaking  for  example, 
and  the  sermons  of  some  of  the  famous  preachers  of  the  day,  notably 
Bossuet  and  Bourdaloue,  and  this,  according  to  Mr  Tilley,  is  remarkable 
testimony  to  the  soundness  of  his  morality. 

With  regard  to  authorities,  there  is  a  useful  note  after  Chapter  I  on 
the  various  biographies,  and  throughout  the  book  the  footnotes  give 
valuable  information  as  to  reading,  while  a  few  of  the  main  critics  are 
referred  to  in  the  Preface.  There  seems,  however,  to  be  room  for  a  com- 
plete bibliography,  which  would  be  a  considerable  help  to  the  student. 
The  index  is  good. 

All  lovers  of  Moliere  will  be  grateful  for  this  work,  which  will  spur 
them  to  re-read  both  the  familiar  and  the  less  well-known  plays,  while 
those  who  have  hitherto  neglected  them  will  be  tempted  to  begin  what 
must  be  for  everyone  a  fruitful  study  of  life  and  human  nature. 

F.  C.  Johnson. 

London. 

La  Divina  Commedia  di  Dante  Alighieri.  Con  il  Commento  di  Tommaso 
Casini.  Sesta  edizione  rinnovata  e  accresciuta  per  cura  di  S.  A 
Bakbi.  Vol.1.  Inferno.  Florence :  Sansoni.  1922.  8vo.  xv  +  335  pp. 
L.  6. 

The  admirable  commentary  of  Tommaso  Casini,  of  which  the  fifth 
edition  appeared  in  1903,  has  long  been  recognised  as  one  of  the  most 
helpful  and  reliable  companions  to  the  Divina  Commedia.  But,  during 
the  last  twenty  years,  Dante  researches  have  been  wide  and  fruitful.  In 
the  new  edition,  of  which  we  have  received  the  Inferno,  the  commentary 
has  been  brought  into  line  with  contemporary  scholarship  by  a  revision 
of  the  notes  and  the  introduction  of  fresh  matter.  Even  such  minute 
discoveries  as  Zaccagnini's  of  the  date  of  the  death  of  Venedico  Caccia- 
nemico  (perhaps  the  only  instance  of  Dante's  not  knowing  or  forgetting 
that  a  man,  since  dead,  was  actually  alive  in  1300)  are  duly  recorded. 
The  text  in  the  main,  though  not  invariably,  follows  the  '  testo  critico ' 
of  Vandelli.  The  work  has  been  exceedingly  well  done ;  and  the  result 
is  one  of  the  best  commentaries  on  the  Inferno  that  we  possess.  We 
have  noticed  a  historical  inaccuracy  retained  in  the  note  on  Inf.  XII,  111. 
Obizzo  d'Este  was  not,  as  here  stated,  the  son  of  Rinaldo  d'Este  and 
Adelaide  da  Romano.  He  was  an  illegitimate  child  of  Rinaldo,  born 
while  the  latter  was  a  prisoner  in  Apulia ;  the  story  is  told  at  length 
by  Salimbene  (Cronica,  ed.  Holder-Egger,  pp.  167-8)  and  in  the  Annates 
S.  Justinae  Patavini  (M.  G.  H.,  SS.  xix,  p.  162).  Salimbene  curiously 
anticipates  Dante's  association  of  Obizzo  with  Ezzelino :  '  Et  factus  est 
pessimus  homo,  imitatus  Icilinicos  mores.'  A  thoroughly  up-to-date 
commentary  must  necessarily  refer  to  Croce;  but  a  better  quotation 
from  La  poesia  di  Dante  might  perhaps  have  been  chosen  than  the 
appreciation  of  the  Ulysses  episode.  We  venture  to  think  that  the 
implication  that  Dante,  '  ligio  alia  parola  rivelata  e  agli  insegnamenti 
della  Chiesa,'  regarded  the  last  voyage  of  his  Greek  hero  as  a  sin,  is 


120  Reviews 

false  to  the  spirit  of  the  canto  and  the  whole  thought  of  the  poet's 
time;  the  well-known  passage  in  the  Annates  Januenses  of  Jacopo  Doria 
(M.  0.  H.,  SS.  xviii,  p.  335),  concerning  the  expedition  of  a  party  of 
Genoese  in  1291,  'ut  per  mare  oceanum  irent  ad  partes  Indie,'  shows 
clearly  that  this  was  not  the  way  in  which  thirteenth  century  Italy 
looked  upon  such  an  undertaking.  Surely  the  voyage  has  no  connexion 
with  the  sin  for  which  Ulysses  is  condemned ;  on  the  contrary,  the  spirit 
that  prompted  it  must  rank  among  the  '  vain  virtues '  which  are  •  the 
sorriest  thing  that  enters  Hell.'  The  motive  of  the  terrible  imprecation 
against  Pisa  for  the  death  of  Count  Ugolino  and  his  sons  (Inf.  xxxiii, 
79-83)  has  escaped  Barbi's  notice,  as  it  seems  to  have  done  that  of 
almost  every  other  commentator: 

Ahi  Pisa,  vituperio  de  le  genti 

del  bel  paese  la  dove  '1  si  suona, 

poi  che  i  vicini  a  te  punir  son  lenti, 
muovasi  la  Capraia  e  la  Gorgona, 

e  faccian  siepe  ad  Arno  in  su  la  foce, 

si  ch'elli  annieghi  in  te  ogni  persona ! 

In  the  Pharsalia  (viii,  827-830),  Lucan  similarly  apostrophises  Egypt 
after  the  murder  of  Pompey  : 

Quid  tibi  saeva  precer  pro  tanto  crimine  tellus  ? 
Vertat  aquas  Nilus,  quo  nascitur  orbe,  retentus, 
et  steriles  egeant  hibernis  imbribus  agri, 
totaque  in  Aethiopum  putres  solvaris  arenas. 

Dante  has  obviously  modelled  his  lines  upon  the  passage  in  Lucan, 
adapting  the  classical  poet's  curse  to  the  different  geographical  condi- 
tions of  Pisa. 

E.  G.  Gardner. 
Manchester. 

MINOR  NOTICES. 

The  Modern  Humanities  Research  Association  may  be  congratulated 
on  its  Bibliography  of  English  Language  and  Literature,  1921,  edited  by 
Miss  A.  C.  Paues  (Cambridge  :  Bowes  and  Bowes,  4s.  §d.).  The  entries 
of  publications  amount  to  more  than  2000,  double  the  number  of  those 
included  in  the  Association's  Bibliography,  1920.  The  book  thus  repre- 
sents an  immense  amount  of  public-spirited  work  done  by  Miss  Paues 
and  her  co-adjutors  in  different  countries,  work  for  which  all  students 
of  English  must  owe  them  gratitude.  The  arrangement  of  the  material 
has,  no  doubt,  been  carefully  thought  out,  and  no  possible  arrangement 
could  escape  criticism.  At  the  same  time  one  may  perhaps  suggest  that 
the  arrangement  of  the  English  Literature  Section  should  be  recon- 
sidered. It  is  perhaps  convenient  to  have  lists  of  authors  arranged  by 
centuries,  though  the  century  to  which  an  author  belongs  is  often  not 
plain  at  first  sight.  Miss  Paues  considers  Austin  Dobson,  Swinburne, 
Jack  London,  Lord  Bryce,  and  even  Viscount  Morley  and  Thomas 
Hardy,  who  are  still  with  us,  to  belong  to  the  nineteenth  century.  Ann 
Radcliffe  appears  both  in  the  eighteenth  and  in  the  nineteenth  cen- 


Minor  Notices  121 

tury.  Would  it  be  possible  in  future  to  give  the  rule  on  which  such 
allocations  are  made  ?  A  greater  problem  is  presented  by  the  literature 
classed  as  'General'  under  the  headings  'Old  English,' 'Middle  English/ 
'Sixteenth  Century'  etc.  It  would  perhaps  be  better  if  the  main  division 
here  adopted  were  '  Miscellaneous,'  '  Poetry,'  '  Drama,'  '  Prose,'  with  sub- 
divisions by  periods  (as  in  the  Dewey  System  so  much  used  in  our 
Public  Libraries)  under  each  head.  It  would  also  be  desirable  to  have 
more  cross-references  to  these  sections  from  the  author  lists.  Miss  Paues 
has  given  some  cross-references :  thus  under  Marlowe  one  is  referred  to 
a  paper  by  Mr  Percy  Simpson,  but  in  many  similar  cases  this  is  not 
done.  One  may  further  doubt  if  the  'Addenda'  under  each  century  etc. 
would  not  better  have  been  fused  with  the  original  lists.  Dr  Jessopp's 
name  (p.  98)  was  not  August,  but  Augustus. 

The  Bibliography  gives  fresh  proof  of  the  activity  of  the  Modern 
Humanities  Association.  May  its  merits  procure  it  such  support  from 
students  of  English  that  it  may  establish  itself  as  an  institution  which 
gains  in  value  and  usefulness  every  year !  Its  continuance,  it  is  stated, 
is  entirely  dependent  upon  the  support  given  to  this  issue. 

G.  C.  M.  S. 

It  was  unnecessary  for  the  author  of  An  Etymological  Dictionary  of 
Modern  English  (London :  John  Murray,  1921,  xx  +  1659  pp..  £2.  2s.)  to 
challenge  comparison  with  the  New  English  Dictionary.  The  pioneer 
work  on  scientific  etymology  specialized  necessarily  in  prehistoric  roots  ; 
this  work  done,  there  was  room  for  a  treatment  which  should  make  a 
wider  appeal.  Professor  Weekley's  method  is  both  scientific  and  human- 
istic. His  emphasis  of  the  semantic  side  of  etymology  is  not  unneeded  : 
and  his  book  should  not  only  prove  useful  to  scholars,  but  should  also 
widen  and  deepen  the  average  educated  interest  in  words  and  their 
origins.  The  selection  of  material  is  a  happy  one.  It  embraces  every 
kind  of  word,  literary  or  colloquial,  which  will  interest  the  intelligent 
modern  reader.  It  throws  light  alike  on  literature  and  politics,  sociology 
and  the  War,  ethnology,  mythology  and  journalese.  Its  treatment  of  the 
vocabulary  of  linguistic  science,  as  was  to  be  expected  from  Professor 
Weekley,  is  especially  full  and  clear.  Most  lovers  of  our  English  tongue 
will  be  glad  to  possess  a  copy.  J.  H.  G.  G. 

The  Editor  of  the  Bulletin  of  the  Modern  Humanities  Research 
Association  acknowledges  receipt  of  the  following  publications  :  Publica- 
tions of  the  Modern  Language  Association  of  America,  edited  by  Carleton 
Brown,  Vol.  xxxvn,  No.  3,  September,  1922 ;  Smith  College  Studies 
in  Modern  Languages,  Vol.  in,  No.  3,  April,  1922  (The  Tradition  of  the 
Goddess  Fortuna) ;  Philological  Quarterly,  Vol.  I,  No.  3,  July,  1922; 
Elizabeth  F.  Johnson,  Weckherlin's  Eclogues  of  the  Seasons,  1922. 

Part  of  the  German  contents  of  the  present  number  is  published 
with  the  assistance  of  the  Tiarks  Fund  for  the  Publication  of  Research 
Work  in  German. 


NEW  PUBLICATIONS. 

September-November,  1922. 

GENERAL. 

Anderton,   B.,   Sketches  from  a   Library  Window.    Cambridge,  W.    Heffer. 

10s.  6d. 
Bethe,  E.,  Marchen,  Sage,  Mythus.    Leipzig,  Quelle  und  Meyer.    160  M. 
Colonnade,  The.   Vol.  xiv  (1919-22).    Part  I.   Contributions  to  Scholarship  and 

Belles- Lettres.    Part  II.    Poetical  Works  of  John  Trumbull.    New  York, 

Andiron  Club. 
Gosse,  E.,  The  Continuity  of  Literature.    Presidential  Address,  1922,  English 

Association.    (Pamphlet  54.)    Is. 
Hubbel,  J.   B.,  and  J.  0.  Beaty,   An   Introduction  to  Poetry.    New  York, 

Macmillan  Co. 
Idealistische   Neuphilologie.     Festschrift  fur   K.   Vossler.     Herausg.   von  V. 

Klemperer  und  E.  Lerch.    (Sammlung  roman.  Elementar-  und  Hand- 

biicher,  v,  5.)    Heidelberg,  C.  Winter.    Gz.  10  M.1 
Jespersen,  O.,  Modermalets  Fonetik.    2.  Udg.   Copenhagen,  Gyldendal.   5  kr. 
Manacorda,  G.,  Studi  e  saggi.   Florence,  Le  Monnier.   L.  16. 
Matthews,  B.,  The  Tocsin  of  Revolt :  and  other  Essays.     London,  Scribner. 

10s.  6d. 
Postgate,  J.  P.,  Translation  and  Translations.   Theory  and  Practice.   London, 

G.  Bell  and  Sons.   6s. 
Schuck,  H.,  Allmanlitteraturhistoria.  I  v.  Den  franska  klassiciteten.  Stockholm, 

H.  Geber.    13  kr.  50. 
Solmsen,  F.,  Indogermanische  Eigennamen  als  Spiegel  der  Kulturgeschichte. 

Herausg.  von  E.  Fraenkel.    (Indogerm.  Bibliothek,  iv,  2.)    Heidelberg, 

C.  Winter.   Gz.  7  M. 
Suchier,  W.,  Der  Schwank  von  der  viermal  getoteten  Leiche  in  der  Literatur 

des  Abend-  und  Morgenlandes.    Halle,  M.  Niemeyer.   Gz.  2  M. 
Taylor,  A.,  The  Three  Sins  of  the  Hermit  (Mod.  Phil.,  xx,  I,  Aug.). 
Wasserzieher,  E.,  Sprachgeschichtliche  Plaudereien.    Berlin,  F.   Dummler. 

Gz.  2  M.  50. 

ROMANCE  LANGUAGES. 

Bottiglioni,  G.,  La  vespa  e  il  nido  nelle  lingue  romanze  (Zeit.  f.  roman- 

Phil.,  xlii,  3). 
Hauptfragen  der  Romanistik.    Festschrift  f.  Ph.  A.  Becker.    (Samml.  roman. 

Elementar-  und  Handbiicher,  v,  4.)   Heidelberg,  C.  Winter.    Gz.  11  M. 
Lerch,  E.,  Das  Imperfektum  als  Ausdruck  der  lebhaften  Vorstellung,  i 

(Zeit.  f.  roman.  Phil.,  xlii,  3). 
Merlo,  C,  Dell'  azione  metafonetica  palatilizzante  delle  vocali  latine  ii  e  u 

(Zeit.  f.  roman.  Phil.,  xlii,  3). 

1  Since  October  most  of  the  German  publishers,  in  pricing  their  books,  have  adopted  a 
1  Grundzahl '  representing  the  value  in  the  gold  mark. 


New  Publications  123 

Seifert,  E.,  Zwei  Probleme  auf  dem  Gebiete  der  Proparoxytona  (Zeit.  f. 
roman.  Phil.,  xlii,  3). 

Italian. 

Albini,  G.,  F.  Flamini,  A.  Galletti,  C.  Ricci.  Dante  a  Bologna.    Bologna, 

Zanichelli.    L.  5. 
Alunno,  A.,  Jacopone  da  Todi.   Citta  di  Castello,  'II  Solco.'   L.  8. 

Barbt,  M.,  Un  altro  figlio  di  Dante  {Studi  dant.,  v). 
Battisti,  C,  Studio  di  storia  linguistica  e  nazionale  del  Trentino.    Florence, 

Le  Monnier.   L.  20. 
Benassi,  U.,  II  Frugoni  e  il  Rezzonico  (Giorn.  stor.,  lxxx,  1-2). 
Berchet,  G.,  Le  Poesie.    A  cura  di  G.  Targioni-Tozzetti.    Florence,  Sansoni. 

L.  5. 
Biondolillo,  F.,  L'  unita  spirituale  nella  Divina  Commedia.    Messina,  Princi- 

pato.    L.  10. 
Boccaccio,  G.,  II  Filocolo.    Introd.  e  note  di  E.  de  Ferri.  n.  (Coll.  di  Class,  ital.) 

Turin.    L.  10. 
Cena,  G.,  Poesie.    Ed.  completa.    Florence,  Bemporad.    L.  10. 

Chiappelli,  L.,  Cino  da  Pistoia  di  parte  Bianca  (Giorn.  stor.,  lxxx,  1-2). 
Chroust,  G.,  Saggi  di  letteratura  italiana  moderna,  da  G.  Carducci  al  futurismo. 

in.    Wiirzburg,  Kabitzsch  und  Monnich.    74  M. 
Croce,  B.,  Berchet  (La  Critica,  xx,  6,  Nov.). 
Dante  Alighieri,  La  vita  nuova.    Ed.  with  introd.,  notes  and  vocabulary  by 

K.  McKenzie.   Boston,  Mass.,  D.  Heath.    1  dol.  52. 

Dante  e  Arezzo.   A  cura  di  G.  Fatini.   (Atti  della  R.  Accad.  •  Petrarca.')   Arezzo. 
L.  15. 

Di  Francia,  L.,  Alia  scoperta  del  vero  Bandello  (Giorn.  stor.,  lxxx,  1-2). 
Fawtier,  R.,  Sainte  Catharine  de  Sienne.    Essai  de  critique  des  sources.    Paris, 
Boccard.    25  fr. 

Fradeletto,  A.,  Figure  di  poeti  e  visioni  di  poesia.    Milan,  Treves.    L.  14. 
Gallarati-Scotti,  T.,  The  Life  of  A.  Fogazzaro.    Transl.  by  M.  P.  Agnetti. 

London,  Hodder  and  Stoughton.    15s. 
Gentile,  G.,  La  coltura  toscana  dell'  ottocento.    Bari,  Laterza. 

Goggio,  C,  The  Use  of  the  Conditional  Perfect  for  the  Conditional  Present 

in  Italian  (Publ.  M.  L.  A.  Amer.,  xxxvii,  3,  Sept.). 
Hutton,  E.,  Pietro  Aretino,  the  Scourge  of  Princes.    London,  Constable.    12s. 
Hutton,  E.,  Some  Aspects  of  the  Genius  of  G.  Boccaccio.    (Proceed.  Brit.  Acad., 

vol.  x.)    London,  H.  Milford.    Is.  6c?. 

Nissim,  L.,  Gli  '  scapigliati '  della  letteratura  italiana  del  cinquecento.    Prato, 
Martini. 

Patella,  F.,  II  viaggiatore  torinese  Facino  Cerri  e  la  sua  descrizione  del 

sepolcro  di  Dante  (Giorn.  stor.,  lxxx,  1-2). 
Schiapfini,  A.,  Del  tipo  '  parofia,'  '  parochia '  (Studi  dant.,  v). 
Serra,  R.,  Esame  di  coscienza  di  un  litterato.    Ed.  by  P.  Rebora.   Oxford  LTniv 
Press.    2s.  6d. 

Vandelli,  G.,  II  piu  antico  testo  critico  della  Divina  Commedia  (Studi 
dant.,  v). 

Wechssler,  E.,  Wege  zu  Dante.    Halle,  M.  Niemeyer.   Gz.  3  M. 
Wicksteed,  P.  H.,  From  Vita  Nuova  to  Paradiso.    Two  Essays  on  Vital  Rela- 
tions between  Dante's  Successive  Works.   Manchester,  Univ.  Press.   5s. 

Wiese,  B.,  Kommentar  zu  Dantes  Gottlicher  Komodie  ( Universalbibliothek) 
Leipzig,  P.  Reclam.    120  M. 


124  •  New  Publications 

Spanish. 

Belmonte  Berm6dez,  L.  de,  La  hispalica.    Publ.  por  D.  Santiago  Montoto. 

Seville,  Lib.  de  Sobrino  de  Izquierdo.    10  pes. 
Cejador  y  Frauca,  J.,  La  verdadera  poesfa  castellana.    Floresta  de  la  antigua 

lfrica  popolar.    n.  Madrid,  Rev.  de  Archivos.    7  pes.  50. 
Cirot,  G.,  L'expression  dans  Gonzalo  de  Berceo  (Rev.  fil.  esp.,  ix,  2,  June). 
Diez-Canedo,  E.,  Oonversaciones  literarias  (1915-20).    Madrid,  A.  G.  Izquierdo. 

4  pes.  45. 

Fernandez  y  Avila,  G.,  La  infancia  de  Jesu-Christo.  Zehn  spanische  Weih- 
nachtsspiele.  Herausg.  von  M.  L.  Wagner  (Zeit.  f.  roman.  Phil,  Beihefte, 
lxxii).    Halle,  M.  Niemeyer.    Gz.  9  M. 

GARcfA  de  Diego,  V.,  Cruces  de  Sinonimos  (Rev.  fil.  esp.,  ix,  2,  June). 
Goldberg,  I.,  Studies  in  Spanish-American  Literature.    New  York,  Brentano's ; 
London,  G.  G.  Harrap.    10s.  6d. 

Leon,  Luis  de,  De  los  nombres  de  Cristo.    (Clasicos  Castellanos,  xxviii,  xxxiii, 

xli.)    Madrid,  La  Lectura.    15  pes. 
Llano  Roza  de  Ampudia,  A.  de,  Del  Folklore  asturiano.    Con  un  prologo  de 

R.  Men^ndez  Pidal.    Madrid,  Talleres  de  Voluntad.    7  pes. 
Martin,  H.  M.,  Termination  of  Qualifying  Words  before  Feminine  Nouns 

and  Adjectives  in  the  Plays  of  Lope  de  Vega  (Mod.  Lang.  Notes,  xxxvii, 

7,  Nov.). 
Menendez  y  Pelayo,  M.,  Estudios  sobre  el  Teatro  de  Lope  de  Vega.    Ed.  por 

A.  Bonilla  y  San  Martin,    in.   (Obras  completas,  xii.)  Madrid,  R.  Velasco. 

12  pes. 
Mulertt,  W.,  Anleitung  und  Hilfsmittel  zurn  Studium  des  Spanischen.    Halle, 

M.  Niemeyer.    Gz.  1  M. 

French. 

(a)  General  (incl.  Linguistic). 

Messerschmidt,  L.,  tJber  franzbsisch  'bel  esprit.'  Eine  wortgeschichtliche 
Studie.  (Giessener  Beitr.  zur  roman.  Phil.,  ix.)  Giessen,  Roman.  Seminar. 
24  M. 

Ringenson,  K.,  Etude  sur  la  palatisalisation  de  k  devant  une  voyelle  anterieure 
en  francais.    Paris,  H.  Champion.   20  fr. 

(b)  Old  French. 

Aitken,  M.,  Etude  sur  le  miroir  ou  les  Damnees  de  Robert  de  Gretham,  suivie 

d'extraits  in&lits.    Paris,  H.  Champion. 
Beroul,  Le  roman  de  Tristan.    Poeme  du  XI  Ie  siecle.    Ed.  par  E.  Muret.    Paris, 

H.  Champion.    7  fr. 
Cowper,  F.  A.  G.,  The  Sources  of  '  Hie  et  Galeron'  (Mod.  Phil.,  xx,  1,  Aug.). 
Guernes   de   Pont-Sainte-Maxence,  La  Vie   de   Saint  Thomas  le  Martyr. 

Poeme  historique  du  XIIe  siecle.    Public  par  E.  Walberg  (Skrifter  utg. 

av  kungl.  Vetenskapssamfundet  i  Lund,  v).    Lund,  C.  W.  K.  Gleerup. 
Guingamor,  Le  Lai  de.    Le  lai  de  Tydorel.    (Romanische  Texte,  vi.)    Berlin, 

Weidmann.    24  M. 
Merlin  l'enchanteur,  L'Histoire  de.    Les  Enfances  de  Lancelot.    Rediges  par 

J.  Boulenger.    Paris,  Plon-Nourrit.    7  fr. 
Moldenhauer,  G.,  Herzog  Naimes  im  altfranzosischen  Epos.    ( Romanistische 

Arbeiten,  ix.)   Halle,  M.  Niemeyer.   Gz.  7  M. 

(c)  Modem  French. 

Alliz£,  F.,  Voltaire  a  la  Haye  (Rev.  de  Paris,  Nov.  15). 
Ashton,  H.,  Madame  de  la  Fayette.   Cambridge,  Univ.  Press.   25s. 


New  Publications  125 

Ayres,  E.  H.,  Histoire  de  l'impression  et  de  la  publication  de  la  ■  Lettre  a 

D'Alenibert'  de  J.  J.  Rousseau  (PubL  M.  L.  A.  Amer.,  xxxvii,  3,  Sept.). 
Barnard,  H.  C,  The  French  Tradition  in  Education.    Ramus  to  Mad.  Necker 

de  Saussure.   Cambridge,  Univ.  Press.    10s.  6d. 
Becker,  P.  A.,  C.  Marot  und  Lukian  (Neuphil.  Mitteil.,  xxiii,  4,  5,  Sept.). 
Bibliotheque  de  l'lnstitut  francais  de  Florence,  i.    G.   Maugain,  Fenelon  eu 

Italic     Levi-Malvano,  Montesquieu  e  Macchiavelli.     G.  Maugain,  Car- 

ducci  e  la  Francia.    Paris,  H.  Champion.    1 1  ft*.  50 :  7  fr.  50 :  9  fr. 
Bourdaloue,  L.  de,  OZuvres  completes,   n.   Ed.  par  E.  Griselle.    Paris,  Bloud 

et  Gay.    15  fr. 
Boyer  DAgen,  Chateaubriand,  Lamartine  et  Aime  de  Loy  (Nouv.  Rev., 

Sept.  1,  15,  Oct.  1). 
Bradi,  L.  de,  La  vraie  Colomba.   Paris,  Flammarion. 

Bremond,  H.,  La  vie  mystique  de  Desmarets  de  Saint-Sorlin  {Rev.  de 

France,  Nov.  1). 
Bussom,  T.  W.,  A  Rival  of  Racine  :  Pradon,  his  Life  and  Works.    Paris,  Champion. 
Chambers,  F.,  Merimee  et  la  societe  anglaise  (Rev.  litt.  comp.,  ii,  3,  Sept.). 
Conservateur  litteraire,  Le,  1819-21.    Edition  critique  par  J.  Marsan,  I.    Paris, 

Hachette. 
Curtius,  E.  R.,  M.  Barres  und  die  Grundlagen  des  franzosischen  Nationalismus. 

Bonn,  F.  Cohen.   30  M. 
Desthieux,  F.  J.,  Paul  Bourget,  sa  vie,  son  ceuvre.    Paris,  Le  Carnet  critique. 

3  fr.  75. 
Escoube,  P.,  La  femme  et  le  sentiment  de  l'amour  dans  l'ceuvre  de  Remy 

de  Gourmont  (Merc,  de  France,  Oct.  1). 

Geoffroy,  G,  La  comedie  bourgeoise.    Paris,  Fasquelle.   6  fr.  75. 

Giraud,  J.,  Une  source  inconnue  du  '  Rhin '  de  V.  Hugo  (Rev.  d'hist.  litt., 
xxix,  2,  June). 

Henry,  S.,  French  Essays  and  Profiles.   London,  E.  Dent.    7s.  6d. 

Kaen,  G,  Villiers  de  l'Isle-Adam  (Merc,  de  France,  Aug.  1). 
Kohler,  F.,  Rousseau.      Sechs  Vortrage.     Bielefeld,  Velhagen  und  Klasing. 
24  M. 

Lebegde,  R.,  La  publication  des  lettres  de  Malherbe  (Rev.  de  Vhi&t.  litt,  xxix, 
2,  June). 

Levaillant,  M.,  Chateaubriand  et  son  ministre  de  finances  (Rev.  des  deux 
Mondes,  July  15,  Aug.  1). 

Lerber,  W.  de,  LTnfluence  de  Clement  Marot  aux  17e  and  18e  siecles.    Paris, 
H.  Champion. 

Magne,  E.,  Une  amie  inconnue  de  Moliere.    Paris,  Emile  Paul.   4  fr. 
Masson,  G.  A.,  La  Comtesse  de  Noailles,  sa  vie,  son  ceuvre.    Paris,  Le  Carnet 
critique.   3  fr.  75. 

Masson,  G.  A.,  Paul  Fort,  sa  vie,  son  ceuvre.    Paris,  Le  Carnet  critique.   3  fr.  75. 
Melanges  offerts  a  M.  G.  Lanson.    Paris,  Hachette. 

Michelet,  J.,  Lettres  incites  (Rev.  de  Paris,  Oct.  1). 
Montaigne,  M.  de,  Essais.   Publies  par  P.  Villey.   n.    Paris,  Alcan.    12  fr. 
Montalembert,  C.  R.  F.  de,  L'Avenir  politique  de  TAngleterre  (Cambridge 
Plain  Texts).    Cambridge,  Univ.  Press.    Is.  3d. 
Montmorillon,  Marquis  de,  Contribution  a  la  bibliographie  de  Lamennais. 

Correspondance  inedite  (1825)  (Rev.  bleue,  Sept.  16). 
Pailleron,  M.  L.,  F.  Buloz  et  ses  amis.     Les  litterateurs  de  l'Empire. 
V.  Cherbuliez  (Rev.  des  deux  Mondes,  Aug.  1,  15). 


126  New  Publications 

Paludan,  H.  A.,  Studier  over  Corneilles  Forhold  til  det  spanske  Drama 
(Edda,  xviii,  3). 

Pitollet,  C,  Le   romantisme   francaise  et  l'Espagne  {Merc,  de  France, 
Sept.  15). 

Raynaud,  E.,  Baudelaire.   Paris,  Gamier.   10  fr. 

Renan,  E.,  De  l'imitation  de  la  Bible  dans  'Athalie'  (Rev.  de  Paris,  Aug.  1). 
Rimbaud,  A.,  (Euvres  completes.   3  vols.   Paris,  La  Banderole. 
Rivers,  J.,  Figaro  :  The  Life  of  Beaumarchais.    London,  Hutchinson.    18s. 
Robertson,  J.  M.,  Voltaire.   London,  Watts.   2s. 

Roosbroeck,  G.  L.  van,  Corneille's  'Cinna'  and  the  'Conspiration  des 

Dames'  (Mod.  Phil.,  xx,  1,  Aug.). 
Royer,  L.,  Stendhal  et  la  documentation  de  l'histoire  de  la  peinture  en 
Italie  (Rev.  d'hist.  litt.,  xxix,  2,  June). 
Rubensohn,  G.,  Die  Correspondance  littdraire  F.  M.  Grimms  und  H.  Meisters. 
Berlin  (Diss.). 
Rudwin,  M.,  Supernaturalism  and  Satanism  in  Chateaubriand  (Open  Court, 
xxxvi). 

Sainean,  L.,  La  Langue  de  Rabelais.  I.  La  Civilisation  de  la  Renaissance. 
Paris,  Boccard. 

Sand,  G.,  and  G.  Flaubert,  Letters.  Transl.  by  A.  McKenzie.  London,  Duck- 
worth.  21s. 

Seilliere,  E.,  J.  J.  Rousseau.    Paris,  Gamier. 

Servais,  E.,  Le  genre  romanesque  en  France  depuis  l'apparition  de  la  'Nouvelle 
Heloi'se'  jusqu'aux  approches  de  la  Revolution.    Paris,  Colin.    30  fr. 
Stendhal,  Du  Roman ticisme  dans  les  beaux-arts  (Rev.  litt.  cornp.,  ii,  4,  Dec). 

Thierry,  A.  A.,  Augustin  Thierry  d'apres  sa  correspondance  et  ses  papiers  de 
famille.    Paris,  Plon-Nourrit.    12  fr. 

Tilley,  A.,  Modern  France.    A  Companion  to  French  Studies.    Cambridge, 
Univ.  Press.    35s. 
Vogu£,  E.  M.  de,  Lettres  a  H.  Taine  et  a  sa  famille  (Rev.  des  deux  Mondes, 
Oct.  15). 

GERMANIC   LANGUAGES. 

Campbell,  T.   M.,  Hebbel,  Ibsen  and  the  Analytic  Exposition.    Heidelberg, 
C.  Winter.   Gz.  3  M. 
Kluge,  F.,  Germanisches  Reckentum  :  frz.  '  garcon '  (Mod.  Lang.  Notes, 
xxxvii,  7,  Nov.). 

Scandinavian. 

Andersen,  V.,  Holberg  Billedbog.  Billeder  af  V.  Marstrand.  Copenhagen, 
H.  Aschehoug.    5  kr. 

Andersen,  V.,  V.  Tops0e.  Et  Bidrag  til  den  danske  Realismes  Historic  Copen- 
hagen, Gad.   7  kr.  50. 

Bellman,  C.  M.,  Skrifter.  Standardupplaga  utg.  av  Bellmansallskapet.  n. 
Stockholm,  A.  Bonnier.    14  kr. 

Blicher,  S.  S.,  Noveller.  Udvalgt,  indledet  og  forsynet  med  Oplysninger  af 
S.  Vasegaard.    2  vols.    Copenhagen,  H.  Aschehoug.    12  kr. 

Blicher,  S.  S.,  Udvalgte  Noveller.  Udg.  af  G.  Christiansen.  2  vols.  Copen- 
hagen, Gyldendal.   9  kr. 

Blondal,  S.,  Islandsk-Dansk  Ordbog.  I.  Halvbind.  Reykjavik  ;  Copenhagen, 
H.  Aschehoug.    35  kr. 

Boer,  R.  C,  Edda.  Mit  historisch-kritischem  Commentar.  2  vols.  Haarlem, 
H.  D.  Tjeenk  en  Willink.   30  fl. 


New  Publications  127 

Dahlerup,  V.,  Ordbog  over  det  danske  Sprog.  iv.  Copenhagen,  Gyldendal. 
12  kr. 

Galster,  K.,  Ingemanns  historiske  Romaner  og  Digte.  Copenhagen,  H.  Asche- 
houg.    8  kr.  50. 

Garborg,  A.,  Skriftir  i  Sanding,  iii-v.  Christiania,  H.  Aschehoug.  Each 
6  kr.  45. 

Heiberg,  J.  L.,  Memoirer  og  Breve.  Udg.  af  J.  Clausen  og  P.  F.  Rist.  Copen- 
hagen, Gyldendal.    12  kr. 

Hermannsson,  H.,  Icelandic  Books  of  the  Seventeenth  Century.  (Islandica,  xiv.) 

Ithaca,  Cornell  Univ.  Libr.   2  dol. 
Holberg,  L.,  Comoedier.     Udg.  af  H.  Brix  med  H.  Tegners  Illustrationer. 

I,  ii.   Copenhagen,  Gyldendal.   Each  4  kr.  50. 
J6nsson,  F.,  Den  oldnorske  og  oldislandske  Litteraturs  Historic    2.  Udg.   II,  2. 

Copenhagen,  Gad.    15  kr. 

Kierkegaard,  S.,  Gesammelte  Werke.   x.   Jena,  E.  Diederichs.   Gz.  5  M. 

Neumann,  F.,  Die  Entstehung  von  Rosmersholm  (Edda,  xviii,  3). 
Olrik,  A.,  Danske  Folkeviser  i  Udvalg.    I.    Samling.    5.  Udg.   Copenhagen, 

Gyldendal.    3  kr. 
Roos,  C,  Det  18.  Aarhundredes  tyske  Oversasttelser  af  Holbergs  Komedier. 

Copenhagen,  H.  Aschehoug.    7  kr.  50. 
Thierfelder,  F.,  Die  Visa  der  schwedischen  Liederbiicher  des  16.  und  17. 

Jahrhunderts  und  ihr  Verhaltnis  zur  gleichzeitigen  deutschen  Liedpoesie. 

(Nordische  Studien,  iii.)   Greifswald,  L.  Bamberg.    100  M. 
Wran£r,  H.,  Valda  skrifter.    Utg.  av  F.  Book.   Stockholm,  A.  Bonnier.  4  kr.  50. 
Zoega,  G.  T.,  Islenzk-Ensk  OrSabok.    Reykjavik,  S.  Kristjansson.    25  kr. 

Old  Saxon,  Dutch,  Flemish. 

Kossmann,  F.,  Nederlandsch  versrythme.    The  Hague,  M.  Nijhoff.    5  fl. 

Metzenthin,  E.  C,  Die  Heimat  der  Adressaten  des  Heiland  (Journ.  Engl. 

Germ.  Phil.,  xxi,  2,  April). 
Pelagia.    Eine  Legende  in  mittelniederlandischer  Sprache.    Herausg.  von  A.  F. 

Winell.    Halle,  M.  Niemeyer.    2  M. 
Proost,  K.  P.,  De  religie  in  onze  literatuur  (1880-1920).    Zeist,  J.  Ploegsma. 

2  fl.  40. 
Ulenspiegel,  The  Legend  of,  and  Lamme  Goedzag.    By  Ch.  de  Coster.    Transl. 

2  vols.    London,  Heinemann.    30s. 

English. 

(a)    General  (incl.  Linguistic). 

Baum,  P.  F.,  The  Principles  of  English  Versification.  Cambridge,  Mass.,  Har- 
vard Univ.  Press  ;  London,  H.  Milford.    10s.  6d. 

Chambers,  R.  W.,  The  Teaching  of  English  in  the  Universities  of  England. 
(Engl.  Assoc.  Pamphlets,  53.)   London,  Engl.  Association.    Is. 

Flasdieck,  H.  M.,  Forschungen  zur  Fruhzeit  der  neuenglischen  Schriftsprache. 
ii.    Halle,  M.  Niemeyer.    (Stud,  zur  engl.  Phil.,  lxvi.)    Gz.  2  M.  50. 
Klopzig,  W.,  Der  Ursprung  der  to  be  to-Konstruktion  (Engl.  Stud.,  lvi,  3). 
Meissgeier,  E.,  Beitrage  zum  grammatischen  Geschlecht  im  Friihmittel- 
englischen,  besonders  bei  La3amon  (Engl.  Stud.,  lvi,  3). 

Paues,  A.  G,  Bibliography  of  English  Language  and  Literature,  1921.  (Mod. 
Humanities  Research  Assoc.)    Cambridge,  Bowes  and  Bowes.    4s.  6d. 

Ritter,  O.,  Vermischte  Beitrage  zur  englischen  Sprachgeschichte.  Halle, 
M.  Niemeyer.   Gz.  7  M. 


128  New  Publications 

(b)  Old  and  Middle  English. 

Alfred  der  Grosse,  Bearbeitung  der  Soliloquien  des  Augustinus.  Herausg. 
von  W.  Endter.  (Bibl.  der  angelsachs.  Prosa,  xi.)  Hamburg,  H.  Grand. 
200  M. 

Chaucer,  G.,  The  Prioress's  Tale ;  The  Tale  of  Sir  Thopas.    Ed.  by  L.  Win- 

stanley.  Cambridge,  Univ.  Press.  3s.  6d. 
Grienberger,  T.,  WidsiS  (Anglia,  xlvi,  4). 
Matter,  H.,  Englische  Griindungssagen  von  Geoffrey  of  Monmouth  bis  zur 

Renaissance.    (Anglistische  Forschungen,  lviii.)    Heidelberg,  C.  Winter. 

Gz.  18  M. 

Menner,  R.  J.,  '  Sir  Gawain  and  the  Green  Knight '  and  the  West  Midland 
(Publ.  M.  L.  A.  Amer.,  xxxvii,  3,  Sept.). 
Rothstein,  E.,  Die  Wortstellung  in  der  Peterborough  Chronik.  (Stud,  zur  engl. 
Phil.,  lxiv.)   Halle,  M.  Niemeyer.   Gz.  3  M. 

Sedgefield,  W.  J.,  An  Anglo-Saxon  Verse  Book.  Manchester,  Univ.  Press. 
9s.  6rf. 

Spurgeon,  C.  F.  E.,  Five  Hundred  Years  of  Chaucer  Criticism.  (Chaucer  Society, 
Second  Series,  lii-liv.)   Parts  m-v.    London,  H.  Milford. 
Tupper,  F.,  Chaucer's  Lady  of  the  Daisies  (Journ.  Engl,  and  Germ.  Phil., 
xxi,  2,  April). 

(c)  Modern  English. 

Beach,  J.  W.,  The  Technique  of  Thomas  Hardy.   Chicago,  Univ.  Press.   $  2.50. 
Biagi,  G.,  Gli  ultimi  giorni  di  P.  B.  Shelley.    Florence,  La  Voce.    L.  10. 

Bonnell,  J.  K.,  Touch   Images  in  the  Poetry  of  R.  Browning   (Publ. 

M.  L.  A.  Amer.,  xxxvii,  3,  Sept.). 
Brooke,  Tucker,  The  Marlowe  Canon  (Publ.  M.  L.  A.  Amer.,  xxxvii,  3,  Sept.). 
Browne,  Sir  Thomas,  Religio  Medici.   Ed.  by  W.  Murison.   Cambridge,  Univ. 

Press.    4s.  6d. 
Brunner,  K.,  C.  Kingsley  als  christlich-sozialer  Dichter  (Anglia,  xlvi,  4). 
Burchardt,  C,  C.  Marlowe  (Edda,  xviii,  3). 
Cambridge  Plain  Texts.    Bacon :   The  Advancement  of  Learning ;   Hooker : 

Preface  to  the  Laws  of  Ecclesiastical  Polity  ;  Montaigne  :  Five  Essays, 

transl.  by  J.  Florio.    Cambridge,  Univ.  Press.    Each,  Is.  3d. 
Cruickshank,  A.  IL,  Massinger  and  'The   Two   Noble   Kinsmen.'    Oxford, 

B.  Blackwell.    2s.  6d. 
Eddy,  W.  A.,  Rabelais :  A  Source  for  '  Gulliver's  Travels '  (Mod.  Lang.  Notes, 

xxxvii,  7,  Nov.). 
Engel,  E.,  Shakespeare  und  sein  Biihnenwerk.    Berlin,  F.  Schneider.    180  M. 
Flecker,  J.  E.,  Collected  Prose.    London,  Heinemann.   6s. 

Foerster,  N.,  Emerson  as  a  Poet  of  Nature  (Publ.  M.  L.  A.  Amer.,  xxxvii, 

3,  Sept.). 
Fowler,  J.  H.,  De  Quincey  as  Literary  Critic.    (Engl.  Association,  Pamphlets, 

52.)    London,  Engl.  Association. 
Freeman,  J.,  A  Portrait  of  George  Moore  in  a  Study  of  his  Work.    London, 

W.  Laurie.    16s. 
Golden  Book  of  Modern  English  Poetry,  The,  1870-1920.    Selected  and  arranged 

by  T.  Caldwell.   London,  E.  Dent.    7s.  6d. 
Goldring,  D.,  J.  E.  Flecker.    London,  Chapman  and  Hall.    7s.  Gd. 
Grasso,  T.,  II  bardo  Ossian  nella  sua  poesia.   Milan,  La  stampa  commerciale. 
Graves,  R.,  On  English  Poetry.   London,  Heinemann.   8s.  6d. 


New  Publications  129 

Graves,  T.  S.,  Some  Aspects  of  Extemporal  Acting  {Nth.  Carolina  Stud. 
Phil.,  xix,  4,  Oct.). 

Havens,  L.  D.,  The  Influence  of  Milton  on  English  Poetry.    Cambridge,  Mass., 
Harvard  Univ.  Press  ;  London,  H.  Milford.   37s.  6d. 
Hillebrand,  H.  N.,  The  Children  of  the  King's  Revels  at  Whitefriars 
(Journ.  Engl,  and  Germ.  Phil.,  xxi,  2,  April). 

Howe,  P.  P.,  The  Life  of  William  Hazlitt.    London,  M.  Seeker.    24s. 

Hughes,  H.  S.,  Fielding's  Indebtedness  to  James  Ralph  (Mod.  Phil.,  xx,  1, 
Aug.). 
Hughes,  J.  L.,  The  Real  Robert  Burns.   London,  Chambers.   6s. 
Hunt,  Leigh,  Poetical  Works.   Ed.  by  H.  S.  Milford.   London,  H.  Milford. 

Jones,  E.,  A  Psycho-analytic  Study  of  Hamlet.   London,  Intern!  Psycho.  Anal. 
Press. 
Judson,  A.  C,  A  Forgotten  Lovelace  Manuscript  (Mod.  Lang.  Notes,  xxxvii, 
7,  Nov.). 
Kellner,  L.,  Shakespeare- Worterbuch.  (Engl.  Bibl.,  i.)  Leipzig,  B.  Tauchnitz. 

576  M. 
Kernahan,  C,  Six  Famous  Living  Poets.    London,  T.  Butterworth.    12s.  6d. 
Lawrence,  W.  W.,  The  Meaning  of  'All's  Well  that  ends  Well'  (Publ. 
M.  L.  A.  Amer.,  xxxvii,  3,  Sept.). 
Marston,  J.,  Antonio  and  Mellida  and  Antonio's  Revenge.  (Malone  Society 

Reprints.) 
Mathew,  F.,  An  Image  of  Shakespeare.    London,  J.  Cape.   18s. 
Muccioli,  A.,  Shakespeare  nella  vita  e  nelle  opere.    Florence,  Battistelli.    L.  6. 
Nicoll,  A.,  Dryden  as  an  Adapter  of  Shakespeare.  (Shakespeare  Assoc.  Papers, 
vii.)    London,  H.  Milford.    2s. 
Nicolson,  M.  H.,  The  Authorship  of  'Henry  the  Eighth'  (Publ.  M.  L.  A. 
Amer.,  xxxvii,  3,  Sept.). 
Risbora,  P.,  Jonathan  Swift.    Rome,  Formiggini.    L.  2.70. 

Redin,  M.,  The  Friend  in  Shakespeare's  Sonnets  (Engl.  Stud.,  lvi,  3). 
Redin,  M.,  Shakespeares  sonetter  (Edda,  xviii,  3). 

Reed,  A.  W.,  The  Beginning  of  the  English  Secular  and  Romantic  Drama. 
(Shakespeare  Assoc.  Papers,  vii.)    London,  H.  Milford.   2s. 

Saintsbury,  G.,  A  Scrap  Book.    London,  Macmillan.   7s.  6d. 

Schelling,  F.  E.,  Appraisements  and  Asperities  as  to  some  Contemporary 

Writers.    London,  Lippincott.    9s. 
Schucking,  L.  L.,  Character  Problems  in  Shakespeare's  Plays.   London,  Harrap. 
10s.  6d. 

Shelley,  P.  B.,  The  Dramatic  Poems  of.    Ed.  by  C.  H.  Herford.    London, 

Chatto  and  Windus.    12s.  6d. 
Smith,  H,  A  Frvitfvll  Sermon  vpon  Part  of  the  5.  Chapter  of  the  first  Epistle 

of  Saint  Paul  to  the  Thessalonians.    Ed.  by  H.  T.  Price.    Halle,  H.  Nie- 

meyer.   Gz.  2  M.  50. 

Steinitzer,    A.,    Shakespeares    Konigsdramen.     Geschichtliche    Einfiihrung. 

Munich,  C.  H.  Beck.    3  M.  50. 
Stopes,  C.  C,  The  Seventeenth  Century  Accounts  of  the  Masters  of  the  Revels. 

(Shakespeare  Association  Papers,  vi.)   London,  H.  Milford.   2s. 
Struve,  H.,  John  Wilson  (Christopher  North)  als  Kritiker.    Leipzig,  Mayer 

und  Miiller.   40  M. 

Thaler,  A.,  Minor  Actors  and  Employees  in  the  Elizabethan  Theater 
(Mod.  Phil.,  xx,  1,  Aug.). 


130  New  Publications 

Thomas,  H.,  Shakespeare  and  Spain.    The  Taylorian  Lecture,  1922.    Oxford, 

Clarendon  Press.    2s. 
Tinker,  C.  B.,  Young  Boswell.    Chapters  on  James  Boswell  the  Biographer. 

London,  Putnams.    15s. 
Webster,  J.,  Le  Demon  blanc,  suivi  de  la  Duchesse  d'Amalfi.    Trad,  de  l'Anglais 

par  C.  Ce\    Paris,  Renaissance  du  livre. 
White,  N.  I.,  Shelley's  Debt  to  Alma  Murray  {Mod.  Lang.  Notes,  xxxvii,  7, 

Nov.). 
Whitney,  L.,  Did  Shakespeare  know  '  Leo  Africanus '  ?  (Publ.  M.  L.  A. 

Amer.,  xxxvii,  3,  Sept.). 
Yates,  M.,  George  Gissing.   An  Appreciation.   Manchester,  Univ.  Press.   6s. 
Zarchetti,  C,  Shelley  e  Dante.   Palermo,  Sandron.   L.  12. 

German. 

(a)  General  (incl.  Lingxdstic). 

Curme,  G.  0.,  A  Grammar  of  the  German  Language.    Revised  and  enlarged. 
New  York,  Macmillan  Co. 
Kurrelmeyer,  W.,  German  Lexicography,  iv  {Mod.  Lang.  Notes,  xxxvii, 
7,  Nov.). 

(b)  Old  and  Middle  High  German. 

Bell,  C.  H.,  The  Sister's  Son  in  the  Medieval  Germanic  Epic.  (Univ.  of  California 

Publ.  in  Modern  Philology,  x,  2.)  Berkeley,  Cal.,  Univ.  of  California  Press. 

$  1.75. 
Bobbe,  H.,  Mittelhochdeutsche  Katharinen-Legendeu  in  Reimen.  (Germanische 

Stud.,  xix.)    Berlin,  E.  Ebering.    52  M. 
Bonjour,  E.,  Reinmar  von  Zweter  als  politischer  Dichter.    (Sprache  und  Dich- 

tung,  xxiv.)   Bern,  P.  Haupt.   Gz.  1  M.  40. 
Konig-  Rother.    Herausg.  von  Th.  Frings  und  J.  Kuhnt.    (Rheinische  Beitrage 

zur  germ.  Phil.,  iii.)   Bonn,  K.  Schroeder.    Gz.  3  M. 
Saran,  F.,  Deutsche  Heldengedichte  des  Mittelalters,  i-iii.    (Handbiicherei  fur 

den  deutschen  Unterricht,  i-iii.)    Halle,  M.  Niemeyer.    Gz.  3  M.  90. 
Schreiber,   A.,  Neue  Bausteine  zu    einer   Lebensgeschichte   Wolframs  von 

Eschenbach.    (Deutsche  Forschungen,  vii.)    Frankfort,  M.  Diesterweg. 

80  M. 

(c)  Modern  German. 

Adrian,  W.,  Die  Mythologie  in  C.  Spittelers  Olympischer  Fruhling.    (Sprache 

und  Dichtung,  xxv.)   Bern,  P.  Haupt.    Gz.  1  M.  40. 
Arnim,  Bettina  von,  und  J.  W.  von  Goethe,  Briefwechsel.    Herausg.  von 

R.  Steig.    Leipzig,  Insel-Verlag     500  M. 
Aus  dem  achtzehnten  Jahrhundert.    Th.  A  pel  und  Hilde  Seeliger  zugeeignet 

Leipzig,  A.  Weigel.   250  M. 
Bab,  J.,  H.  von  Kleist  und  seine  Buhnenwerke.    Berlin,  F.  Schneider.   50  M. 
Bechtold,  A.,  Kritisches  Verzeichnis  der  Schriften  J.  M.  Moscheroschs.  Munich, 

A.  Stobbe.    250  M. 
Bohnenblcst,   T.,   Anfange  des   Kunstlertums  bei  C.   F.   Meyer.      Leipzig, 

H.  Haessel.   300  M. 
Brodfuhrer,  E.,Untersuchungen  zur  vorlutherischen  Bibeliibersetzung.   (Her- 

maea,  xiv.)  Halle,  M.  Niemeyer.   Gz.  8  M. 
Dehmel,  R.,  Mein  Leben.   (Dehmel-Gesellschaft,  ii.)   Leipzig.   320  M. 
Deinhardt,  H.,  Beitrage  zur  Wiirdigung  Schillers  Briefe  tiber  die  asthetische 

Erziehung  des  Menschen.    Neu  herausg.  von  G.  Wichsmuth.    Stuttgart, 

Der  kommende  Tag.   Gz.  3  M.  50. 


New  Publications  131 

Dingelstedt,  F.,   and  J.    Hartmann,  Eine  Jugendfreundschaffc  in   Briefen. 

Herausg.  von  W.  Deetjen.   Leipzig,  Insel-Verlag.   200  M. 
Dresch,  J.,  Borne  et  son  histoire  inedite  de  la  Revolution  francaise  (Rev. 

litt.  comp.,  ii,  3,  Sept.). 
Elster,  H.  ML,  H.  von  Hofmannsthal  und  seine  besten  Buhnenwerke.    Berlin, 

F.  Schneider.   Gz.  1  M. 
Engert,  H.,  G.   Hauptmanns  Sucherdramen.    Leipzig,  B.  G.  Teubner.    Gz. 

1  M.  60. 
Enzinger,  M.,  Das  deutsche  Schicksalsdrama.     Eine  akademische  Antritts- 

vorlesung.   Innsbruck,  Tyrolia.   25  M. 
Franke,  C,  Grundziige  der  Schriftsprache  Luthers.   in.    Halle,  Waisenhaus. 

2.  Aufl.    100  M. 
Freyhan,  M.,  G.  Hauptmann.    Berlin,  E.  S.  Mittler.    125  M. 
Geibel,  E.,  und  P.  Heyse,  Briefwechsel.    Herausg.  von  E.  Petzet.    Munich, 

J.  F.  Lehmann.    Gz.  6  M. 
Gloel,  H.,  Goethe  und  Lotte.   Berlin,  E.  S.  Mittler.    375  M. 
Goethe,  J.  W.  von,  Vom  unbekannten  Goethe.   Eine  neue  Anthologie.  Herausg. 

von  E.  Ludwig.    Berlin,  E.  Rowohlt.   200  M. 
Goethe-Gesellschaft,  Jahrbuch  der.    ix.    Weimar,  Verlag  der  Goethe-Gesell- 

schaft.    100  M. 
Gruber,  F.  E.,  F.  Grillparzer  und  seine  Buhnenwerke.    Berlin,  F.  Schneider. 

150  M. 
Gudde,  E.  G.,  Freiligraths  Entwicklung  als  politischer  Dichter.    (Germanische 

Studien,  xx.)   Berlin,  E.  Ebering.    50  M. 
Gunderode,  K.  von,  Gesammelte  Werke.  3  vols.  Berlin-Wilmersdorf,  O.  Gold- 

schmidt.    1200  M. 
Haenisch,  K.,  G.  Hauptmann  und  das  deutsche  Volk.   Berlin,  J.  H.  W.  Dietz. 

80  M. 
Hamerling,  R.,  Samtliche  Werke  in  16  Banden.    Herausg.  von  M.  M.  Raben- 

lechner.    (Deutsche  Klassiker  Bibliothek.)    Leipzig,  Hesse  und  Becker. 

4500  M. 
Hauptmann,  G.,  Gesammelte  Werke  in  8  Banden.   Jubilaumsausgabe.    Berlin, 

S.  Fischer.   5000  M. 
Hoffmann,  E.  T.  A.   Briefe.   Eine  Auswahl.   Herausg.  von  R.  Wiener.   Vienna, 

Nikola  Verlag.   240  M. 

Johnson,  E.  F.,  Weckherlin's  Eclogues  of  the  Seasons  (Johns  Hopkins  Diss.). 

Tubingen,  H.  Laupp. 
Johnson,  F.,  The  German  Mind  as  reflected  in  their  Literature  from  1870  to 

1914.    London,  Chapman  and  Dodd.    10s.  6d. 
Juden  in  der  deutschen  Literatur.    Essays  iiber  zeitgenossische  Schriftsteller. 

Herausg.  von  G.  Kroj  anker.   Berlin,  Welt- Verlag.    700  M. 
Kappstein,    T.,    H.    Sudermann    und    seine    besten    Buhnenwerke.     Berlin, 

F.  Schneider.    Gz.  1  M.  20. 
Kolatschewsky,  V.,  Die  Lebensanschauung  Jean  Pauls  und  ihr  dichterischer 

Ausdruck.  (Sprache  und  Dichtung,  xxvi.)  Bern,  P.  Haupt.  Gz.  1  M.  90. 
Kuhnemann,  E.,  G.  Hauptmann.  Fiinf  Reden.  Munich,  C.  H.  Beck.  Gz.  1  M.  80. 
Ludeke,  H.,  L.  Tieck  und  das  alte  englische  Theater.   (Deutsche  Forschungen, 

vi.)    Frankfort,  M.  Diesterweg.    420  M. 

Muller,  C.  F.,  Reuter-Lexikon.   Leipzig,  Hesse  und  Becker.    100  M. 

Neubert,  F.,  Goethe  und  sein  Kreis.   2.  Aufl.   Leipzig,  J.  J.  Weber.   400  M. 

Pollmer,  A.,  F.  W.  Riemer  und  seine  '  Mittheilungen  iiber  Goethe.'    (Probe- 
fahrten,  xxx.)   Leipzig,  R.  Voigtlander.    88  M. 


132  New  Publications 

Reinhold,  C.  F.,  H.  Heine.   Berlin,  Ullstein.   Gz.  6  M.  25. 

Satori-Neumann,  B.  T.,  Die  Friihzeit  des  Weimarischen  Hoftheaters  unter 

Goethes  Leitung,  1791-1798.    (Schriften  der  Gesellschaft  fiir  Theater- 

geschichte,  xxxi.)    Berlin. 
Schlenther,  P.,  G.  Hauptmann.    Leben  und  Werk.    Neue  Ausg.  umgearbeitet 

von  A.  Eloesser.    Berlin,  S.  Fischer.    100  M. 
Spaulding,  J.  A.,  The  Lower  Middle  Class  in  Tieck's  Writings  (Journ. 

Engl,  and  Germ.  Phil.,  xxi,  2,  April). 
Specht,  R.,  A.  Schnitzler.    Der  Dichter  und  sein  Werk.    Berlin,  S.  Fischer. 

250  M. 
Steinberg,  H.,  Die  Reyen  in  den  Trauerspielen  des  A.  Gryphius.  Diss.  Gottingen. 
Stephan,  H.,  Die  Entstehung  der  Rheinromantik.   Cologne,  Rheinland  Verlag. 

Gz.  5  M. 
Voss,  L.,  Goethes  unsterbliche  Freundin  (Charlotte  von  Stein).  2.  Aufl.  Leipzig, 

Klinkhardt  und  Biedermann.    Gz.  5  M. 
Walzel,  O.,  Vom  Geistesleben  alter  und  neuer  Zeit.    2.  Aufl.    Leipzig,  Insel- 

Verlag.   400  M. 
Witkop,  P.,  Frauen  im  Leben  deutscher  Dichter.   Leipzig,  H.  Haessel.   300  M. 
Wolff,  R.,  Die  neue  Lyrik.    Eine  Einfuhrung  in  das  Wesen  der  jiingsten  Dich- 

tung.    Leipzig,  Dieterich.    15  M. 
Zentner,  W.,   Studien   zur  Dramaturgie    E.  von   Bauernfelds.     (Theaterge- 

schichtliche  Forschungen,  xxx.)   Leipzig,  L.  Voss.   Gz.  4  M.  50. 


\ 


BULLETIN  OF  THE 

3\dodern  Humanities  Research  ^Association 

January  1923  Number  17 


IJ  The  Modern  Language  Review  for  1923  (to  members, 
15s.)  and  the  1922  issue  of  the  English  Bibliography  (to 
members,  3s.)  may  now  be  ordered  through  the  Hon.  Treasurer, 
Professor  Allen  Mawer,  The  University,  Liverpool. 

OUR  NEW  PRESIDENT 

Professor  Manly,  the  new  President  of  the  Association,  is  one  of  the  most 
distinguished  and  brilliant  of  American  scholars.  As  Head,  for  many  years, 
of  the  Department  of  English  at  Chicago  University,  and  General  Editor  of 
Modern  Philology,  a  very  large  number  of  students  have  come  under  his  in- 
fluence. He  was  himself  one  of  the  several  distinguished  pupils  of  Professor 
Child  of  Harvard,  and  he  has  continued  Professor  Child's  tradition  of  a 
mediaeval  scholarship  at  once  sound  and  humane.  His  publications  include 
many  articles  in  periodicals,  encyclopedias,  etc.,  several  editions  and  volumes 
for  use  in  University  classes.  His  two-volume  edition  of  the  pre-Shakespearian 
dramatists  has  been  in  general  use  for  nearly  a  generation.  His  best-known 
contribution  to  English  scholarship  is  without  doubt  his  theory  that  Piers 
Plowman  was  written  by  a  group  of  five  writers :  the  articles  in  which  he  argued 
this  theory,  together  with  those  written  by  M.  Jusserand  supporting  the 
traditional  point  of  view,  were  reprinted  by  the  Early  English  Text  Society. 

When  America  entered  the  war,  Professor  Manly  volunteered  for  five  years' 
service  and  rendered  invaluable  assistance  at  Washington  in  the  Intelligence 
Department,  for  which  he  was  peculiarly  fitted  by  his  knowledge  of  ciphers. 

PUBLICATIONS 

The  new  Bibliography  of  English  Language  and  Literature  was  completed 
early  in  the  Long  Vacation,  but  it  seemed  best  to  defer  publication  until 
October.  It  may  now  be  obtained  by  members  from  the  Hon.  Treasurer 
(35.  net),  and  by  non-members  through  any  bookseller  (4s.  6d.  net).  Thanks 
to  the  unremitting  labours  of  Miss  Paues  and  her  collaborators  the  Bibliography 
is  nearly  twice  the  size  of  the  1921  issue  (which  is  still  obtainable  also).  It 
contains  in  all  21 19  titles  of  books,  pamphlets  and  articles  published  in  various 
countries  during  192 1  upon  English  Language  and  Literature.  It  should  be  in 
every  member's  library:  we  hope  that  before  long  it  will. 

# 


* 


2  MODERN  HUMANITIES  RESEARCH  ASSOCIATION 

The  accounts  of  the  year's  working  of  the  Modern  Language  Review  reveal 
a  loss  of  over  £105.  This,  though  rather  less  formidable  a  deficit  than  last 
year's,  is  a  cause  of  considerable  anxiety  to  the  Committee,  and  a  perusal  of 
the  Balance  Sheet  for  192 1-2  reproduced  in  this  number  will  shew  that  unless 
the  Review  can  be  made  to  pay  its  way  our  Capital  Fund  will  be  completely 
extinguished.  We  need  only  150  new  subscribers  to  accomplish  this,  and  if 
as  many  as  two-thirds  of  our  members  subscribed  to  their  journal  we  should 
have  a  substantial  credit  balance  and  be  in  a  position  to  increase  the  number 
of  pages  in  each  issue.  The  moral  is  obvious,  and  subscriptions  should  be  sent 
to  Professor  Mawer  without  delay. 

APPOINTMENTS  AND  ELECTIONS 

Professor  W.  P.  Ker  has  been  elected  a  Vice-President  of  the  Association. 
Professor  J.  G.  Robertson,  Editor  of  the  Modern  Language  Review,  has  been 
elected  Chairman  of  the  General  Committee  for  the  year  1922-3.  M.  Edouard 
Guyot,  ibis  Boulevard  de  Montmorency,  Paris  xvi,  has  been  appointed  co- 
secretary  for  Paris.  The  following  correspondents  have  been  appointed :  Pro- 
fessor R.  L.  Graeme  Ritchie  (Birmingham);  Professor  W.  L.  Renwick 
(Newcastle);  S.  J.  Crawford,  Esq.  (Southampton);  Dr  Fidelino  de  Figueiredo 
(Portugal,  vice  M.  Ricard  who  has  left  the  country);  Professor  Hans  Hecht 
(Gottingen) ;  Professor  H.  V.  Jones  (Illinois,  U.S.A.).  Miss  Hope  Emily  Allen 
has  been  elected  a  member  of  the  Publications  Sub-Committee. 


GROUP  NOTES 

EARLY  ENGLISH 
{Organiser:  Miss  A.  C.  Paues,  Ph.D.,  Newnham  College,  Cambridge.) 

It  is  a  pleasure  to  record  the  steady  growth  of  the  Early  English  Subject 
Group  and  the  varied  activities  of  its  members. 

As  examples  of  collective  work  we  may  mention  the  Bibliography  of  English 
Language  and  Literature  for  1921  which  appeared  at  the  beginning  of  the 
autumn  term  in  an  attractive  cover.  It  should  prove  a  useful  adjunct  to  the 
scholar's  table  and  save  him  hours  of  tedious  search .  Especial  thanks  are  due 
to  the  main  collaborators  Professor  Northup  and  Miss  Seaton.  We  live  in 
hopes  of  bringing  out  the  1922  volume  at  a  much  earlier  date.  Meanwhile  our 
ardent  desire  is  that  members  should  act  as  press-agents  and  help  to  dispose 
of  the  present  issue  as  quickly  as  possible,  that  we  may  have  the  wherewithal 
for  extensions  and  improvements  in  the  next.  Some  notes  on  Place-name 
study  are  given  below. 

The  following  publications  by  members  of  the  Group  have  appeared  in  the 
course  of  the  year  (or  are  on  the  point  of  appearing) :  Miss  Beatrice  Allen  is 
working  on  "The  History  of  Alliterative  Diction  in  Middle  English  Poetry"; 
Miss  Hope  Allen  has  drawn  attention  to  "Another  Latin  Manuscript  of  the 
'  Ancren  Riwle'"  in  Mod.  Lang.  Rev.  xvn.  403,  and  has  an  article  on  "  Some 
14th  Century  Borrowings  from  the  Ancren  Riwle"  coming  out  in  Mod.  Lang. 
Rev.  for  Jan.  1923,  and  one  on  "  A  13th  Century  English  Coronation  Rubric  "  in 
the  Church  Quarterly  Review  of  next  year.  Miss  M.  Ashdown  has  written  on 
"  The  Single  Combat  in  Certain  Cycles  of  English  and  Scandinavian  Tradition 


MODERN  HUMANITIES  RESEARCH  ASSOCIATION  3 

and  Romance"  in  Mod.  Lang.  Rev.  xvn.  113-30;  Professor  R.  W.  Chambers' 
pamphlet  on  The  Teaching  of  English  in  the  Universities  of  England  printed  by 
the  English  Association,  July,  1922  (Pamphlet  53),  should  be  read  by  every 
member  of  the  Group ;  his  Inaugural  Lecture  at  the  beginning  of  the  October 
term  dealt  with  "Some  Great  Teachers  of  the  English  Language";  Mr  S.  J. 
Crawford's  The  Old  English  Heptateuch,  and  /Elfric's  Treatise  on  the  Old  and 
New  Testament  is  on  the  point  of  appearing;  he  has  about  half-finished  a 
revision  (in  metrical  form),  with  the  Latin  original,  of  iElfric's  Admonitio  ad 
filium  spiritualem ;  Mr  G.  G.  Coulton  has  had  two  articles  in  the  Mod.  Lang. 
Rev.  xvn.  66-9,  69-71  on  "The  Authorship  of  'Ancren  Riwle,'"  and  on 
"The  Owl  and  the  Nightingale";  furthermore  we  are  happy  to  learn  that  the 
first  of  the  three  "fat"  volumes  on  Five  Centuries  of  Religion  (1050-1550)  is  in 
the  press;  Miss  M.  Deanesly  has  an  article  on  "John  de  Caulibus"  in  the 
Collectanea  of  the  British  Society  for  Franciscan  Studies ;  students  of  Richard 
Rolle  will  be  interested  in  Miss  D.  Everett's  investigations  of  the  "Middle 
English  Prose  Psalter  of  Richard  Rolle  of  Hampole"  dealing  with  "the  re- 
lations of  the  mss.  to  one  another,  the  sources  of  Rolle's  Translation  of  the 
Vulgate,  and  the  purpose  and  history  of  the  interpolated  copies  of  the  work" 
in  Mod.  Lang.  Rev.  xvn.  217-27,  337-50.  Miss  F.  E.  Harmer  (Manchester)  is 
working   on   some   Place-name   problems   and  similarly  Miss  Alice   Selby 
(Nottingham);  Mr  I.  Jackson  has  a  note  on  "  Sir  Gawain's  Coat  of  Arms"  in 
Mod.  Lang.  Rev.  xvn.  289,  another  on  "Manannan  MacLir,  the  Celtic  Sea- 
god"  will  appear  in  Folk  Lore.  Miss  H.  M.  R.  Murray  of  Girton  College  has 
contributed  Section  3,  "Philology:  General  Works"  for  the  Year's  Work  in 
English  Studies.  Professor  E.  W.  Scripture  prints  a  brief  but  important  paper 
on  "Die  Verskunst  und  die  experimentelle  Phonetik"  in  the  Wiener  Medi- 
zinische  Wochenschrift  (No.  33,  1922):  "die  bisherige  Metrik  [ist]  nur  ein 
kunstlicher  Aufbau,  welcher  mit  dem  wirklichen  gesprochenen  Vers  nichts  zu 
tun  hat."    Miss  N.  Kershaw  (Mrs  H.  M.  Chadwick)  has  published  an  im- 
portant study  of  Some  Anglo-Saxon  and  Norse  Poems  (Cambridge  Univ.  Press) 
including  the  following  O.E.  poems:  The  Wanderer,  the  Seafarer,  the  Wife's 
Complaint,  the  Husband's  Message  and  the  Battle  of  Brunanburh.   Mr  P.  G. 
Thomas's  notes  on  Beowulf,  11.  1604-5,  2°85-9i>  and  on  Cleanness  appeared  in 
Mod.  Lang.  Rev.  xvn.  63-6.    Professor  W.  J.  Sedgefield  has  published  An 
Anglo-Saxon  Verse-Book  (Manchester  Univ.  Press)  where  the  selections  are 
arranged  according  to  their  literary  affinities,  viz.  "Germanic  Legend  and 
Story,"    "Elegiac   Lyric   and   Moralizing,"    "Narrative   and   Descriptive," 
"Biblical  and  Christian."   Mr  A.  J.  Wyatt  has  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  the 
Second  Impression  of  his  Anglo-Saxon  Reader  during  this  year. 


SURVEY  OF  ENGLISH  PLACE-NAMES 

During  the  last  few  months  the  work  has  been  going  steadily  forward  and 
organized  work  has  begun  on  several  new  counties.  Three  points  have  become 
specially  apparent  during  that  time.  The  first  is  the  very  great  value  of  and 
necessity  for  work  upon  unpublished  documents,  chiefly  at  the  Public  Record 
Office,  if  the  foundations  of  our  work  are  to  be  laid  aright.  Valuable  as  are 
the  series  of  Calendars  issued  by  the  Record  Office,  it  is  important  to  realise 
that  there  is  a  very  large  mass  of  thirteenth  century  material  in  the  form  of 
Assize  Rolls,  Plea  Rolls  and  the  like,  which  are  full  of  matter  for  the  place- 
name  student,  and  that  the  material  to  be  found  there  often  gives  early  forms 


4  MODERN  HUMANITIES  RESEARCH  ASSOCIATION 

for  names  hitherto  entirely  unrecorded  and  fresh  and  illuminating  forms  for 
others  already  known.  Offers  of  help  in  reading  such  documents  are  much 
needed  from  those  skilled  in  reading  13th  and  14th  century  mss.  Many 
students  of  M.E.  dialects  are  learning  under  the  stimulating  guidance  of 
Professor  Wyld  to  value  place-name  material.  It  is  not  perhaps  fully  realised 
as  yet  how  rich  is  the  material  to  be  found  in  unpublished  documents,  material 
often  more  reliable  than  a  good  deal  that  is  in  print,  because  it  is  based  very 
largely  upon  local  depositions.  If  any  such  students  could  at  the  same  time 
pursue  their  linguistic  researches  and  give  the  forms  found  to  the  Survey  for 
its  own  uses  they  would  be  rendering  it  rich  service. 

The  second  point  is  that  we  are  finding  more  than  ever  the  value  of  the  aid 
of  the  topographers  in  the  construction  of  County  Gazetteers  of  all  the  place- 
names  to  be  found  in  a  county.  These  enormously  shorten  the  work  of  identi- 
fication in  working  upon  unpublished  material,  enabling  workers  upon  the 
historical  documents  to  find  with  the  utmost  rapidity  whether  there  is  any 
survival  of  the  old  place-name  upon  the  modern  map. 

If  any  one  is  working  upon  such  documents  as  those  named  above  and 
would  apply  to  the  Survey  for  the  use  of  such  a  Gazetteer  as  this  an  effort 
would  be  made  to  supply  it. 

The  third  point  is  that  in  Professor  Ekwall's  book  on  the  Place-Names  of 
Lancashire  we  have  a  living  demonstration  of  the  truth  and  value  of  the  ideal 
which  the  Survey  has  set  before  itself,  viz.  a  combination  in  due  proportion 
of  the  linguistic,  the  historical  and  the  topographical  aspects  of  place-name 
study.  Dr  Ekwall  shows  in  most  convincing  manner  the  rich  harvest  of  in- 
struction to  be  drawn  from  Place-name  study  if  pursued  on  these  lines. 

Finally  it  may  be  mentioned  that  the  Survey  has  now  completed  plans  for 
an  Introductory  volume  to  the  whole  Survey.  Many  prominent  scholars 
drawn  from  various  fields  of  Place-name  study  are  contributing  to  it  and  it  is 
hoped  shortly  to  make  a  public  announcement  on  the  subject. 

A.  M. 

MEDIAEVAL  LITERATURE 

The  Modern  Language  Association  of  America  sends  us  a  notice  of  its 
recent  formation  of  a  Group  on  the  Influence  of  Latin  Culture  on  Mediaeval 
Literature. 

The  main  purpose  of  the  organization  is  to  synthesize  in  a  constructive 
programme  the  efforts  of  all  individuals  or  groups  from  Modern  Languages, 
Classics,  History,  Philosophy,  and  related  fields  who  are  interested  in  the 
Latin  cultural  aspects  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Naturally,  during  the  earlier  stages 
of  its  activity  the  Group  will  centre  its  efforts  primarily  on  members  of  the 
Modern  Language  Association,  though  from  the  first  it  has  had  the  active  co- 
operation of  others. 

As  a  first  step,  the  Committee  is  making  a  survey  of  the  condition  of 
Mediaeval  Latin  in  the  graduate  colleges  and  universities  of  the  United  States. 
On  the  completion  of  this  task,  the  results  of  which  will  be  published,  a 
committee  will  study  the  situation  and  present  recommendations  for  the  de- 
velopment of  the  study  of  Mediaeval  Latin  Culture  in  the  graduate  colleges 
and  universities.  This  concerns  specific  courses,  interdepartmental  activity, 
and  co-operation  with  English  and  Continental  universities  and  learned  societies. 

The  Committee  is  attempting  also  to  encourage  various  definite  problems 
or  tasks  which  individuals  or  small,  compact  groups  have  assumed  or  are 
assuming.   One  such  definite  project  is  already  under  way.   Professor  C.  H. 


MODERN  HUMANITIES  RESEARCH  ASSOCIATION  5 

Beeson  is  now  at  work  on  a  Mediaeval  Latin  primer  or  anthology  for  graduate 
students  who  wish  to  begin  or  continue  their  studies  in  this  field.  This  will 
include  carefully  graded  specimens  of  Mediaeval  Latin  from  Cassiodorus  to 
the  time  of  Roger  Bacon. 

The  Group  Secretary  is  Professor  George  R.  Coffmann,  Grinnell  College, 
Grinnell,  Iowa,  U.S.A.,  who  will  be  pleased  to  give  further  information. 


BRANCH  COMMUNICATIONS 

The  French  sub-secretary  sends  for  publication  the  following  list  of  manu- 
script theses  (Diplomes  d'Etudes  SupSrieures)  submitted  to  the  University  of 
Paris  (Sorbonne)  in  June,  1922.  A  provincial  list  is  in  process  of  compilation. 

A  LIST  OF  MANUSCRIPT  THESES  {DIPLOMES  D'ETUDES 

SUPERIEURES)  DEFENDED  BEFORE  THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  PARIS  (SORBONNE)  IN  JUNE,  1922 

I.  English  Literature  and  Philology 

M.  Battistini  :  J.  H.  Newman  dans  le  mouvement  d'Oxford  de  1833  a  1839:  sa 

pensee,  son  role,  et  son  influence. 
Melle  Bornand  :  The  subjunctive  in  Chaucer. 
jVIeiie  Chide:  John  Denham  precurseur  des  classiques. 
Melle  Demoulin:  The  Historical  Ballads  in  Percy's  Reliques  of  Ancient  English 

Poetry,  1765. 
Melle  Denans:  La  pensee  et  le  sentiment  religieux  chez  Christine  Rossetti. 
Melle  Derreal:  L'imagination  plastique  dans  V Arcadia  de  Sir  Philip  Sidney. 
Melle  Desgruelles:  R.  L.  Stevenson  as  a  literary  critic. 
MeUe  Emerique  :  Rudyard  Kipling  ecrivain  pour  la  jeunesse. 
Melle  Fretin:  Hindu  elements  in  Sir  Rabindranath  Tagore's  works. 
M.  Gilbert:  Robert  Ferguson. 
MelIe  Godier:  Bacon's  attitude  towards  religion.    (Published  in  part  by  the 

Revue  de  V  Enseignement  des  Langues  Vivantes.) 
Melle  Guillaume:  An  edition  of  the  Lay  Le  Freine,  a  Middle  English  "Breton 

Lay." 
M.  Loiseau:   The  Middle  Classes  in  the  Comedy  of  the  Restoration  (1660- 

1670). 
M.  Malas:  La  Querelle  des  Anciens  et  des  Modernes  en  Angleterre  jusqu'a 

Swift. 
M.  Mayoux:  Thomas  De  Quincey's  moral  and  literary  criticism. 
Melle  Menjaud:    La  description  exotique  chez  Lafcadio  Hearn  et  Rudyard 

Kipling. 
M.  Obrier:  A  Study  of  the  comic  element  in  Fielding's  novels. 
M.  Olive:  The  element  of  "caricature"  in  Smollett's  novels. 
Melle  Pi  card:  Sarah  Margaret  Fuller  (a  study  in  literary  criticism). 
M.  Ploquin:  L'optimisme  et  le  pessimisme  chez  Tennyson. 
M.  Prat:  Les  emprunts  au  francais  chez  Thackeray. 
MeUe  pRIEUR :  Woman  in  the  chief  works  of  Arnold  Bennett. 
Melle  Rivard  :  Figures  and  types  of  children  in  the  works  of  Rudyard  Kipling. 


MODERN  HUMANITIES  RESEARCH  ASSOCIATION 


II.  German  Literature 

M.  Chiquot:  Jean  Tauler  et  le  Meisters  Buch. 

Meiie  d'Ham:  La  Ballade  de  Fontane. 

M.  Fourquet:  La  vie  et  l'oeuvre  esthetique  d 'Anton  Raffael  Mengs. 

M.  Michel:  Les  nouvelles  d'Eichendorff. 

M.  Montigny:  Wieland  et  ses  opinions  sur  la  Revolution  francaise. 

M.  Normond:  Le  Gargantua  de  Fischart. 

M.  Surugue:  Gorres  polemiste  politique. 

M.  Valembert:  George  Forster:  l'homme,  le  revolutionnaire. 

III.  Italian  Literature 

M.  Caraccio:  Etude  sur  les  Promenades  dans  Rome  de  Stendhal. 


La  Revue  d'histoire  litter  aire  de  la  France  (organe  de  la  Societe  d'histoire 
litteraire  de  la  France,  18  rue  de  l'Abbe  de  l'Epee,  Paris,  ve)  est  en  voie  de 
reorganisation.  Elle  serait  heureuse  de  recevoir  tous  les  ouvrages  interessant 
l'histoire  litteraire  de  la  France  (a  l'exclusion  des  etudes  de  litterature  comparee 
qu'il  est  preferable  d'envoyer  a  la  Revue  de  litterature  comparee,  5  quai 
Malaquais,  Paris).  II  en  sera  publie  un  compte-rendu,  ou  l'auteur  sera 
prevenu  des  raisons  qui  empechent  de  donner  ce  compte-rendu.  D'autre  part, 
elle  desire  qu'on  lui  signale,  en  en  donnant  au  besoin  un  court  resume,  les 
articles  de  revues  anglaises  interessant  l'histoire  litteraire  franfaise ;  il  importe 
seulement  que  les  articles  signales  ne  soient  pas  seulement  des  jugements 
critiques  mais  apportent  une  contribution  a  la  connaissance  historique  de  cette 
litterature.  Les  notes  ou  tirages  a  part  peuvent  etre  adresses  soit  directement 
au  secretaire  de  la  Revue  soit  au  correspondant  pour  l'Angleterre,  Mr  G. 
Rudler,  Professeur  a  l'Universite,  18  Bradmore  Road,  Oxford.  La  chronique 
de  la  Revue  signalera  les  articles  et  brochures  qu'on  aura  ainsi  fait  connaitre. 


ARTICLES  RECEIVED 

[Books  and  complete  journals  will  in  future  be  acknowledged  by  the  editor  of 
the  Modern  Language  Reviezv.  Offprints  and  pamphlets  will  be  noticed  in  the 
Bulletin,  and  will  be  available  for  members  who  wish  to  consult  them.  Applica- 
tion for  pamphlets  dealing  with  English  should  be  made  to  Miss  A.  C.  Paues, 
and  for  all  others  to  the  Hon.  Secretary.] 

H.  R.  Patch,  "The  Tradition  of  the  Goddess  Fortuna"  (Smith  College 
Studies  in  Modern  Languages),  April,  1922. 

E.  F.  Johnson,  Weckherlins  Eclogues  of  the  Seasons,  1922. 

G.  L.  van  Roosbroeck, "  Corneille's  Cinna  and  the  Conspiration  des  Dames  " 
(Modern  Philology),  August,  1922. 

Anna  Benedetti:  E.  D.  Thoreau,  //  Solitario  di  Walden,  March,  1919; 
Mazzini  e  Margherita  Fuller,  191 8;  Ruperto  Brooke,  October,  1919;  Sinfonie 
in  Versi,  January,  1920;  Nella  Poesia  di  Giovanni  Keats,  February,  1921; 
Notizia  Letteraria,  August,  1922;  Un  Poeta  Inglese,  William  Ernest  Henley, 
February,  1922;  Una  Novella  di  Mrs  Aphra  Behn,  December,  1921. 


MODERN  HUMANITIES  RESEARCH  ASSOCIATION 


O 

i— i 

H 
< 

O 

o 

CO 
CO 

< 

U 

< 

w 

CO 

W 

(* 

CO 

w 


w 
G 
O 


Q 
Z 

C 

u 


o      r^ 


PS 

w 
pq 

2 

P 

cu 
w 

CO 

s 
E 
o 

w 

Q 
W 
Q 
Z 
w 

05 

w 
P 

w 

X 

p 

Pi 
o 
£ 

z 

D 
O 
U 

u 

D 

i— i        <-£     M 

Q  N 

I  a   *; 

x  b     .„•• 


o  o 


73 

•  C 

-.213 
£•& 

•  £o 
■ifl 

CO    3 

52   >-  co 
S  £   " 

v  S3 
a§< 

co        S 
«J 


3  «J 

I— I    u 

1)  "5 
O   <u 

3.2 


s? 


ft,       r-a  o 

y. 


52  3 


2  c 

00    cO 

o 
m"5 


0h0< 


T3 

0 

a 

> 

X 

°33    CO 

W 

o   C 

1)   o 

CO 

OS  -3 

•s 

S2 


o  o 


.3  w 
-3CQ 
3  ^ 

05 

«  S 

m 

CO       • 

W.SJ 
c 

ch    i-i 
O   CO 

w 
P 

B 

£  c 

CO 
CO 

Oh 
W 

«.s 

6 

CO 

-s.3 

Q 

CO    CO 

X 

m 

R 
O 

CO    CO 

00     M 

♦ 

w 
w 

t^\£) 

t^ 

E 

M 

CO 

•+  ir> 

1*1 

W 

00     Tj- 

C*5 

M 

CJ 

S2 

Z 
< 

J 

t^ 

O    N 

< 

PQ 

o 

N 
N 

N   O 
N 

Vh 

C 

O 

3 

O 

u 

□ 

0 

0 

c 
a 

< 

"a 

<u 

a 

3 

o 

CO 

~a 

S 

a 
G 

"3 

c. 

< 

^ 


3 
CO 

"co 

C  u 

O    S    CO    . 

*»  fl>  M  ^ 

-J  1J 

"^  s  §  §  s 

-.  3  g/C  co 

■13  2  OT  © 

2/05  a,    Q 

O 


c 

3 
O 
□ 

•J 


O  vO 
O   N 


O  O 
J 

4) '3 

.  3 

4)  -g 

^£ 
*->  in 

co   0 

0<     05 

CO 

i-i  a> 
.o  > 


> 

O  „   3 
o  £.3 

<  5-3 

3 


OJ 


CD 


Oh 

"""  «-"    >> 

W.    ..    1>    jj 

CU    ,*i    l-i  •-, 

aS2  3  2 
.  o  2  S 
co  3  co  !r 

lc?h^ 


•3   co1^ 
3   " 


B  ' 


W 


T3    ^ 


_   3 
4)    3 

Uco 


a  _ 

C  cu    <U 

w  u  c  3 

i»  3 

o 


M  « 


tfl 


*>.£      Q 


3 
O 
> 

-3 
C 


W 

oi 
c 
0 


^  Q 

S.  < 

o  X 

•3  C-, 

s  S 

^§ 

-3  j 


■3  . 

4>-3 

C  3 

£  ^ 

x  S3 

«J3 


X  3 


o 


n 


h  -o 
co2 

'£•5 

o  « 

a 


MODERN  HUMANITIES  RESEARCH  ASSOCIATION 

GENERAL  INFORMATION 

MEMBERSHIP.  Membership  is  open  to  graduates  (and  persons  of  the 
standing  of  graduate)  of  all  Universities,  British  and  Foreign;  to  other  persons, 
at  the  discretion  of  the  Committee ;  and  to  approved  institutions  and  associations. 

SUBSCRIPTION.  The  minimum  annual  subscription  is  7s.  6d.  and  should 
be  paid  to  the  Hon.  Treasurer,  Professor  Allen  Mawer,  The  University,  Liver- 
pool. A  single  payment  of  £5.  55.  entitles  to  life  membership. 

FEDERATED  BODIES.  The  Association  is  federated  to  the  Modern  Language 
Associations  of  England  and  America,  and  any  member  may  join  the  American 
Association  by  paying  the  reduced  subscription  of  105.  6d.  ($2.50)  through  its 
Hon.  Treasurer. 

CAPITAL  FUND.  It  is  particularly  desired  to  draw  the  attention  of  members 
to  the  Capital  Fund,  founded  to  enable  the  Association  to  carry  into  effect  some 
of  its  most  urgent  schemes.  The  Committee  appeals  to  all  members  who  have 
not  yet  done  so  to  make  a  special  contribution,  large  or  small,  to  this  Fund, 
preferably  a  guarantee  for  five  years. 

The  Modern  Language  Review,  published  for  the  Association  in  January, 
April,  July  and  October,  is  supplied  to  members  (and  by  a  special  arrangement 
to  members  of  the  English  Association  and  of  the  English  and  American  Modern 
Language  Associations)  at  an  annual  subscription,  payable  in  advance  through 
the  Treasurer  of  the  body  concerned,  of  155.  ($3.75)  post  free.  To  other  persons 
and  institutions  the  annual  subscription  is  25s.  net  post  free,  single  numbers 
costing  7s.  net;  this  subscription  may  be  sent  to  any  bookseller  or  to  Mr.C.  F. 
Clay,  Cambridge  University  Press,  Fetter  Lane,  London,  E.C.  4. 

The  contents  of  the  Review  may  be  classified  generally  thus:  (1)  Original 
Articles,  embodying  the  results  of  research  or  criticism;  (2)  Texts  and  Docu- 
ments, hitherto  unprinted ;  (3)  Miscellaneous  Notes  and  Discussions ;  (4)  Reviews 
and  Minor  Notices  of  Books;  (5)  Notes  on  matters  of  literary  and  scientific 
interest,  including  a  quarterly  chronicle  of  the  Association;  (6)  Classified 
Bibliography  of  New  Publications. 

The  collaboration  of  all  interested  in  linguistic  and  literary  research  is  invited. 
Contributors  will  receive  six  copies  of  Articles  and  Notes  free.  Additional  copies 
and  copies  of  Reviews  may  be  had  at  cost  price:  Communications  respecting 
these  (which  should  be  ordered  when  the  proof  is  returned)  should  be  addressed 
to  Mr  J.  B.  Peace,  The  University  Press,  Cambridge. 

Editorial  communications  of  a  general  kind  and  contributions  relating 
especially  to  German  should  be  addressed  to  the  General  Editor,  Prof.  J.  G. 
Robertson,  90,  Regent's  Park  Road,  London,  N.W.  1 ;  those  dealing  with 
English  should  be  sent  to  Prof.  G.  C.  Moore  Smith,  31,  Endcliffe  Rise  Road, 
Sheffield;  and  those  which  relate  to  the  Romance  languages  to  Prof.  Edmund 
G.  Gardner,  The  University,  Manchester.  Books  for  review  should  be  sent  to 
the  Editors  of  The  Modern  Language  Reviezv,  c/o  Mr  C.  F.  Clay,  Cambridge 
University  Press,  Fetter  Lane,  London,  E.C.  4.  Other  business  communications, 
and  requests  for  advertising  space,  should  be  addressed  to  Professor  E.  Allison 
Peers,  The  University,  Liverpool. 

Cambridge:  printed  by  j.  b.  peace,  m.a.,  at  the  university  press 


Volume  XVIII  APRIL,  1923  Number  2 


PLAGIARISM,  SOURCES,  AND  INFLUENCES 
IN  SHELLEY'S  'ALASTORV 

Shelley  presents  some  of  the  complexities  of  the  problem  of 
plagiarism.  One  type  of  mind  can  regard  him  as  a  plagiarist  pure 
and  simple.  '  Of  celebrated  poets/  says  a  critic2,  '  Shelley  seems  to  me 
the  most  imitative,  and  assuredly  he  does  not  improve  on  his  originals.' 
Another3  refines  on  this  statement  by  taxing  the  poet  with  '  unconscious 
plagiarism,'  adding :  '  It  is  indeed  scarcely  possible  that  anyone  should 
knowingly  venture  to  imitate,  in  so  undisguised  a  manner,  and  so 
frequently  in  the  same  piece,  a  poet  who  is  in  everyone's  hands,' 
(i.e.  Shakespeare).  Professor  Baynes4  enlarges  on  the  term  'unconscious': 
'But  though  Shelley  was  in  this  way  acquainted  with  most  of  the 
English  poets,  it  is  abundantly  clear  that  he  went  through  them  in 
a  vital  and  impassioned  rather  than  in  a  reflective  and  critical  manner. 
In  a  word,  he  read  their  poetry  as  he  composed  his  own,  under  con- 
ditions of  imaginative  excitement  that  enabled  him  rapidly  to  realize 
the  substance,  and  to  assimilate  the  leading  and  emotional  conceptions 
without  paying  any  separate  or  mental  attention  to  details,  of  form  or 
phraseology.'  ,  . 

These  two  points  of  view  cover  the  main  varieties  of  plagiarism, 
those  of  idea,  form,  and  expression.  The  two  former  varieties  may  be 
either  general  or  specific.  There  are  the  main  ideas  current  in  a 
particular  age;  and  individual  ideas,  such  as  those  of  Prometheus  Bound 
or  Bion's  Lament.  These  last  Shelley  is  acknowledged  to  have  used  in 
so  masterly  a  fashion  that  the  charge  of  plagiarism  cannot  be  seriously 
considered. 

As  regards  expression  Shelley  is  notorious  for  verbal  echoes  so 
obvious  that  we  pause  to  ask  whether  the  fact  itself  is  not  a  problem. 
Has  the  defence  of  unconscious  plagiarism  a  real  meaning  ? 

On  plagiarism  Shelley  uttered  himself  explicitly.  '  I  do  not  propose 
to  enter  into  competition  with  our  greatest  contemporary  poets.    Yet 

1  The  substance  of  this  essay  formed  an  appendix  to  my  dissertation  The  Personality 
of  Shelley,  presented  at  the  University  of  Leipzig  in  1907.  It  has  been  enlarged  and 
altered.   L.  H.  A. 

-  Yardsley,  Notes  and  Queries,  iv,  p.  285.  .     i 

3  '  Some  Notes  on  Othello,'  Cornhill  Magazine,  October,  1868. 

4  Edinburgh  Review,   1871,  pp.  443-4. 

M.L.R.XVIII.  9 


134    Plagiarism,  Sources,  and  Influences  in  Shelley  s  'Alastor' 

I  am  unwilling  to  tread  in  the  footsteps  of  any  who  have  preceded  me. 
I  have  sought  to  avoid  the  imitation  of  any  style  of  language  or  versi- 
fication peculiar  to  the  original  minds  of  which  it  is  the  character, 
designing  that  even  if  what  I  have  produced  be  worthless,  it  should 
still  be  properly  my  own.'  He  argues,  however,  that  any  age  stamps  a 
certain  resemblance  on  all  its  writers.  'This  is  an  influence  which 
neither  the  meanest  scribbler,  nor  the  sublimest  genius  of  any  era  can 
escape,  and  which  I  have  not  attempted  to  escape1.'  When  his  art  was 
more  mature  he  prefaced  Prometheus  Unbound  with  a  finer  statement 
of  the  same  position.  Beyond  doubt  he  understood  the  matter  in  all  its 
bearings,  and  not  least  the  power  of  unconscious  influence.  '  There  must 
be  a  resemblance  which  does  not  depend  on  their  own  will  between  all 
the  writers  of  any  particular  age.' 

Realizing  the  inalienable  force  of  genius,  he  knew  that  with  the  poet 
the  mind  acted  on  the  influence  rather  than  the  influence  on  the  mind 
by  virtue  of  what  he  calls  its  '  uncommunicated  lightning,'  its  '  internal 
powers  to  modify  the  nature  of  others.'  However  deeply  in  moments  of 
depression  he  felt  his  own  defects,  he  claimed  that  whatever  influence 
he  absorbed  from  the  spirit  of  his  age  became  his  own.  That  principle 
he  could  well  have  extended  to  an  influence  from  any  preceding  age  or 
writer.  There  is,  for  instance,  a  strong  resemblance  between  the  atmo- 
sphere of  The  Cenci  and  that  of  Shakespeare's  tragedies,  especially 
Macbeth.  This  makes  it  the  least  original  of  his  works ;  but  is  it  not,  in 
the  final  analysis,  an  original  creation  ? 

The  question  is,  however,  how  many  of  such  resemblances  are 
conscious  ?  The  answer  lies  in  his  own  phrase,  quoted  above,  '  s>  re- 
semblance which  does  not  depend  on  their  own  will.'  This  infers  that 
the  mind  is  seized  from  without  by  a  daemonic  power  which  makes  the 
poet  sibylline,  hardly  conscious  of  his  utterances.  '  The  poet,'  he  says, 
'  is  a  different  thing  from  the  rest  of  the  world.  Imagination  steals  on 
him  he  knows  not  whence.  Images  float  before  him:  he  knows  not  their 
home.  Struggling  and  contending  powers  are  engendered  within  him 
which  no  outward  impulse,  no  inward  passion,  awakened.  He  utters 
sentiments  he  never  meditated.  He  creates  persons  whose  originals  he 
has  never  seen ;  but  he  cannot  command  the  power  which  called  them 
out  of  nothing.  He  must  wait  until  the  god  or  daemon-genius  breathes 
it  into  him.' 

In  Shelley  creation  was,  what  genius  essentially  is,  the  working 
together  of  the  whole  man,  conscious  and  subconscious,  which  made  him 
1  Introduction  to  The  Revolt  of  Islam. 


L.  H.  ALLEN  135 

a  kind  of  medium,  a  vacuum  for  the  occupation  of  the  divine.  But 
because  this  cooperation  is  never  quite  perfect  in  any  mind,  the  sub- 
conscious not  only  contributed  to  the  force  of  the  poet's  inspiration,  but 
also  interpolated  foreign  fragments,  not  recognized  as  such,  exactly  as 
in  dream. 

This,  I  believe,  is  the  explanation  and  defence  of  Shelley's  verbal 
plagiarisms.  I  have  endeavoured  to  enlarge  on  the  initial  hint,  given 
by  Professor  Baynes,  by  relating  the  phenomenon  more  closely  to  the 
texture  of  Shelley's  mind.  His  plagiarisms  may  be  regarded  as  the 
intrusions  of  his  dream-personality  on  his  inspiration;  but  they  are 
attendant  only  on  the  highest  kind  of  inspiration. 

A  mere  glance  at  his  juvenilia  shows  that  a  mind  so  impressionable 
must  have  precipitated  much  into  its  subconsciousness.  His  salad 
poems,  those  of  Victor  and  Gazire1,  contain  this  crude  paraphrase  of 
Campbell's  Pleasures  of  Hope: 

See'st  thou  the  sunbeam's  yellow  glow- 
That  robes  with  liquid  streams  of  light 
Yon  distant  mountain's  craggy  brow 
And  shows  the  rocks  so  fair,  so  bright  ? 
'Tis  thus  sweet  expectation's  ray 
In  softer  view  shows  distant  hours, 
And  portrays  each  succeeding  day 
As  dressed  in  fairer,  brighter,  flowers. 

Even  Queen  Mab,  when  Shelley  was  a  prodigy  of  eighteen,  begins 
with  an  obvious  imitation  of  the  opening  of  Thalaba.  What  would  he 
have  said,  in  those  callow  days,  if  he  had  been  confronted  with  the 
parallels  ?  He  said  once  of  Sgricci :  '  The  idea,  it  is  true,  comes  from 
Euripides,  but  he  made  it  his  own.'  Would  that  have  been  his  self- 
defence  in  such  cases,  or  would  he  have  denied  the  similarity  altogether? 
Impossible  as  the  latter  may  seem  at  first  sight,  it  is  not  unnatural  in 
a  mind  where  subjectivity  at  times  reached  delusion  in  common  affairs 
that  might  have  seemed  to  exclude  it2. 

The  habit  of  echoing  older  poetry  clung  to  Shelley  throughout  his 
writings.  Even  in  his  last  work,  The  Triumph  of  Life,  the  phrase  '  what 
seemed  the  head '  is  from  Milton's  description  of  Death.  Indeed,  the 
monster's  encounter  with  Satan  embedded  itself  in  his  mind,  for  its 
outcrops  appear  in  other  passages.  Compare  the  following  with  the 
episode  in  Milton's  epic : 

Faith,  the  Python,  undefeated 

Even  to  his  bloodstained  steps  drags  on 

Her  foul  and  wounded  train.  (Ros.  and  Helen,  701 3.) 

1  See  R.  Garnett's  edition,  1898;  and  H.  Richter,  Englische  Studien,  xxvi. 

2  See  the  episode  of  Williams'  visit,  related  in  Peacock's  Memoirs. 

3  All  lines  are  numbered  according  to  Locock's  edition. 

9—2 


136    Plagiarism,  Sources,  and  Influences  in  Shelley  s  'Alastor' 

While  I  behold  such  execrable  shapes.  {Prom.  Unb.  I,  449.) 

[of  Demogorgon]  neither  limb 
Nor  form  nor  outline.  {Prom.  Unb.  n,  4,  5.) 

Echoes  from  other  poets  are  no  less  unmistakable.    The  phrase  '  the  effect 

and  it '  from  Macbeth  is  repeated  {Rev.  I  si.  ix,  xxvii,  4)  and  '  all  that 

it  inherits '  {Hellas,  780)  in  a  passage  strongly  reminiscent  of  Prospero's 

speech.    From  Coleridge  comes  : 

I  chewed  the  bitter  dust 
And  bit  my  bloodless  arm,  {Rev.  hi.  HI,  xxi,  8.) 

and 

Till  Death  cried,  '  I  win,  I  win  ! '  {Eug.  Hills,  240.) 

Is  it  possible  that  these  cases,  and  others  equally  patent,  were  all 

unconscious  ?    Or  is  it  only  just  to  the  poet  to  make  some  qualification  ? 

Probably  some  borrowings,  at  least  in  the  case  of  contemporaries,  were 

tributes  to  the  original.    In  one  instance  the  debt  is  acknowledged. 

The  phrase  '  too  deep  for  tears '  in  Alastor  is  printed  in  quotation  marks, 

while  in  the  same  poem  '  obstinate  questionings '  and  '  natural  piety ' 

appear  without  them.    It  strains  our  credence  to  believe  that  two  were 

unconscious  and  one  conscious.    Is  it  not  more  likely  that  a  particular 

expression,  to  the  borrower's  mind  the  most  inalienable,  was  selected  to 

indicate   a   general   acknowledgment  ?    For  quotation   marks  are  the 

antithesis    of   poetry.     They    destroy   the   spontaneous   and   personal 

atmosphere.   The  poetic  filcher  might  answer  slily  to  his  accuser :  '  Must 

I,  then,  write  in  the  style  of  the  Ingoldsby  Legends : 

One  touch  to  her  hand  and  one  word  in  her  ear, 
(I've  borrowed  this  line  from  Sir  Walter,  I  fear)  ? 

We  shall  never  know  now  w7hich  of  Shelley's  borrowings  were  conscious, 

and  which  unconscious,  but  if  we  approach  him  in  the  spirit  of  poetry, 

not  of  exegesis,  we  shall  make  a  just  discount. 

A  further  distinction  should  be  made.    Translations  from  foreign 

languages,  acknowledged  or  not,  are  not  plagiarism.    Any  writer  so 

doing  knows  that  some  scholar  will  soon  track  him  down,  but  if  the 

appropriations  are  well  applied  he  need  suffer  no  qualm.     Many  of 

Shelley's  expressions  are  of  this  sort,  such  as :    '  Revenge  and  wrong 

bring  forth  their  kind '  {Hellas,  729)  from  vEschylus ;   '  Lucan,  by  his 

death  approved '  {Adonais,  xlv,  8)  from  Lucan ;  '  Happier  they  their 

happiness  who  knew '  {Adonais,  v,  3)  from  Vergil ;  '  One  Shape  of  many 

names'  {Rev.  Isl.  vni,  ix,  6)   from  ^Eschylus.     With   these   may  be 

mentioned   adaptations   from   such   originals.     Thus   the   phrase   last 

quoted  becomes  later  '  O  many  fearful  natures  in  one  name '  {Prom. 

Unb.  458). 


L.  H,  ALLEN  137 

For  what  Shelley  did,  Shelley  answered  or  disdained  to  answer.  He 
was  great  enough  to  do  both.  But  for  what  Shelley  did  not,  let  him  not 
be  called  to  account.  There  is  a  tendency  among  scholars  and  critics  in 
our  own  age,  which  is  over-sensitive  on  the  subject  of  originality,  to 
push  analysis  too  far.  In  their  attempts  to  recreate  a  poem  as  it  arose 
in  its  maker's  mind  they  leave  it  a  muddle  of  disjecta  membra.  Such  a 
process  may  be  a  token  of  deep  admiration  in  the  critic,  but  it  has  the 
effect  of  violation.  For  a  creation  is  an  elusive  thing,  being  more  than 
the  sum  of  its  parts.  It  is  incumbent  on  the  critic,  however  learnedly 
he  may  handle  his  subject,  not  to  destroy  that  sense  of  atmosphere 
which  hangs  like  an  aroma  round  a  work  of  art. 

This  has  been  done  by  Dr  Richard  Ackermann  in  his  discussion  of 
Alastor1.  His  research  is  no  attempt  to  belittle  the  poet's  individuality; 
rather,  he  emphasizes  its  original  quality :  '  Shelley,  rightly  called  one 
of  the  most  subjective  among  lyric  poets,  is  fond  of  starting  his  poems, 
whether  confessedly,  whether  consciously,  or  not,  from  some  model 
which  gives  him  the  stimulus,  often  merely  the  name  {Alastor),  or  the 
idea,  the  atmosphere,  the  exterior  clothing  (Epipsychidion.  Adonais,  etc.): 
even  if  he  follows  his  model  in  the  first  part,  his  independence  gradually 
increases  so  that  the  development  receives  a  purely  individual,  modern 
and  subjective  stamp.' 

But  the  application  of  his  scalpel  to  Alastor  hardly  leaves  this 
impression.  He  allows  that  '  the  exposition  of  the  argument  (Fabel)  is 
completely  original.  Echoes,  models  and  influences  received  from  his 
masters  are  found  only  in  details2.'  After  reading  Ackermann's  analysis, 
however,  the  poem,  as  a  whole  (which  is  important),  seems  lost  in  details 
(which  are  unimportant). 

The  essay  begins  with  a  recognition  of  Brandl's  assertion  that 
Shelley,  Byron  and  Keats,  the  '  Post-Romantics,'  built  on  Wordsworth 
and  Coleridge.  The  first  exemplification  of  this  follows.  Speaking  of 
the  Romantics  (Wordsworth  and  Coleridge)  Ackermann  says  :  '  The  two 
most  prominent  of  these  ideas  (i.e.  of  the  Romantics)  are  the  philosophy 
of  nature  and  the  impulse  to  freedom,  in  the  most  varying  respects.  As 
regards  the  relation  to  Nature  we  find  in  Wordsworth  a  loving  con- 
templation which  extends  to  its  smallest  and  least  apparent  parts. 
Coleridge,  on  the  other  hand,  whose  mystic  tendency  seeks  to  unravel 
the  deepest  secrets  of  Nature,  encounters  her  with  a  timid  reverence. 
Alastor  at  once  gives  plain  evidence  of  the  way  in  which  these  two 

1  Quellen,  Vorbilder,  Stoffe  zu  Shelleys  poetischen  Werken.   Erlangen  and  Leipzig,  1890. 

2  The  italics  are  mine. 


138   Plagiarism,  Sources,  and  Influences  in  Shelley's  'A  lastor ' 

influenced  Shelley.  The  exaggerated  sentiment  of  humanity  which 
taught  Wordsworth  to  regard  animals  as  creatures  kindred  to  man,  and 
his  equals  in  their  rights ;  which  led  Coleridge  to  compose  his  poem 
To  a  Young  Ass;  and  which  inspired  Southey  to  write  The  Pig,  a 
colloquial  poem... was  seized  passionately  by  Shelley1,  as  his  introductory 
lines  on  Nature  (1-17)  show.' 

The  following  passages  are  then  compared  : 

Alastor,  13-15.  The  Excursion,  n,  41-47. 

If  no  bright  bird,  insect,  or  gentle  beast  Birds  and  beasts, 

I  consciously  have  injured,  but  still  loved  And  the  mute  fish  that  glances  in  the 
And  cherished  these  my  kindred...  stream, 

•  And  harmless  reptile  coiling  in  the  sun, 

And  gorgeous  insect  hovering  in  the  air. 
The  fowl  domestic,  and  the  household 

dog- 
In  his  capacious  mind,  he  loved  them  all : 
Their  rights  acknowledging  he  felt  for  all. 

We  must  begin  by  distinguishing  between  the  general  and  the 
particular.  That  Shelley  was  influenced  by  his  age  is  only  to  be 
expected.  That  he  was  influenced  by  contemporaries  in  a  general  way 
is  natural.  Mrs  Shelley  leaves  us  in  no  doubt  as  to  the  Romantics. 
'The  love  and  knowledge  of  Nature  developed  by  Wordsworth,  the 
lofty  melody  and  mysterious  beauty  of  Coleridge's  poetry,  and  the  wild 
fantastic  machinery  and  gorgeous  scenery  adopted  by  Southey  composed 
his  favourite  reading2.' 

All  this  in  its  general,  indefinable  aspect  is  granted.  But  when  we 
are  told  that  Shelley  '  seized  passionately '  a  particular  thing,  a  particular 
sentiment,  we  come  to  details ;  and  there  is  much  room  for  pause. 

Was  not  the  'sentiment  of  humanity/  whether  exaggerated  or  not, 

inborn  in  the  man  who  describes  himself  as 

a  nerve  o'er  which  do  creep 
The  else  unfelt  oppressions  of  the  earth, 

who  wished  '  no  living  thing  to  suffer  pain,'  and  who  was  a  vegetarian  ? 
If  Wordsworth  had  never  lived  would  not  the  '  sentiment  of  humanity  ' 
have  existed  in  one  who  seems  to  his  posterity  to  have  been  born  to 
utter  it  ?  It  is  true  that  Alastor  appeared  two  years  after  The  Excursion, 
that  it  contains  three  quotations  from  Wordsworth  ;  but  does  that  prove 
that  Shelley  '  seized  passionately '  from  Wordsworth  what  was  the  very 
core  of  his  being  ?  If  it  be  true,  as  Locock  observes,  that  the  invocation 
in  Alastor  is  '  Wordsworthian  in  sentiment,'  it  is  only  because  Words- 
worth gave  something  of  his  colour  to  what  was  innate  in  the  younger 

1  The  italics  are  mine.  a  Introduction  to  Queen  Mab. 


L.  H.  ALLEN  139 

man.  Allow  it  as  an  influence,  half-conscious,  half-unconscious,  a  subtle 
informing  factor.  But  when  we  come  to  the  details,  to  the  diction, 
which  Locock  tells  us  is  also  Wordsworthian,  do  Ackermann's  parallels 
carry  the  slightest  conviction  ? 

In  animadverting  on  another  critic  who  asserted  a  resemblance 
between  a  passage  from  Shelley  and  one  from  Milton,  Ackermann  says : 
1  It  almost  borders  on  mania  to  brand  as  plagiarism  the  presence  of  these 
commonly  used  words1.'  What  resemblance  is  here  but  that  of 'commonly 
used  words '  ?  I  find  nothing  but  '  bird,'  '  insect,'  and  '  beast.'  Further, 
if  we  look  again  at  what  is  alleged  to  have  been  '  seized  passionately ' 
by  Shelley  we  find  it  is  sentimentalities  on  asses  and  pigs.  Now 
Wordsworth  mentions  '  the  fowl  domestic  and  the  household  dog,' 
precisely  what,  on  this  showing,  Shelley  should  have  included,  and 
precisely  what,  if  he  ever  remembered  Wordsworth's  lines,  he  omitted. 

The  resemblance,  next  noted,  between  11.  37-45  and  Tintem  Abbey, 
94-100,  is  genuine  enough,  though,  the  reminiscence  being  probably 
unconscious,  we  find  Wordsworth's  '  mind  of  man '  transformed  by 
Shelley  to  '  the  deep  heart  of  man.'  Here  is  the  contemplative  as 
opposed  to  the  emotional,  which  gives  the  reason  why,  in  the  presence 
of  Nature,  Shelley  is,  as  Ackermann  notes,  '  insatiable,'  whereas  Words- 
worth is  '  disturbed '  with  the  '  joy '  of  thoughts.' 

If  the  instance  quoted  above  is  an  example  of  the  specific,  of  influence 
in  detail,  of  verbal  similarity,  in  short,  is  it  at  all  remarkable  that  for 
this  poem  of  720  lines  the  following  '  sources '  have  been  alleged  :  Arrian, 
Coleridge,  de  Lisle,  Goethe,  Ben  Jonson,  Landor,  Scott,  Charlotte  Smith, 
Southey,  Volney,  Wordsworth  ?  Some  of  these  are  undoubtedly  genuine, 
but  I  wish  to  point  out  a  few  that  are  not,  because  only  what  is  carefully 
sifted  and  certainly  established  should  stand. 

Following  Brandl2  who  sees  a  link  between  Alastor  and  Coleridge's 

Frost  at  Midnight,  and  notices  that  Coleridge's  ear  '  catches  in  the  faint 

seldom-observed  tones  of  the  elements  the  weaving  of  Nature's  divine 

life,'  Ackermann  compares : 

I  have  watched 
Thy  shadow,  and  the  darkness  of  thy  steps, 
And  my  heart  ever  gazes  on  the  depth 
Of  thy  deep  mysteries.     I  have  made  my  bed 
In  charnels  and  on  coffins,  where  black  death 
Keeps  record  of  the  trophies  won  from  thee, 
Hoping  to  still  these  obstinate  questionings 
Of  thee  and  thine,  by  forcing  some  lone  ghost, 
Thy  messenger,  to  render  up  the  tale 
Of  what  we  are,  (Alastor,  20-29.) 

1  '  Studien  zu  Prometheus  Unbound,'    Englische  Studien,  xvr,  28  ff. 

2  S.  T.  Coleridge  und  die  englieche  Romantik,  p.  201. 


140    Plagiarism,  Sources,  and  Influences  in  Shelley  s  'Alastor 

with  Coleridge's  poem,  and  particularly  with  the  final  lines : 

Or  if  the  secret  ministry  of  frost 

Shall  hang  them  [the  eve-drops]  up  in  silent  icicles 

Quietly  shining  to  the  quiet  Moon. 

If  the  poems  be  taken  as  a  whole  there  is  little  similarity  between 

a  man  sitting  quietly  and  safely  by  his  fireside  on  a  winter  night,  moved 

to  reflection  by  his  sleeping  infant,  and  a  '  desperate  alchymist '  sitting 

in  charnels.    The  unapparent  motions  of  Nature  come  to  Coleridge 

insensibly  and  of  themselves,  while  Shelley  is  bent  to  tear  them  from 

her.    If  the  resemblance  lies  in  details,  there  is  a  passage  far  more  closely 

akin  to  Shelley  than  that  quoted.   Does  not  the  line  : 

When  night  makes  a  weird  sound  of  its  own  stillness 

chime  remarkably  with : 

'Tis  calm  indeed  !  so  calm,  that  it  disturbs 
And  vexes  meditation  with  its  strange 
And  extreme  silentness, 

as  though  silence  were  palpable,  if  not  audible  ? 

Such  things,  however,  are  superficial,  and  easily  manufactured.    Thus, 

We  could  quote  from  Remorse  : 

Or  hover  round,  as  he  at  midnight  oft 
, .  ,  Sits  on  my  grave  and  gazes  at  the  moon.  (Act  I,  Sc.  ii.) 

The  context,  of  course,  presents  no  parallel ;  nor  does  that  of  Frost  at 
Midnight. 

In  Shelley,  no  less  than  in  Coleridge,  the  power  of  subtle  distinction 
was  native.  This  was  one  of  the  few  things  on  which  Shelley  prided 
himself.  '  I  am  framed,'  he  wrote,  '  if  for  anything  not  in  common  with 
the  herd  of  mankind,  to  apprehend  minute  and  remote  distinctions  of 
feeling,  whether  relative  to  external  nature  or  to  the  living  things  about 
me.'  In  conveying  these  distinctions  he  and  Coleridge  were  quite 
opposed.  Coleridge,  wrapped  in  his  transcendental  cloud,  touches  the 
reader  impersonally,  as  though  the  impact  came  straight  from  beyond 
the  '  undiscovered  bourne.'  Shelley  transfers  it  directly  through  his  own 
feeling.  The  very  line,  '  When  night  makes  a  weird  sound  of  its  own 
stillness1 '  speaks  of  tingling  nerves,  over-excited  sensitiveness,  of  mystery 

1  Even  Locock  doubts  if  this  is  authentic :  '  Here  perhaps  is  an  imitation  of  Wordsworth's 
Yew-  Trees : 

in  the  midst 
Of  its  own  darkness.' 
This  use  of  '  own '  is  essentially  Shelleyan.  Cf .  '  Fruit  suspended  in  their  own  green 
haven  '  (P.  U.  in,  iii,  140).  See  also  11.  153  and  175  of  this  Poem.  In  his  note  on  'the  wind 
of  their  own  speed '  (P.  U.  ii,  iv,  136)  Locock  says :  '  I  have  collected  nearly  50  examples 
of  similar  phrases  from  Shelley's  poems,  all  of  them  containing  the  notion  of  something 
paradoxically  automatic.'  I  do  not  follow  this  obscure  phrase,  but,  whatever  the  examples 
mean,  the  iteration  ought  to  show  that  it  is  a  Shelleyan  idiom. 


L.  H.  ALLEN  141 

felt  physically.    His  lines  on  the  Lechlade  Churchyard  reveal  his  tem- 
perament in  a  phrase : 

The  dead  arc  sleeping  in  their  sepulchres, 

And,  mouldering  as  they  sleep,  a  thrilling  sound 

Half-sense,  half-thought,  among  the  darkness  stirs. 

A  man  who  is  capable  of  so  native  and  startling  a  phrase  as  'the  blood 

is  listening  in  my  frame,'  in  whom,  to  use  his  own  words,  '  ideas  assume 

the  force  of  sensation,'  shows  little  trace,  especially  in" the  intense  glow 

of  his  youth,  of  Coleridge's  dreamy  meditation. 

Finally,  the  man  who,  as  a  boy,  adored  The  Monk,  who  supped  full 

with  the  horrors   of  German   ghost-stories,  and   showed   his   psychic 

qualities  in  strange  delusions  and  visions,  gives  in  this  passage  a  piece 

of  literal  autobiography.    Hogg  tells  us  : 

He  even  planned  how  he  might  get  admission  to  the  vault,  or  charnel  house,  at 
Warnham  Church,  and  might  sit  there  all  night,  harrowed  by  fear,  yet  trembling 
with  expectation,  to  see  one  of  the  spiritualized  owners  of  the  bones  piled  round 
him1. 

Ackermann  also  repeats  from  Brandl  a  remark  which  seems  to  rest 

on  an  error  in  translation.    In  his  comparison  of  Alastor  with  Frost  at 

Midnight  the  latter  says  that  Shelley,  like  Coleridge,  '  sees  himself  in 

lonely  conversation  with  beloved  innocence  "  when  night  makes  a  weird 

sound  of  its  own  stillness." '    Coleridge's  '  beloved  innocence '  is,  of  course, 

his  infant  child.    Is  there  any  parallel  situation  in  Shelley  ?   Of  course 

not.    Brandl  has  obviously  read  '  love '  as  '  beloved  '  in  translating : 

Have  I  mixed  awful  talk  and  asking  looks 
With  my  most  innocent  love, 

thereby  ruining  the  transcendental  spirit  of  the  words2. 

Alastor,  502-514,  in  which  the  poet's  life  is  likened  to  the  course  of 
a  stream,  is  compared  with  Excursion  ill,  967-991  (p.  9).  We  are  com- 
forted, however,  by  the  admission  that  it  '  may  be  a  coincidence.'  So 
common  is  the  simile  that  there  was  no  need  to  cull  an  instance  from 
the  end  of  Book  in.  Almost  at  the  beginning,  and  quite  near  the 
passage  next  to  be  discussed,  we  find : 

And  hope,  or  trust, 
That  our  existence  winds  her  stately  course 
Beneath  the  sun,  like  Ganges,  to  make  part 
Of  a  living  ocean  ;  or,  to  sink  engulfed, 
Like  Niger,  in  impenetrable  sands 
And  utter  darkness.  (259  ff.) 

Though  the  similes  '  may  be  a  coincidence,'  yet,  says  Ackermann,  '  it  is 

interesting  that  both  end  with  the  desire  for  death.'   The  passage  in 

Alastor  does  not  end  in  the  desire  for  death,  but  with   the  pathetic 

1  See  Locock,  ad  loc. 

2  Pace  Andrew  Lang's  Boeotian  comment.   See  Locock,  ad  loc. 


142    Plagiarism,  Sources,  and  Influences  in  Shelley's  'Alastor' 

thought  that  death  is  a  scattering  of  the  soul  (the  '  living  thoughts ') 
back  to  the  elements,  just  as  the  river  is  lost  in  the  ocean  or  evaporated 
into  clouds.  It  is,  in  short,  a  piece  of  Shelley's  well-known  '  Atheism,' 
and  the  passage  I  have  quoted  is  more  in  consonance  with  the  thought. 

On  page  11  Shelley's  descriptions  of  scenery  are  discussed.  Ackermann 
will  not  agree  with  Stopford  Brooke  who  says  that  Shelley  describes 
1  scenery  which  is  not  directly  studied  from  anything  in  heaven  or  earth.' 
'  We  must  rather  observe,'  he  says,  '  the  different  influences  through 
which  his  landscapes  have  arisen.  The  immediate  clear  result  is  that 
the  poet  drew  his  pictures  from  personal  observation.'  He  then  recalls 
the  journeys  on  the  Keuss,  Rhine  and  Thames,  the  stay  in  Wales  and 
Devonshire,  and  the  environs  of  Windsor  Forest  where  the  poem  was 
written.  Splendid  as  some  of  Shelley's  descriptions  are,  his  commentator 
regards  them  as  none  the  less  taken  from  Nature,  and  true  to  her,  while 
some  may  correspond  to  real  landscapes.  Still,  Shelley  does  not  follow 
Wordsworth's  method  of  bald  description.  He  throws  his  own  soul  into 
Nature.  Ackermann's  remarks  do  not  really  refute  Stopford  Brooke, 
who  said  that  Shelley's  scenery  is  not  directly  studied  from  Nature. 
Wordsworth  took  a  pride  in  localizing  his  landscapes,  whereas,  so 
etherealized  are  Shelley's  that  geography  merely  affronts  them.  Shelley 
may  draw  his  '  airy  nothing '  from  a  '  local  habitation,'  but  only  in  the 
mood  of  '  fine  frenzy,'  not  of  '  direct  study.'  Brooke,  therefore,  is  right 
in  spirit,  whatever  truth  of  the  letter  there  be  in  Ackermann. 

We  learn  that  the  scenery  of  Thalaba  in  the  main  influenced  Alastor 
(supplementary,  of  course,  to  the  original  impetus),  though  in  one 
instance  Wordsworth  leaves  his  traces.  We  are  thereupon  confronted 
with  an  example  so  Procrustean  as  to  make  criticism,  if  such  principles 
be  allowed,  neither  a  tribute  nor  a  judgment,  but  a  Nemesis.  We  find 
that  the  'silent  nook'  in  Alastor  (571-601)  presents  affinities  with  that 
in  The  Excursion,  in,  50  ff.  The  reader  will  remember  that  the  '  silent 
nook'  in  Alastor  is  set  in  a  wild  and  savage  scene,  perched  on  the  edge 
of  a  vast  mountain  amid  'black  gulphs  and  yawning  caves,'  and  the 
1  thunder  and  the  hiss  of  homeless  streams '  that  fall  into  an '  immeasurable 
void.'  It  was  '  upheld  by  knotty  roots  and  fallen  rocks.'  It  was  ivy- 
mantled  and  littered  with  leaves  borne  by  the  '  children  of  the  autumnal 
whirlwind,'  though  then  the  'haunt  of  every  gentle  wind.'  This  is  com- 
pared with  Wordsworth's  scene  of  a  little  nook  at  the  exit  of  a  quiet 
English  valley  by  a  silent  waterfall  in  the  neighbourhood  of  some  large 
rocks,  '  uncouth  forms.'  Such  are  the  main  outlines,  obviously  without 
affinity.   Let  us  now  examine  the  alleged  similarities  in  the  details. 


L.  H.  ALLEN  143 

The  passage  quoted  from  Wordsworth  runs : 

Upon  a  semi-cirque  of  turf-clad  ground 
The  hidden  nook  discovered  to  our  view 
A  mass  of  rock,  resembling,  as  it  lay 
Right  at  the  foot  of  that  moist  precipice, 
A  stranded  ship. 

Ackermann  tells  us  that  the  waters  near  this  nook  'dash  over  the 

jagged  cliff  into  the  bottomless  gulf.'   As  to  Shelley's  '  silent  nook ' 

The  children  of  the  autumnal  whirlwind  bore 
In  wanton  sport  those  bright  leaves..-., 

and  as  it  is  in  the  'haunt  of  every  gentle  wind,'  so  Wordsworth's 
'  hidden  nook ' 

Confines  the  still-voiced  whirlwind  round  and  round 

Eddying  within  its  vast  circumference.         (Ackermann,  p.  12.) 

In  the  broadest  outlines  the  terrain  of  the  scenes  is  quite  different. 

Wordsworth's  travellers  pursue  an  upward  path  (1.  23),  while  the  poet  in 

Alastor  descends  (1.  542).    The  nook  in  Alastor  is  surrounded  by  '  black 

and  barren '  rocks  rising  in  '  unimaginable  shapes.'    With  these  are 

compared  rocks  by  no  means  gigantic,  and  far  from  '  unimaginable,'  for 

one  of  them  is  illustrated  by  the  very  homely  image  of  an  upturned 

ship,  while  others  symbolize  Pompey's  Pillar,  a  Theban  obelisk,  and  a 

Druid  cromlech.    As  for  Wordsworth's  waterfall,  does  it  launch  itself 

over  a  'jagged  cliff'  into  a  bottomless  gulf?    The  Excursion  reads: 

And  saw  the  water  that  composed  this  rill 

Descending,  disembodied,  and  diffused, 

O'er  the  smooth  surface  of  an  ample  crag 

Lofty  and  steep  and  naked  as  a  tower,  (1.  39.) 

and  what  in  common  is  there  between : 

the  howl, 
The  thunder  and  the  hiss  of  homeless  streams, 

and  Wordsworth's  mild  waterfall  ? 

Voiceless  the  stream  descends  into  the  gulf 

With  timid  lapse.  (1.  92.) 

Does  it  fall  into  a  'bottomless  gulf  (unendliche  Tiefe,  'immeasurable 
void ')  ?  The  travellers  stand  at  the  bottom,  and  the  height  of  the  rock 
is  quite  eusynoptic. 

Lastly,  does  Wordsworth's  nook  '  confine  the  shrill-voiced  whirlwind  ' 
in  its  '  vast  circumference '  ?  A  little  reflection  might  have  induced 
suspicion  of  a  nook  that  had  a  '  vast  circumference.'  What  Wordsworth 
really  says  is : 

But  no  breeze  did  now 
Find  entrance  ;  high  or  low  appeared  no  trace 
Of  motion  save  the  water  that  descended.  (1.  67.) 


144    Plagiarism,  Sources,  and  Influences  in  Shelley's  'Alastor' 

The  '  shrill- voiced  whirlwinds '  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  scene.  The 
Wanderer  says  that  the  stones  suit  his  •  antiquarian  humour.'  He 
figures,  when  in  reflective  mood,  this  as  Pompey's  Pillar,  that  as  a 
Theban  obelisk ;  and  when  he  thinks  of  human  instability  these  '  freaks 
of  Nature '  give  him  food  for  melancholy  : 

Not  less  than  that  huge  Pile  (from  some  abyss 

Of  mortal  power  unquestionably  sprung) 

Whose  hoary  diadem  of  pendent  rocks 

Confines  the  shrill-voiced  whirlwind  round  and  round 

Eddying  within  its  vast  circumference 

On  Sarum's  naked  plain.  (11.  143  ft.) 

To  cap  this,  Sweet1  finds  in  Charlotte  Smith  another  'source'  for 
this  passage.  '  Yet  frequently,  amidst  the  wildest  horrors  of  those  great 
objects,  was  seen  some  little  green  recess.' 

Charlotte  Smith's  '  yet '  is  repeated,  presumably,  in 

Yet  the  grey  precipice  and  solemn  pine 

And  torrent  were  not  all.  (1.  571.) 

What  nicety  of  -reproduction !  It  becomes  miracle.  Did  the  self- 
inflammable  genius  of  Shelley  ever  need  a  Charlotte  Smith  to  kindle 
it  ?  If  an  everyday  phrase  like  '  green  recess '  is  to  have  a  source,  there 
will  be  no  end  of  analogies.  Coleridge's  Hymn  will  suggest  itself, 
especially  as  Shelley  wrote  a  poem  on  Mont  Blanc  which  has  a  distinct 
echo  of  Coleridge2.  Are  there  not  '  wild  torrents '  in  Coleridge  ?  And 
does  not  Shelley  in  The  Woodman  and  the  Nightingale  repeat  from  the 
Hymn  the  phrase  'struggling  with  (the)  darkness'?  Indeed,  this  passage 
from  Alastor  has  been  crushed  by  a  Tarpeian  death. 

Another  searcher3  has  flung  on  the  pile  of  similarities  the  weight 
of  Goethe.  The  analogy  is  as  forced  as  Ackermann's  and  not  worth 
examining,  except  to  show  one  of  the  evils  of  the  German  dissertation 
system — the  loss  of  judgment  in  the  pursuit  of  some  diminutive  '  theory.' 
In  short,  there  are  none  so  blind  as  those  who  will  see. 

And  because  Shelley  tells  us  that  the  crags  seem  to  '  overhang  the 
world,'  are  we  to  believe,  with  Sweet,  that  he  drew  from  Charlotte 
Smith's  '  rocks  which  seem  to  overhang  the  wondering  traveller '  ?  Did 
he  need  so  obscure  a  writer  to  furnish  him  with  so  obvious  a  phrase  ? 
Do  we  judge  poets  by  the  cliche"!   To  establish  cause  and  effect  between 

1  '  A  source  of  Shelley's  Alastor,'  An  English  Miscellany,  Oxford,  1890. 

2  and  when  I  gaze  on  thee, 
I  seem  as  in  a  trance  sublime  and  strange 

To  muse  on  my  own  separate  phantasy.  {Mont  Blanc,  34.) 

3  A.  Droop,  Die  Belesenheit  P.  B.  Shelley s,  Dissertation,  Jena,  1906,  pp  127  ff.  Faust, 
1070  ff.,  compared  with  Alastor,  550  ff. 


L.  H.  ALLEN  145 

such  trifling  resemblances  is  to  regard  Shelley  as  writing,  not  from  his 

soul,  but  from  a  dictionary. 

Comfort  now  sheds  one  drop  of  balm.    We  learn  from  Ackermann 

that  the  '  dim  and  horned  moon  '  of  Alastor  (602)  is  not  a  borrowed  one. 

How  do  we  know  this  ?    There  is  proof.    Mary  Shelley's  journal  for  the 

autumn  of  1814  contains  this  passage  : 

The  evening  was  most  beautiful  !  the  horned  moon  hung  in  the  light  of  sunset 
which  threw  a  glow  of  unusual  depth  of  redness  above  the  piny  mountains  and  the 
dark  deep  valleys.... The  moon  becomes  yellow,  and  hangs  close  to  the  woody 
horizon. 

Shelley  has  narrowly  escaped  another  '  influence  ' ! 

The  horned  moon  with  one  bright  star 
Within  the  nether  tip. 

That  Shelley  did  use  his  own  eyes,  at  least  for  the  'green  recess,' 

seems  indicated  by  a  passage  in  The  Revolt  of  Islam : 

The  autumnal  winds,  as  if  spellbound,  had  made 

A  natural  couch  of  leaves  in  that  recess.  (vi,  xxviii.) 

It  is  true  that  Shelley  had  a  trick  of  repeating  himself,  but  he  seldom 

did  so  without  having  received  some  strong  impression1.    Some  natural 

formation  seen  on  his  wanderings  must  have  deeply  impressed  him. 

Ackermann  makes  another  concession,  a  kind  of  palliative.   '  That  the 

sight  of  different  landscapes,'  he  says, '  can  result  in  similar  descriptions, 

is  shown  by  the  majestic  cliff-scenery  through  which  the  river  winds 

{Alastor,  543  ff.)  when  compared  with  a  passage  in  Scott's  Rokeby  (ii,  7). 

One  is  led  to  surmise  that  both  poets  modelled  their  composition  on  the 

same  landscape ;  and  yet  Shelley's  original  is  to  be  sought  probably  in 

Wales  and  North  Devonshire  '  (p.  13).    Scott's  stanza  runs  thus  : 

The  open  vale  is  soon  passed  o'er  : 
Rokeby,  though  nigh,  is  seen  no  more  ; 
Sinking  'mid  Greta's  thickets  deep 
A  wild  and  darker  course  they  keep, 
A  stern  and  lone,  yet  lovely  road 
As  e'er  the  foot  of  minstrel  trode ! 
Broad  shadows  o'er  their  passage  fell, 
Deeper  and  narrower  grew  the  dell : 
It  seemed  some  mountain,  rent  and  riven, 
A  channel  for  the  stream  had  given, 
So  high  the  cliffs  of  limestone  grey 
Hung  beetling  o'er  the  torrent's  way, 
Yielding,  along  their  rugged  base, 
A  flinty  footpath's  niggard  space, 

1  See  B.  I.  Evans,  '  The  Persistent  Image  in  Shelley,'  Nineteenth  Century,  May,  1922, 
p.  792.  In  commenting  on  the  comparison  of  autumn  leaves  to  ghosts  in  the  Ode  to  the 
West  Wind  he  says:  'The  image  was  not  an  inversion  of  a  Vergilian  reminiscence,  but 
a  recollection  of  a  definite  imaginative  experience.'  With  regard  to  the  persistence  of 
images  in  Shelley,  the  writer  adds:  'There  is  nothing  to  indicate  that  this  definite 
associative  value  was  a  thing  of  conscious  or  formal  growth.' 


146    Plagiarism,  Sources,  and  Influences  in  Shelley  s  'Alastor' 

Where  he,  who  winds  'twixt  rock  and  wave, 
,  May  hear  the  headlong  torrent  rave, 

And  like  a  steed  in  frantic  fit 
That  flings  the  froth  from  curb  and  bit, 
May  view  her  chafe  her  waves  to  spray, 
O'er  every  rock  that  bars  her  way, 
Till  foam-globes  on  her  eddies  ride, 
Thick  as  the  schemes  of  human  pride, 
That  down  life's  current  drive  amain, 
As  frail,  as  frothy,  and  as  vain ! 

To  offer  this  as  a  parallel,  even  fortuitous,  worth  comment,  is  to  regard 
as  remarkable  the  fact  that  the  description  of  similar  things  involves  the 
use  of  a  certain  number  of  common  words ;  or  that  Scott  and  Shelley 
happened  to  be  familiar  with  mountain  scenery.  For  that  which  is 
typical  #f  the  creative  minds,  the  atmosphere  of  each  scene,  is  as 
different  as  the  temperaments  of  the  two  poets.  Scott,  describing  an 
actual  scene  in  his  photographic  style,  confines  it  to  earth  with  his  grey 
limestone  and  his  flint ;  Shelley,  evoking  a  landscape  that  might  have 
come  from  the  Inferno,  is  beyond  geology. 

Yet  the  resemblances  between  some  of  the  passages  already  quoted 
is  no  greater  than  that  between  these.  And  does  not  a  mountain  torrent 
give  Scott  food  for  reflection  on  human  life  ? 

Ackermann  advances  another  coincidence  of  this  sort  as  an  evidence 
that  different  landscapes  may  produce  similar  descriptions : 

The  oak,  Hoary,  yet  haughty,  frowns  the  oak, 

Expanding  its  immense  and  knotty  arms,  Its  boughs  by  weight  of  ages  broke  ; 

Embraces  the  light  beech.  The  pyramids  And  towers  erect,  in  sable  spire, 

Of  the  tall  cedar  overarching,  frame  The  pine-tree  scathed  by  lightning  fire ; 

Most  solemn  domes  within,  and  far  be-  The  drooping  ash  and  birch  between 

low. . .  Hang  their  fair  tresses  o'er  the  green. 
The  ash  and  the  acacia  floating  hang  (Rokeby,  iv,  3.) 

Tremulous  and  pale.        (Alastor,  431  ff.) 

It  is  characteristic  that  Ackermann  should  have  omitted  from  the 
quotation  that  luminous  and  intensely  Shelleyan  line  'like  clouds 
suspended  in  an  emerald  sky.'   And  if  only  Alastor  had  been  continued: 

Like  restless  serpents,  clothed 
In  rainbow  and  in  fire,  the  parasites 
Starred  with  ten  thousand  blossoms, 

Ackermann  might  have  noted  the  startling  similarity  to  a  Highland 

landscape.    One  is  compelled  to  think  that  Chaucer  must  have  been 

looking  at  the  very  same  scene  when  he  wrote  '  The  bildere  ook  and  eek 

the  hardy  asshe '  (Parlement  of  Foules,  176).    Bare  words  are  the  only 

common  factor. 

Ay,  in  the  catalogue  ye  go  for  trees, 
As  oak,  acacia,  cedar,  beech,  and  ash. 


L.  H.    ALLEN  147 

Sweet,  however,  finds  here  a  similarity  to  Charlotte  Smith's  '  immense 
pines  or  mountain  ash ' ;  so  that,  although  Ackermann  exculpates  the 
poet,  he  has  been  at  last  convicted.  Medwin,  of  course,  mentions  this 
very  passage  as  inspired  by  Windsor  Forest ;  but  this  does  not  prevent 
scholastic  acumen  from  discovering  that  skeletons  are  more  alike  than 
people. 

We  learn  next  from  Ackermann  (p.  13)  that  Shelley,  in  the  following 
passage,  '  approaches  the  oriental  scenery  of  Southey ' : 

Soft  mossy  lawns  And  oh  !  what  odours  the  voluptuous  vale 

Beneath    these    canopies    extend    their  Scatters  from  jasmine  bowers, 

swells,  From  yon  rose  wilderness, 

Fragrant  with  perfumed  herbs,  and  eyed  From  cluster'd  henna  and  from  orange 

with  blooms  groves, 

Minute  yet  beautiful.  One  darkest  glen  That  with  such  perfumes  fill  the  breeze. . . 
Sends  from  its  woods  of  musk-rose  twined  {Thalaba,  vi,  22.) 

with  jasmine...         (Alastor,  448 ff.) 

If  verbal  resemblances  are  the  criterion,  Coleridge  is  as  apt : 

I  know  the  place  where  Lewti  lies 
When  silent  night  has  closed  her  eyes : 
It  is  a  breezy  jasmine  bower. 

The  distinctively  oriental  things  in  Southey  are  henna  and  orange,  not 
found  in  Shelley.  What  could  be  more 'English  than  musk -rose,  the 
musk-rose  of  Keats'  Nightingale  ?  If  there  is  anything  exotic  (tropical 
rather  than  oriental),  it  is  the  parasites. 

Charlotte  Smith,  too,  is  alleged  to  have  contributed  to  the  picture. 
Her  rich  imagination  provides  the  following  bald  catalogue :  '  And  the 
short  turf  beneath  them  appeared  spangled  with  the  soldinella  and 
fringed  pink,  or  blushing  with  the  scented  wreaths  of  the  Daphne 
Cneorum.' 

And  all  this  weight  of  debt  for  a  scene  whose  elements  are  very 
simple.  Do  not  the  indeterminate  components  become  significant  only 
as  they  meet  in  the  personality  ?  What  is  significant  is  what  neither 
Charlotte  Smith  nor  Southey  could  have  said :  '  eyed  with  blooms 
minute  yet  beautiful.'  Is  not  this  one  of  Shelley's  '  remote  distinctions,' 
proceeding  spontaneously  from  the  man  who  said  of  himself:  '  I  find  the 
very  blades  of  grass  and  boughs  of  distant  trees  present  themselves  to 
me  with  microscopic  distinctness '  ?  If  he  could  see  a  needle,  was  he 
blind  to  a  haystack  ? 

We  proceed  now  to  lines  which  are,  according  to  Ackermann, 
'  certainly  a  reminiscence  of  Thalaba,'  though  only  as  an  addition  to 
Shelley's  own  observations  of  rivers  and  mountains  (p.  14). 


148    Plagiarism,  Sources,  and  Influences  in  Shelley  s  'Alastor' 

Where  the  mountain,  riven,      And  lo,  where  raving  o'er  a  hollow  course 
Exposed  those  black  depths  to  the  azure  The  ever  flowing  flood 

sky,  Foams  in  a  thousand  whirlpools ! 

Ere  yet  the  flood's  enormous  volume  fell  There  adown 

Even  to  the  base  of  Caucasus,  with  sound  The  perforated  rock 

That  shook  the  everlasting  rocks,  the      Plunge  the  whole  waters  so  precipitous, 

mass  So  fathomless  a  fall, 

Filled  with  one  whirlpool  all  that  ample      That  their  earth-shaking  roar  came  dead- 
chasm.  (Alastor,  374  ff.)  enedup 

Like  subterranean  thunders. 

(Thalaba,  vn,  6.) 

'  Such  similarities,'  says  Ackermaim,  '  considering  the  resemblance  in 

the  substance  of  the  story  (a  journey  into  the  depths  of  the  earth)  are 

not    remarkable.    We    find    them   not   only   in    Shelley.    Compare... 

Coleridge's... Kubla  Khan  : 

Five  miles  meandering  with  a  mazy  motion 
Through  wood  and  dale  the  sacred  river  ran, 
Then  reached  the  caverns  measureless  to  man, 
And  sank  in  tumult  to  a  lifeless  ocean.' 

The  comparison  of  these  three  passages  leads,  I  imagine,  to  a  different 
conclusion.  If  something  closer  than  a  general  resemblance  is  revealed, 
it  would  appear  more  between  Sou  they 's  'subterranean  thunders'  and 
Coleridge's  '  tumult '  than  anything  Shelley  has  written.  In  any  case 
the  obligation  is  too  trifling  for  comment.  The  main  impression  is  that 
three  men  working  at  a  similar  idea  display  general  resemblances.  It  is 
not  criticism  to  refine  on  such  meagre  data. 

The  general  influence  of  Thalaba  on  Shelley  is  beyond  dispute.  We 
have  the  direct  testimony  of  Medwin  that  he  '  almost  knew  it  by  heart/ 
and  of  Mrs  Shelley  that  it  was  his  '  favourite  poem ' :  and  we  know  that 
the  boat-journey  in  Alastor  took  its  rise  from  Thalaba,  since  Mrs  Shelley 
informs  us  that  '  his  imagination  had  been  excited  by  a  description  of 
such  a  voyage.'  But  that  does  not  infer  verbal  resemblances  in  passages 
where  the  poet  is  evidently  flying  on  a  free  wing.  Moreover  it  makes  us 
look  with  careful  eyes  at  Ackermann's  statement  mentioned  above  (p.  6) 
that  Shelley  likes  to  'start  his  poems... from  some  model  which  gives 
him  the  stimulus.'  Shelley  neither  started,  continued,  nor  ended  his 
poems  from  anything  but  his  own  moods.  The  stimulus,  says  Acker- 
mann,  was  sometimes  merely  a  name,  and  quotes  Alastor.  According 
to  Peacock,  the  poem  was  written  before  the  title  was  selected1.  Whenever 
Shelley  was  '  influenced '  he  only  received  what  chimed  with  a  native 
chord.  Thus  the  boat-journey  from  Thalaba  merely  harmonized  with 
that  love  for  boats  which  made  him,  as  a  child,  sail  his  paper  toys  on 

1  Peacock's  words  are:  '  At  this  time  Shelley  wrote  his  Alastor.    He  was  at  a  loss  for 
a  title,  and  I  proposed  that  which  he  adopted.'   Surely  the  inference  is  as  I  have  stated. 


L.  H.  ALLEN  149 

the  Serpentine  and  which  fascinated  him  to  his  death1.  The  poet  in 
Alastor  is,  of  course,  ultimately  Shelley  himself,  and  if  we  are  hunting 
for  influences  we  might  assert  that  of  Byron  in  greater  degree.  Peacock 
reports  :  '  He  often  repeated  to  me,  as  applicable  to  himself... 

But  there  are  wanderers  o'er  Eternity 
Whose  bark  drives  on  and  on,  and  anchored  ne'er  shall  be.' 

(Cf.  Adonais,  lv,  2.) 

The  poet's  Vision  (Alastor  149-191)  is  also  alleged  to  have  been 
influenced  by  Thalaba.  '  The  Vision  in  Alastor,'  says  Ackermann, 
'approaches  the  poet  in  a  deep  ecstasy  which  communicates  itself  to 
him.    This  is  the  attitude  of  Oneiza  to  her  hero '  (p.  8). 

The  passages  compared  are  : 

Soon  the  solemn  mood      Till  that  intense  affection 
Of  her  pure  mind  kindled  through  all  Kindle  its  light  of  life, 

her  frame  Even  in  such  deep  and  breathless  tender- 

A  permeating  fire.  ness 

{Alastor,  161.    See  also  179  ff.)      Oneiza's  soul  is  centred  on  the  youth. 

(Thalaba,  in,  24.) 

If  the  reader  will  turn  to  these  passages  in  their  context  he  will  find 

the  situations  have  little  affinity.    The  Vision  of  Alastor  acts  the  part 

of  an  ironic  Diotima  luring  the  poet  with  visions  which  fade  into  an 

unsubstantial  embrace.    If  Shelley  ever  thought  of  Thalaba  he  reversed 

it,  for  in  Southey  it  is  the  hero  who  inspires  the  maid.    Oneiza  directs 

on  him 

such  a  look,  as  fables  say, 
The  Mother  Ostrich  fixes  on  her  egg, 
Till  that  intense  affection  ' 

Kindle  its  light  of  life. 

This  ridiculous  simile,  an  example  of  the  '  exaggerated  sentiment  of 

humanity,'  is  paralleled  with  the  ideal  beauty  of  Shelley's  passage — 

and  for  what  reason  ?   I  can  see  none  but  the  occurrence  in  both  of  the 

word  'kindle.'    The  Vision  may  kindle  the  poet  (though  Shelley  says 

'kindled  through  all  her  frame,'  not  'his  frame'),  but  Oneiza  does  not 

kindle  Thalaba.     The  point  of  Southey's   comparison   is   merely  the 

'  breathless  tenderness '  of  her  (and  the  ostrich's)  gaze. 

The  details,  too,  we  are  told,  have  analogies : 

And  in  their  branching  veins  And  through  the  veins  and  delicate  skin 

The  eloquent  blood  told  an  ineffable  tale.  The  light  shone  rosy.    (Thalaba,  in,  25.) 

(Alastor,  167.)  *                       ,.u> 
And  saw  by  the  warm  light  of  their  own 

life  "  !  . 

Her  glowing  limbs.                           (174.)  ,] 

1  See  B.  I.  Evans,  op,  cit.  pp.  793-94.  Ackermann  mentions  this,  I  admit;  but  not  in' 

such  a  way  as  to  make  Shelley's  mind,  not  Southey's,  the  most  important  thing. 

.  i  ■*. 
M.  L.  R.  XVIII.  10 


150    Plagiarism,  Sources,  and  Influences  in  Shelley  s  'Alastor' 

Southey  describes  the  transparency  of  Oneiza's  fingers  when  she 

trimmed  the  lamp.    It  is  an  obvious  poetic  touch,  though  none  the  less 

beautiful  for  that.    Tennyson  describes  the  Holy  Grail  as 

In  colour  like  the  fingers  of  a  hand 
Before  a  burning  taper ; 

and,  no  doubt,  that  is  only  one  of  many  other  independent  instances. 

Still,  this  is  quite  possibly  a  genuine  reminiscence  of  Southey,  whether 

conscious  or  unconscious  none  can  determine.    But  it  appears  there  for 

exactly  the  same  reason  as  the  boat  did,  because  it  appealed  to  something 

native  in  Shelley.    What  was  more  original  in  him  than  his  ethereal 

conception  of  the  human  body  ?    Of  his  Ariel  self  he  said  : 

And  now  alas !  the  poor  sprite  is 
Imprisoned  for  some  fault  of  his 
In  a  body  like  a  grave. 

He  regarded  the  flesh  with  Pauline  contempt  as  a  hindrance  to  the  ac- 
tivity of  the  soul.    Perfected  man  will  be  like  the  liberated  Prometheus: 

his  pale  wound-worn  limbs 
Fall  from  Prometheus  :  and  the  azure  night 
Grew  radiant  with  the  glory  of  that  form 
Which  lives  unchanged  within. 

His  ideal  creations  have  glorified  or  rarified  bodies,  from  Queen  Mab  to 

Cythna,  who 

Moved  upon  this  earth  a  shape  of  brightness 
A  power  that  from  its  objects  scarcely  drew 
One  impulse  of  her  being — in  her  lightness 
Most  like  some  radiant  cloud  of  morning  dew. 

The  radiance  of  the  Vision's  hands  and  limbs  is  caused  by  no  exterior 
light,  but  proceeds  from  within.  With  this  distinctively  Shelleyan  superi- 
ority in  the  image  we  should  regard  it  as,  at  least,  highly  problematical 
whether  Newcastle  has  been  borrowing  coals. 

We  are  told  also  that  when  the  poet  wakes  from  his  delusive  dream 

the  scenery  'shows  the  same  colours  as  in  Gebir,1 

The  cold  white  light  of  morning,  the  blue      When   at   their  incantation  would  the 

moon  moon 

Low  in  the  West.  (Alastor,  193.)      Start   back,   and  shuddering  shed  blue 

blasted  light.  (Gebir,  17.) 

The  association  of  the  colour  blue  with  death  comes  from  the  classics. 
A  little  further  on  from  this  passage  Shelley  uses  it  in  this  connexion — 
'death's  blue  vault'  (216).  A  glance  at  Locock's  note  to  this  line  will 
show  that  Shelley  frequently  used  the  colour  in  this  application.  But 
has  the  blue  moon  in  Alastor  anything  in  common  with  Landor's,  whose 
colour  is  suggestive,  if  not  of  death,  at  least  of  the  hideous  aspect  of  the 
supernatural  ?   Is  not  Shelley's  moon  part  of  a  scene  of  natural  beauty 


L.  H.  ALLEN  151 

which  contrasts  with  the  poet's  mood  ?  For  though  Shelley  could  paint, 
as  in  this  poem,  a  scene  of  desolation  in  keeping  with  a  human  mood, 
yet  he  often  drew  sharp  contrasts  between  man  and  nature,  as  in  the 
Stanzas  written  in  dejection  near  Naples.  Shelley's  moon  is  one  of  beauty, 
a  moon  of  dawn  akin  to  that  evening  moon  of  which  Ruskin  writes 
'those  solemn  twilights,  with  the  blue  moon  rising  as  the  western  skies 
grow  dim1.'  Shelley  is  almost  too  anxious  to  make  us  understand  that 
the  scene  of  dawn  is  meant  to  emphasize  by  contrast  the  poet's  misery, 

His  wan  eyes 
Gaze  on  the  empty  scene  as  vacantly 
As  ocean's  moon  looks  on  the  moon  in  heaven, 

a  dead  and  living  moon  held  before  the  eye. 

The  main  sentiment — the  avenging  'nostalgia  for  the  Infinite' — is 
so  essentially  Shelleyan,  and  has  been  so  definitely  explained  by  the 
poet  himself  in  his  introduction,  that  he  does  not  seem  to  have  been 
loaded  by  Ackermann  with  any  further  debt.  There  is  a  superficial 
analogy  in  the  subject  with  that  in  Wordsworth's  Lines  left  on  a  seat  in 
a  Yew-Tree.  On  examination  the  resemblance  vanishes  as.  readily  as  in 
the  cases  here  discussed.  It  seems  to  me  that  though  we  have  had  much 
eager  Shelley  study  we  have  not  yet  established  a  Shelley  canon.  The 
relations  of  the  rich  components  of  his  mind  to  one  another  and  to  the 
Universe  should  be  the  first  object  of  our  study.  We  should  then  under- 
stand, in  the  broad  sweep,  his  interaction  with  other  minds ;  but  we 
should  avoid  harrying  him  with  pedantic  minutiae  which  merely  evidence 
the  ingenuity  or  diligence  of  his  critics. 

L.  H.  Allen. 

Duntroon,  Federal  Territory,  Australia. 

1  Pre-Raphaelitism  (Everyman's  Library),  p.  35. 


10—2 


THE  LEGEND  OF  AMICUS  AND  AMELIUS. 

The  legend  of  Amicus  and  Amelius,  the  two  inseparable  friends,  was 
one  of  the  most  widely  known  during  the  Middle  Ages,  and  versions  are 
found  in  almost  all  European  languages1.  Its  relationship  with  a  group 
of  folkloristic  motifs  has  repeatedly  been  pointed  out2,  and  Oriental  in- 
fluences have  been  held  responsible  for  its  rise  in  Western  Europe3. 
Bedier's  attitude  toward  all  attempts  to  discover  the  folkloristic  basis  of 
the  legend  was  extremely  sceptical4.  He  was  rather  inclined  to  see  in  it 
nothing  but  a  feudal  and  Christian  epic.  Potter,  on  the  other  hand, 
emphasized  once  more  the  folkloristic  traits  contained  in  all  extant 
versions,  and  called  attention  to  several  Oriental  parallels5.  However 
much  one  may  disagree  with  Bedier's  extreme  conclusions,  his  is  the 
uncontested  merit  of  having  shown  the  localization  of  the  legend  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Mortara,  Lombardy,  and  its  undoubtedly  hagiographic 
character6.  On  this  basis  it  will  be  possible  to  re-examine  the  legend 
with  some  hope  of  arriving  at  more  definite  results  than  has  been  the 
case  heretofore. 

The  heroes  of  the  legend  are  two  friends,  conceived  at  the  same 
hour,  born  the  same  day,  baptized  together  by  the  Pope,  and  resembling 
each  other  so  that  it  is  impossible  to  distinguish  one  from  the  other. 
After  a  separation  of  several  years,  they  start  out  on  the  same  day  in 
search  of  each  other ;  having  met,  they  contract  eternal  friendship  and 
enter  the  service  of  the  king.  After  a  glorious  career  and  numerous 
adventures  they  die  on  the  same  day  and  are  buried  separately.  But  by 
a  miracle  their  corpses  are  united  in  the  same  tomb.    Leaving  aside  for 

1  Cf.  Amis  et  Amiles  und  Jourdains  de  Blaivies,  ed.  by  Konrad  Hofmann,  Erlangen, 
1882 ;  Amis  and  Amiloun  zugleich  mit  der  altfranzosischen  Quelle  herausg.  von  Eugen 
Kolbing  (Altenglische  Bihliothek,  Band  n),  Heilbronn,  1884;  E.  Kolbing,  Zur  Uberliefening 
der  Sage  von  Amicus  und  Amilius,  Paxil  und  Braune's  Beitr.,  iv,  1877,  pp.  271  ff. ;  P. 
Schwieger,  Die  Sage  von  Amis  und  Amiles,  Progr.  Berlin,  1885 ;  Beinhold  Kohler,  Kleine 
Schriften,  ed.  by  J.  Bolte,  Berlin,  1900,  n,  pp.  163  ff.  and  659  ff. ;  Potter,  Ami  et  Amile, 
Publ.  of  the  Mod.  Lang.  Assoc,  xxm,  1908,  pp.  471  ff. ;  Ph.  Aug.  Becker,  Grundriss  der 
altfranzosischen  Literatur,  Heidelberg,  1907,  p.  99 ;  C.  Voretzsch,  EinfUhrung  in  das 
Stadium  der  altfranzosischen  Literatur,  Halle,  1913,  p.  245  ;  Bolte-Polivka,  Anmerkungen 
zu  den  Kinder-  und  Hausm'drchen  der  Brttder  Grimm,  Berlin,  1913-18,  i,  p.  56.  The  recent 
study  by  G.  Huet,  Ami  et  Amile,  Moyen  Age,  xxi,  1919,  pp.  162-84,  was  not  accessible  to 
me  until  some  time  after  the  MS.  had  been  in  the  hands  of  the  Editor. 

2  Gf.  the  works  of  Kohler,  Potter,  Bolte-Polivka  and  Voretzsch. 

3  G.  Paris,  Romania,  xiv,  1885,  p.  318;  Potter,  op.  cit.  Becker,  op.  et  loc.  cit.,  believes 
that  Byzantine  motifs  were  introduced  into  the  legend  of  the  two  friends. 

4  Les  Legendes  epiques,  n,  Paris,  1908,  p.  178. 

5  Op.  cit. 

H  Op.  cit.,  pp.  170-96  ;  cf.  also  Becker,  op.  et  loc.  cit. 


A.  H.  KRAPPE  1  53 

the  present  the  simultaneous  conception  and  birth  of  the  two,  let  us 
consider  first  their  marvellous  similarity,  their  friendship  and  their 
death,  and  let  us  look  for  parallels  in  hagiographic  literature. 

In  the  Syriac  Acta  Thomae,  Jesus  is  constantly  mistaken  for  Judas 
Thomas  and  vice  versa.  They  are  so  much  alike  that  it  is  impossible 
for  both  believers  and  unbelievers  to  tell  them  apart1.  In  the  story  of 
the  martyrdom  of  Polyeuctes,  made  famous  by  Corneille's  drama,  the 
affectionate  relations  between  Polyeuctes  and  his  friend  Nearchus  are 
dwelt  upon.  Both  suffer  for  their  faith  on  the  same  day2.  Common 
death  at  the  same  time  is  also  the  fate  of  Cantius  and  Cantianus, 
martyred  in  Aquileja3,  of  Donatianus  and  Rogatianus,  executed  at 
Nantes4,  of  Ferreolus  and  Ferrutius,  the  martyrs  of  Besancon5,  of  Fer- 
rutius  and  Ferrutio,  martyrs  of  Mainz6,  and  of  many  other  saints7.  In 
his  important  works  on  the  influence  of  the  Dioscuri  on  the  Christian 
cult,  Harris  pointed  out  that  all  these  pairs  of  martyrs  are  Dioscuric  in 
character,  that  is,  they  were  originally  twins  who  replaced  pagan  twin 
divinities  in  the  cities  of  their  worship8.  Later  on,  the  twin  element 
could  safely  be  dropped,  but  it  left  visible  traces  in  the  acts  of  those 
saints9.  Thus  we  come  to  view  the  simultaneous  conception  and  birth 
of  Amicus  and  Amelius  in  a  new  light,  and  the  story  of  the  two  friends 
would  take  rank  among  the  large  number  of  twin  legends  in  hagio- 
graphic garb  scattered  all  over  Southern  and  Western  Europe ;  for  it  is 
clear  that  the  two  heroes  were  not  conceived  and  born  simultaneously 
because  they  resembled  each  other  and  because  they  suffered  death  on 
the  same  day,  but  they  resembled  each  other  and  died  together  because 
they  were  conceived  and  born  together,  that  is,  because  they  were  twins. 
What  confirms  this  theory  is  the  similarity  of  their  names. 

Similarity  of  name  as  a  characteristic  of  twin  children  among  all 
races  was  repeatedly  pointed  out  by  Harris10.  Generally  speaking,  we 
may  distinguish  four  groups  of  such  names  : 

1  J.  Rendel  Harris,  The  Dioscuri  in  the  Christian  Legends,  London,  1903,  p.  21. 

2  Aube\  Polyeucte  dans  Vhistoire,  Paris,  1882;  cf.  Harris,  op.  cit.,  p.  55. 

3  Acta  Sanct.  Boll.,  May  31,  vn,  p.  428 ;  cf.  Harris,  The  Cult  of  the  Heavenly  Twins, 
Cambridge,  1906,  p.  67. 

4  Euinart,  Acta  primor.  martyrum,  Amstelod. ,  1713,  fol.,  pp.  279-82;  cf.  Harris,  Cult, 
p.  68. 

6  Harris,  Cult,  p.  70.  6  Ibid.  t  ibid. 

8  The  works  quoted  and  Boanerges,  Cambridge,  1913. 

9  This  is  absolutely  certain  in  the  case  of  Polyeuctes  and  Nearchos,  of  Cosmas  and 
Damian,  and  of  Protasius  and  Gervasius ;  cf.  Harris,  Dioscuri,  p.  58 ;  Cult,  p.  96 ; 
Dioscuri,  p.  42. 

10  Cult,  pp.  58  ff .  It  should  be  noted,  however,  that  this  characteristic  is  not  sufficient 
to  prove  twinship,  as  similar  names  were  given  also  to  brothers  not  twins.  Cf .  on  this  subject, 
K.  Weinhold,  Altnordisches  Leben,  Berlin,  1856,  pp.  264  ff. ;  Die  deutschen  Frauen  im 
Mittelalter,  Wien,  1897,  pp.  85  ff. 


154  The  Legend  of  Amicus  and  Amelius 

1.  Such  as  are  rhyming:  Florus  (Flaunts):  Laurus ;  Huz  :  Buz; 

Protasius :  Gervasius ; 

2.  Such  as  are  differentiated  through  ablaut :    Romulus  (Romus) : 

Remus ; 

3.  Such  as  have  one  part  in  common :  Baltram :  Sintram ;  Try- 

phaina :  Tryphosa  ;  Picumnus  :  Pilumnus ; 

4.  Such   as    have    related    meanings:    Sarus:    Ammius;    Hilaira: 

Phoibe;  Idas:  Lynkeus;  Lykos:  Nykteus1. 

Amicus  and  Amelius  would  evidently  be  ranked  in  the  first  group. 
Their  miraculous  birth  at  the  same  time  is  a  trace  left  of  an  earlier 
stage  of  the  legend  in  which  the  two  heroes  were  twins.  This  conclusion 
is  supported  by  a  few  other  traits.  There  is  a  striking  similarity  in  the 
rank  of  the  parents  of  both,  the  father  of  Amicus  being  a  knight  (miles), 
that  of  Amelius  a  count.  The  parents  of  Amelius  play  no  part  whatever, 
and  we  do  not  learn  what  becomes  of  them,  while  of  Amicus'  father  we 
at  least  know  that  he  died,  after  admonishing  his  son.  Finally,  some  of 
the  miraculous  adventures  of  the  heroes  recur  in  a  group  of  folk  tales, 
the  protagonists  of  which  are  twins. 

The  close  relationship  which  exists  between  the  story  of  Amicus  and 
Amelius  and  the  tale  of  the  Two  Brothers2  has  been  recognized  from 
the  time  when  the  Brothers  Grimm  first  published  the  latter  in  their 
Kinder-  und  Hausmarchen.  The  traits  which  they  have  in  common  may 
be  summarized  as  follows : 

1.  There  is  a  striking  resemblance  between  the  two  brothers; 

2.  The  one  substitutes  himself  for  the  other; 

3.  He  lays  the  sword  between  himself  and  his  brother's  wife. 
They  differ  in  that  the  ingratitude  of  the  second  brother  who  kills  his 
saviour  in  a  fit  of  jealousy,  is  unknown  to  the  Amicus  and  Amelius 
legend,  while  the  sacrifice  of  the  children  does  not  occur  in  the  Marchen. 

There  is  ground  for  the  assumption  that  the  story  of  Amicus  and 
Amelius  has  not  come  down  to  us  in  its  most  original  and  complete 
form.  The  different  versions  disagree  in  the  motivation  of  Amicus'  mis- 
fortune. The  Old  French  chanson  de  geste  gives  as  a  reason  the  fact 
that  Amicus  married  the  king's  daughter  under  his  friend's  name  and 
that  he  was  guilty  of  bigamy.  The  Vita  Amid  et  Amelii3  simply  says 
that  the  disease  was  a  test;  for  '  omnem  filium  quern  Deus  recipit, 
corripit,  flagellat  et  castigat.'    It  is  certain,  however,  that  the  author  of 

1  S.  Eitrem,  Die  gdttlichen  Zivillinge  bei  den  Grieclien,  Christiania,  1902,  p.  45. 

2  Grimm,  Kinder-  und  Hausmarchen,  No.  60  ;  A.  Aarne,  Verzeiehnis  der  Marchentypen, 
Helsinki,  1910,  type  303. 

3  E.  Kolbing  in  his  edition  of  the  Middle  English  poem  quoted  above,  p.  xcvii. 


A.  H.  KRAPPE  155 

the  Vita  had  before  him  another  version ;  for  he  makes  Amicus  say 
before  the  judicial  combat:  'heu  mihi,  qui  mortem  huius  comitis  tam 
fraudulenter  cupio,  scio  namque,  quod  si  ilium  interfecero,  reus  ero  ante 
supernum  iudicem,  si  vero  vitam  meam  tulerit,  de  me  semper  opprobrium 
narrabitur  perpetuum.'  The  Middle  English  poem  assigns  as  a  reason 
Amicus'  false  oath  before  the  duel.  Radulfus  Tortarius1,  finally,  gives 
no  reason  at  all.  None  of  all  these  motivations  is  really  satisfactory, 
although  Bedier  goes  too  far  when  rejecting  Schwieger's  theory  that 
the  leprosy  was  the  punishment  for  Amicus'  having  fought  Hardre  in 
judicial  combat,  and  saying:  '  C'est  un  contresens  que  personne  n'eut 
fait  au  moyen  age2.'  We  have  seen  above  that  this  theory  is  indeed 
supported  by  a  reading  of  the  Vita,  and  if  mediaeval  law  permitted 
judicial  combat  by  hired  champions,  those  champions  stood  in  the  shoes 
of  the  person  who  hired  them,  and  if  his  cause  was  bad,  the  champion 
succumbed.  But  it  is  evident  that  Amicus  is  more  than  a  champion  of 
Amelius.  He  passes  himself  off  as  Amelius  while  affirming  his  own 
innocence  by  oath.  This  oath  is  true,  and  Hardre  is  defeated  in  conse- 
quence ;  but  Amicus'  action  is  none  the  less  fraudulent.  Nevertheless, 
it  would  be  difficult  to  suppose  this  motivation  which,  however  correct, 
is  based  on  the  casuistry  of  mediaeval  legal  procedure,  to  be  primitive. 
Bedier  thinks  the  pious  motivation  of  the  Vita  to  be  the  original  one. 
So  far  as  the  hagiographic  stage  of  the  legend  is  concerned,  this  con- 
clusion is  undoubtedly  correct.  As  soon  as  we  trace  the  story  back  to  an 
ante-Christian  stage,  this  theory  naturally  breaks  down,  for  it  pre- 
supposes a  spirit  unknown  to  Graeco-Roman  paganism.  In  that  case  we 
must  seek  a  different  explanation. 

Another  fact  which  arouses  our  suspicion  is  the  sword  episode,  which 
in  truth  has  no  logical  consequences  in  the  course  of  the  legend  and 
which  might  well  be  omitted  altogether  without  altering  the  story.  For 
it  is  useless  to  emphasize  Amelius'  chastity,  if  no  one  doubts  it.  The 
sword  episode  occurs  in  many  legends3,  but  wherever  it  is  met  with,  it 
plays  a  commensurate  part.  In  the  Tristan  of  Thomas,  for  example,  it 
makes  King  Mark  believe  in  the  chastity  of  the  two  lovers.  In  a  narra- 
tive mentioned  by  Reinhold  Kohler4,  it  occurs  to  bring  out  the  king's 
ascetic  mode  of  life.    Saxo  Grammaticus5  mentions  the  episode  in  order 

1  K.  Hofniann  in  his  edition  of  the  chanson  de  geste,  p.  xxiv. 

2  Op.  cit.,  p.  180. 

3  B.  Heller,  L'Epee  symbole  et  gardienne  de  chastete,  Romania,  xxxvi,  1907,  pp.  36-49; 
xxxvn,  1908,  pp.  162-3.  Cf.  also  K.  Simrock,  Die  Quellen  des  Shakspeare,  Bonn,  1872, 
i,  p.  93. 

4  Zum  Fabliau  vom  Stadtrichter  von  Aquileja,  Kleine  Sehriften,  n,  p.  442. 
8  Gesta  Danorum,  ed.  by  Holder,  p.  319. 


156  The  Legend  of  Amicus  and  Amelius 

to  emphasize  King  Gorm's  unusual  self-control.    In  the  Norse  Sigurd 

story  it  serves  to  show  Sigurd's  innocence,  because  the  hero's  death  is 

due  to  Gunnar's  jealousy.    In  the  tale  of  the  Two  Brothers  the  sword 

episode  fulfils  the  same  purpose.    It  is  therefore  a  legitimate  conclusion 

to  say  that  the  sword  episode  in  the  story  of  Amicus  and  Amelius  owes 

its  existence  to  a  second  episode  which  once  formed  a  part  of  the  plot, 

but  which  dropped  out  for  reasons  which  will  appear  later.    We  suspect 

that  the  episode  in  question  was  similar  to  that  of  the  Sigurd  legend 

and  the  Marchen.    What  makes  this  conjecture  almost  a  certainty  is  a 

passage  in  the  chanson  de  geste  which  reads  : 

1950     '  En  non  deu  sire,'  li  euens  Amiles  dist, 
'  Le  mien  couvine  voz  raurai  je  tost  dit. 
Lez  ta  moillier  me  couchai  je  dormir. 
II  n'a  si  bele  en  seissante  pais, 
Moult  m'esmerveil,  com  en  poez  souffrir.' 

Now  these  are  the  very  words  by  which  in  the  tale  of  the  Two  Brothers 
the  saviour  acquaints  his  brother  with  the  fact  that  he  had  lain  with*  his 
sister-in-law,  whereupon  he  is  slain  by  his  jealous  brother1. 

The  Vita  and  the  chanson  de  geste  mention  two  goblets  given  the 
two  friends  by  the  Pope  on  the  occasion  of  their  baptism.  Again  we  fail 
to  see  a  sufficiently  prominent  bearing  of  this  episode  on  the  subsequent 
events.  The  only  purpose  the  goblets  serve  is  to  facilitate  the  recogni- 
tion of  the  two  friends  after  Amicus  has  become  a  leper.  In  other  words, 
the  goblet  of  Amicus  plays  the  role  of  the  ring  dropped  into  a  beaker  or 
a  glass  and  which  occurs  in  so  many  other  tales  containing  the  motif  of 
separation  and  reunion2.  It  is  clear  that  the  episode  of  the  Pope's  gift 
is  not  in  proportion  to  the  role  of  Amicus'  goblet  in  the  later  part  of 
the  story,  and  wre  are  driven  to  the  conclusion  that  another  important 
element  has  been  lost.  Everything  tends  to  show  that  the  two  goblets 
originally  belonged  to  the  group  of  objects  indicating  a  danger  that  had 
befallen  the  twin  brother3,  an  episode  still  existing  in  the  Marchen  of 
the  Two  Brothers4. 

1  In  the  Grimm  version  the  one  brother  says  :  '  die  junge  Konigin  hielt  mich  fiir  ihren 
Gemahl,  und  ich  musste  an  ihrer  Seite  essen  und  in  deinem  Bett  schlafen  ' ;  in  the  story 
of  Hahn,  Griechische  und  albanesische  Marchen ,  Berlin,  1918,  No.  22,  we  read:  '  erzahlte 
unterwegs  der  eine  Bruder  dem  andern...wie  er  zu  seinen  Schwiegereltern  gekommen  und 
bei  seiner  Frau  geschlafen  habe  ' ;  the  version  of  Kuhn  und  Schwartz,  Norddeutsche  Sagen, 
Marchen  und  Gebrduche,  Leipzig,  1848,  pp.  337  ff.  makes  the  one  brother  narrate :  'wie  ihn 
die  Prinzessin  utnarmt  und  er  mit  ihr  zu  Bett  gegangen.' 

2  Von  der  Hagen,  Gesammtabenteuer,  Stuttgart,  1850,  n,  p.  615;  M.  Landau,  Die 
Quellen  des  Dekameron,  Stuttgart,  1884,  p.  196 ;  Kohler,  Kleine  Schriften,  i,  pp.  117 
and  584. 

3  Bolte-Pohvka,  op.  cit.,  i,  p.  545. 

4  This  interpretation  of  the  goblets  in  the  story  of  Amicus  and  Amelius  is  also  that  of 
the  Brothers  Grimm,  Der  arme  Heinrich  von  Hartmann  von  der  Aue,  Berlin,  1815,  pp. 
183  ff. ;  cf.  Bolte  and  Polfvka,  op.  cit.,  i,  p.  556. 


A.  H.  KRAPPE  157 

One  of  the  most  striking  and  most  persistent  episodes  of  the  tale 
of  the  Tivo  Brothers,  which  occurs  in  practically  all  versions  of  this 
Marchen,  is  that  of  the  dragon  fight  and  the  false  dragon-killer.  The 
hero  saves  a  princess  by  killing  a  monster,  cuts  out  the  tongues  of  the 
latter  and  goes  off  in  quest  of  new  adventures.  Meanwhile,  an  impostor 
cuts  off  the  heads  and  passes  himself  off  as  the  saviour  of  the  princess. 
He  is  found  out  when  the  hero  returns  and  produces  the  tongues.  This 
episode  left  some  traces  in  the  chanson  de  geste.  There  Hardre  is  de- 
scribed as  cutting  off  the  heads  of  the  knights  who  had  perished  under 
the  hands  of  Amicus  and  Amelius,  attaching  them  to  his  saddle  and 
boasting  that  it  was  he  who  killed  them1. 

While  it  thus  appears  that  the  legend  of  Amicus  and  Amelius  has 
not  come  down  in  its  original  form  and  that  the  Marchen  has  preserved 
more  archaic  features,  it  is  also  clear  that  the  tale  of  the  Two  Brothers 
has  not  remained  free  from  alteration  in  its  turn.  The  episode  of  the 
water  of  life  seems  to  be  a  late  introduction  ;  it  is  by  no  means  necessary 
for  the  redemption  of  the  brother  who  had  been  transformed  into  stone, 
because  in  most  variants  of  this  type  the  stone  statue  or  statues  come 
to  life  by  a  touch  with  the  witch's  magic  staff2.  But  it  does  appear 
necessary  for  the  resurrection  of  the  hero  slain  by  his  brother  in  a  fit  of 
jealousy,  and  it  is  likely  that  here  the  water  of  life  came  to  take  the 
place  of  something  else,  human  blood. 

That  the  water  of  life  in  this  group  of  stories  tends  to  take  the  place 
of  an  older  bloody  sacrifice  can  be  seen  in  another  Marchen,  that  of 
Faithful  John3,  which  has  repeatedly  been  compared  with  the  story  of 
Amicus  and  Amelius4.  Here  the  faithful  servant,  who  in  some  versions 
is  the  brother  of  the  prince5,  is  redeemed  by  blood,  sometimes  by  the 
water  of  life,  sometimes  by  some  other  remedy6. 

From  the  examination  of  the  divergences  of  the  story  of  Amicus  and 
Amelius  and  the  Marchen  of  the  Two  Brothers,  and  the  traces  left  of  an 
earlier  stage  in  the  former,  it  follows  that  the  original  bore  far  greater 
similarity  to  the  tale  of  the  Two  Brothers  than  does  any  of  the  extant 
versions.  The  goblets  originally  warned  Amicus  of  the  danger  which 
threatened  his  friend.  He  hastens  to  the  rescue,  liberates  his  brother, 
but  is  killed  by  him  in  a  fit  of  jealousy.   Amelius  repents  his  rash  deed 

1  Lines  391-5.  2  For  instance  in  the  versions  of  Grimm  and  Hahn. 

3  Grimm,  Kinder-  und  Hammarchen,  No.  6;  Aarne,  type  516.    Cf.  Kohler,  Aufsatze 
ilber  Marchen  und  Volkdieder,  Berlin,  1894,  p.  24. 

4  Potter,  op.  cit.  ;  Voretzsch,  op.  cit.,  p.  245;  Kohler,  Aufsatze,  p.  34. 

5  In  several  Italian  versions  mentioned  by  Bolte-Polivka,  op.  cit.,  i,  p.  47,  the  oldest  of 
which  is  found  in  Basile's  Pentamerone,  iv,  9. 

s  By  the  water  of  life  in  a  White  Russian  tale ;  cf .  Bolte-Polivka,  i,  p.  52. 


158  The  Legend  of  Amicus  and  Amelius 

when  it  is  too  late.  He  then  resurrects  his  dead  friend  by  a  blood  sacri- 
fice. This  theory  is  confirmed  by  the  Marchen  of  Faithful  John,  where 
jealousy  of  the  ungrateful  friend  or  brother  is  likewise  coupled  with  the 
blood  sacrifice  and  often  with  the  twin  brother  motif. 

The  three  stories,  Amicus  and  Amelius,  the  Two  Brothers,  and  Faith- 
ful John  undoubtedly  belong  to  one  folkloristic  group  whose  origin  must 
be  sought  in  the  beliefs  of  primitive  man.  In  all  three  the  protagonists 
were  originally  or  still  are  twin  brothers.  Twins  in  the  traditions  of  all 
races,  however,  are  known  to  stand  in  peculiar  relationship  to  each  other. 
They  are  either  the  '  quarrelling  twins,'  hating  and  persecuting  each 
other,  such  as  Jacob  and  Esau,  Romulus  and  Remus,  Horus  and  Set1,  or 
they  are  the  p\ir  of  faithful  friends  and  inseparable  companions,  con- 
stant in  their  affection  for  each  other,  such  as  they  appear  in  the  legends 
of  the  Greek  Dioscuri,  in  the  tale  of  the  Two  Brothers  and  in  Faithful 
John.  However,  even  there  traces  of  what  was  perhaps  a  former  stage 
of  the  legend  are  not  lacking.  On  two  Roman  coins  a  duel  between 
Castor  and  Pollux  was  represented2.  According  to  an  old  tradition,  the 
two  brothers  once  came  to  blows  in  their  temple  at  Sparta3.  This  feature 
also  comes  out  clearly  in  the  two  Marchen. 

The  origin  of  the  legend  of  Amicus  and  Amelius  must  then  be 
sought  in  an  old  Dioscuric  cult  which  flourished  in  Upper  Italy  from 
veiy  early  times.  There  is  nothing  unlikely  in  such  a  hypothesis,  since 
it  has  been  shown  that  Gallia  Cisalpina  was  teeming  with  twin  sanctu- 
aries4 and  that  the  cult  of  Castor  and  Pollux  played  an  important  part 
among  the  Romanized  population  of  that  part  of  the  country5.  Christi- 
anity had  to  supplant  these  cults ;  it  did  so  by  substituting  twin  saints 
for  twin  gods,  and  as  in  Milan  Protasius  and  Gervasius  came  into 
prominence,  so  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Mortara  Amicus  and  Amelius 
took  over  the  inheritance  of  their  predecessors.  And  it  was  no  mean 
inheritance,  inasmuch  as  those  pagan  twins  possessed  a  very  elaborate 
cult  legend.  As  for  the  latter,  it  could  not  be  admitted  into  the  Christian 
sanctuary  without  some  modifications.  Thus  the  motif  of  the  fratricide 
was  too  crude  and  altogether  too  bloody  for  the  new  age,  and  so  a  disease 
was  substituted  for  death.  It  was  natural  to  choose  leprosy,  partly  on 
account  of  the  many  parallels  in  Biblical  narrative  and  sacred  history8, 

1  Harris,  Boanerges,  pp.  86,  92,  159,  179,  180. 
1  De  Witte,  Revue  numismatique,  1839,  pp.  92-3. 

3  Lactantius,  ad  Statium,  Thebaid.,  vn,  p.  412. 

4  Harris,  Dioscuri,  p.  42 ;  Cult,  pp.  80  and  126. 

*  M.  Albert,  Le  Culte  de  Castor  et  Pollux  en  Italie,  Paris,  1883,  p.  46. 

8  Grimm,  Der  arme  Heinrich  von  Hartmann  von  der  Aue.  Berlin,  1815,  p.  198  ;  Wacker- 
nagel,  Der  arme  Heinrich  Herrn  Hartmanns  von  Aue,  Basel,  1885,  p.  194  ;  H.  L.  Strack, 
Der  Blutaberglaube,  Miinchen,  1892. 


A.  H.  KRAPPE  159 

partly  because  of  the  wide-spread  belief  that  blood  could  cure  leprosy, 
and  partly  because  leprosy  meant  social  death1.  But  since  Amelius 
could  not  well  inflict  leprosy  on  his  brother,  the  disease  had  to  be 
motivated  in  some  manner.  Of  the  reasons  alleged  in  the  different 
versions  that  of  the  Vita  is  after  all  the  most  natural ;  God  sends  the 
affliction  to  Amicus  in  much  the  same  way  in  which  he  sends  it  to 
Miriam2,  to  Gehazi3,  to  King  Uzziah4,  to  Job, and  to  Constantine5.  It  is 
the  natural  motivation  and  which  suggested  itself  most  readily  to  a 
monkish  chronicler6.  The  episode  of  the  sword  thus  became  useless. 
The  incident  of  the  marvellous  goblets  was  likewise  dropped,  probably 
because  it  was  not  thought  to  fit  quite  in  the  new  pious  frame ;  but  it 
left  some  traces.  In  the  chanson  de  geste,  Amelius  is  warned  by  a 
dream  of  the  danger  threatening  his  friend.  This  is  an  episode  which 
occurs  in  the  legend  of  Saint  Andrew7,  but  also  in  a  version  of  the 
tale  of  the  Two  Brothers8.  Last  of  all,  the  twin  character  of  the  heroes 
was  no  longer  insisted  on,  but  the  simultaneous  conception  and  birth 
remained. 

Those  pagan  Dioscuri,  whether  they  were  Roman  or  Celt9,  were  un- 
doubtedly very  similar  to  Castor  and  Pollux,  that  is,  they  were  thought 
horsemen  and  warriors.  Only  thus  can  it  be  explained  how  they  became 
heroes  of  a  feudal  epic.  As  was  pointed"  out  by  Bedier10,  Mortara  is 
situated  on  the  pilgrim  road  to  Rome,  and  this  no  doubt  accounts  for 
the  favour  which  the  legend  found  with  the  French  minstrels.  In  this 
new  stage  it  underwent  another  modification.  The  figure  of  the  false 
dragon-killer  was  remodelled,  evidently  under  the  influence  of  the  type 
of  the  conventional  traitor  in  the  chansons  de  geste. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  hold  Oriental  or  Byzantine  influences  responsible 
for  the  rise  of  the  legend.  The  motifs  which  compose  the  tale  of  the 
Two  Brothers,  of  which  the  legend  of  Amicus  and  Amelius  is  but  a 
variant,  are  partly  universal,  as  that  of  the  marvellous  conception  of  the 

1  Num.  xii.  12.  2  Num.  xii.  10. 

*  2  Kings  v.  27.  4  2  Chron.  xxvi.  19. 

5  A.  Graf,  Roma  nella  memoria  e  nelle  immaginazioni  del  medio  evo,  Torino,  1882-3, 
ii,  p.  81. 

6  On  the  Christian,  or  rather  clerical,  spirit  which  pervades  the  story,  cf.  Grimm,  Der 
arme  Heinrich,  p.  156 ;  Schwieger,  op.  cit.,  p.  15. 

7  G.  H.  Gerould,  Saints'  Legend*,  Boston  and  New  York,  1916,  p.  87. 

8  K.  Mullenhoff,  Sagen,  MSrchen  und  Lieder  der  Herzogtiimer  Schlesicig  Holstein  und 
Lauenburg,  Kiel,  1845,  p.  450. 

9  Of  the  Celts  Diodorus  Siculus  says  that  they  p.a\i<TTa.  twv  Oewu  rout  AioaKotipovs :  wapa- 
56ffifJt.ov  yap  ?xeLP  a^Tous  ex  7raXcuwe  xpbvwv  riyv  tovtuv  twv  deuiv  ivapovcfiav  en  tqv  'Q,Kea.vov 
ye"ytvf)fiivr)v. 

10  Op.  et  loc.  cit.  Cf.  also  K.  Korner,  liber  die  Ortsangaben  in  Amis  und  Amiles,  Zeitsch. 
f.franz.  Spr.  u.  Lit.,  xxxin,  1908,  p.  195. 


160  The  Legend  of  Amicus  and  Amelius 

heroes1,  that  of  the  object  indicating  the  accident2,  the  grateful  animals 
and  the  transformation  into  stone,  and  partly  found  in  classical  antiquity, 
as  the  episode  of  the  dragon  fight3.  Nor  is  there  any  ground  for  a  theory 
of  a  Teutonic  origin  of  the  legend  such  as  Schwieger  proposed4.  The 
situation  of  the  sanctuary  of  Mortara  in  Lombard  territory  would 
sufficiently  account  for  the  small  number  of  Teutonic  features  which  can 
be  distinguished  in  the  legend. 

It  is  true,  in  the  ancient  Dioscuri  myths  which  have  come  down  to 
us  we  do  not  find  the  episode  of  the  blood  sacrifice.  A  trace  of  it  may  be 
seen  in  Pollux's  cession  of  half  of  his  immortality  to  his  brother,  if  we 
remember  that  in  many  instances  the  sacrifice  of  the  children  or  the 
eldest  son  takes  the  place  of  the  sacrifice  of  their  father5.  Also  it  should 
be  noted  that  in  a  Rumanian  tale  the  two  brothers  are  actually  called 
the  morning  and  the  evening  star6. 

The  Chevalerie  Ogier  de  Danemarche1  is  the  only  version  which 
records  the  death  of  the  two  inseparable  friends  at  the  hands  of  Ogier. 
This  version  cannot  be  due  to  the  author  of  the  chanson  de  geste,  as  it 
makes  its  hero  appear  in  an  odious  light.  Since  the  locality  of  the 
murder  is  again  Upper  Italy,  where  both  the  twins  and  Ogier  were  well- 
known  legendary  characters,  we  must  conclude  that  the  version  of  the 
Chevalerie  goes  back  to  a  local  tradition  current  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Mortara  and  Novara.    What  was  its  origin  ? 

In  the  Dioscuri  legends  of  Roman  and  mediaeval  times  we  look  in 
vain  for  a  situation  analogous  to  that  of  the  Chevalerie,  where  both 
Dioscuri  are  killed  by  a  hero  and  a  sympathetic  character.  But  there 
exists  a  very  close  parallel  in  Greek  legend.  Apollonius  Rhodius,  in  the 
first  book  of  his  Argonautica,  tells  the  following  story: 

1298      nai  vv  Ktv  a^r  oiriaa  Mvaav  eVi  yaiav  ikovto 
XaiTfia  ftirjirafjifvoi,  avefiov  t   aXknuTOP  Icotjv, 
el  fir)  Qpr/iKioLo  Suco,  tiles'  Bopeao 
Alaicidrjv  ^aXeTroicrii'  (prjTvecrKOV  €7Tf<raiv, 
cr^erXtor '   t)  re  a(piv  tTTvyepr)  ricris  eVAer   otricrcra) 
X(pa\v  vdy    'HpaK^rjos.    o  p.iv  8i^€<rdai  i'pvuov. 
ddXcov  yap  YlrjXiao  SeSoviroTos  «■*//•  aviovras 

1  Bolte-Polfvka,  op.  cit.,  i,  p.  544. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  545;  E.  Andr^e,  Ethnographische  Parallelen  und  Vergleiche,  N.  F.,  Leipzig, 
1889,  pp.  21  ff. ;  W.  Mannhardt,  Wald-und  Feldkidte,  Berlin,  1904, 'i,  p.  48;  J.  G.  Frazer, 
Balder  the  Beautiful,  London,  1913,  n,  pp.  61,  102,  118. 

3  Bolte-Polivka,  op.  cit.,  i,  p.  547. 

4  Op.  cit.,  pp.  35-6. 

5  J.  G.  Frazer,  The  Dying  God,  London,  1914,  pp.  160  ff. ;  Spirits  of  the  Corn  and  the 
Wild,  London,  1914,  pp.  13,  24  ff. 

6  M.  Kremnitz,  Rumcinische  Mdrchen,  Leipzig,  1883,  p.  204.  In  many  versions  the 
children  have  a  star  on  their  forehead ;  cf .  J.  G.  von  Hahn,  Griechisclie  und  albanesische 
Mdrchen,  Miinchen,  1918,  n,  p.  357. 

7  Ed.  Barrois,  11.  5847  ff. ;  cf .  J.  BeMier,  op.  cit.,  u,  p.  182. 


A.  H.  KRAPPE  161 

Trjvco  iv  apfpipvTr)  neCppev,  nai  afirjtraTO  yaiav 
dp,(p'  avTols}  (TTrjXas  re  8va>  nadinrepdev  erev^tv, 
a>v  ereprj,  ddpfios  ireptaaiov  dvbpdcri  Xevacreiv, 
Kivvrai  rj^rjevros  viro  irvoirj  ftopeao. 

The  resemblances  of  this  episode  with  the  passage  of  the  Chevalerie 
are  quite  remarkable.    They  may  be  stated  as  follows : 

1.  The  victims  are  two  young  twin  brothers. 

2.  They  are  slain  by  a  national  hero  and  a  sympathetic  character, 

for  no  adequate  reason. 

S.  They  encounter  their  slayer  on  the  road,  returning  from  a  pious 
mission,  the  Boreades  from  the  funeral  games  of  Pelias,  Amis 
and  Amiles  from  the  Holy  Land. 

Does  there  exist  any  historical  connection  between  the  two  episodes  ? 
The  Greek  legends  occur  besides  in  Apollodorus'  Library1  and  in 
Hyginus2.  The  work  of  Apollodorus  was  no  more  known  in  the  Latin 
middle  ages  than  the  Argonautica.  Hyginus  was  known  in  Western 
monasteries3.  Yet  it  seems  extremely  unlikely  that  mediaeval  monks 
should  have  picked  out  this  story,  replaced  Hercules  by  Ogier  and  the 
Boreades  by  Amicus  and  Amelius.  But  it  would  be  as  hazardous  to 
declare  the  resemblances  fortuitous.  The  most  probable  hypothesis, 
though  it  can  hardly  be  more  than  a  hypothesis,  would  be  that  the 
story  of  the  death  of  the  Dioscuri  formed- a  part  of  the  old  tradition  of 
the  pagan  sanctuary,  that  the  twin  divinities,  whatever  their  origin, 
had  in  Roman  times  been  identified  with  the  Greek  Boreades  and  that 
the  death  of  Zetes  and  Calais  had  been  grafted  on  their  legend,  which 
was  all  the  easier  because  the  Greek  Heracles  played  a  very  prominent 
part  in  Italic  cults4  and  because  Italy  was  the  scene  of  a  large  number 
of  his  exploits5. 

It  can  be  said,  then,  that  the  legend  of  Amicus  and  Amelius  is  an 
ancient  Dioscuric  myth  which  was  preserved  in  a  corner  of  Italy,  thanks 
to  the  accommodating  character  of  the  Church  which  generously  ad- 
mitted pagan  twins  into  its  shrines,  sanctuaries  and  martyrologies. 
insisting  only  upon  a  few  minor  changes  which  are  not  great  enough 
really  and  effectively  to  conceal  the  origin  of  the  story. 

A.  H.  Krappe. 
Flat  River,  Mo.,  U.S.A. 

1  in,  15,  2.  2  Fab.  14. 

:!  Cf.  Manitius,  Itheinisches  Museum,  xlvii,  1892,  Erganzungsheft,  p.  40. 

4  Cf.  Dion.  Hal.  Antiq.  Rom.  i,  40,  6:  7roXXax?7  Se  icai  aWy  7-tJs  'IraXias  avtirai  Tt/jJu-q 
T(p  0e<f>  /cat  /3w/uo2  /cara  7r6Xeu  re  Wpvvrai  Kal  Trap1  65oi$,  /cat  <nrai>iws,  cLv  eiipoi  ris  'IraXtas  xupov, 
Zvda  p.T)  rvyxdvei  Tip.dop.evos  6  6e6s. 

5  Cf.  Dion.  Hal.  op.  cit.,  i,  cap.  34  ff.,  38-44;  Diod.  Sic.  iv,  cap.  20-2;  Prop,  iv,  9: 
Virg.  Am.  vm,  201  ff.;  Ovid,  Fasti,  i,  543 ff. 


THE  SEVEN  SONGS  OF  MARTIN  CODAX. 

The  discovery  a  few  years  ago  by  Don  Pedro  Vindel,  the  well-known 
bookseller  of  Madrid,  of  a  manuscript  of  the  seven  songs  of  Martin  Codax 
inside  the  parchment  binding  of  a  14th  century  codex  of  Cicero's  De 
Ojjiciis  is  enough  to  set  scholars  ripping  up  the  bindings  of  all  their  old 
folios.  Blessings  on  the  disdain  which  could  use  the  lyrics  of  Galicia  to 
stiffen  the  binding  of  a  classic  and  has  thus  brought  about  this  delight- 
fully adventurous  survival.  Although  the  songs  of  Codax  were  already 
known  in  the  Cancioneiro  da  Vaticana  published  by  Ernesto  Monaci  in 
1875,  the  later  discovery  was  of  very  great  value,  since  the  songs  in  the 
new  text  arc  accompanied  by  musical  notes,  and  moreover  various  dis- 
putes as  to  text  and  spelling  have  been  set  at  rest.  It  is  reproduced  in 
facsimile  at  the  end  of  Las  Siete  Canciones  de  Amor,  edited  by  Serior 
Vindel  (Madrid,  1915),  which  was  followed  by  important  studies  on 
Codax  and  his  lyrics  by  D.  Carolina  Michaelis  de  Vasconcellos  and 
D.  Eladio  Oviedo  y  Arce.  In  the  Cancioneiro  da  Vaticana  the  seven 
songs  are  numbered  884-890,  but  the  collector  may  have  been  in  doubt 
as  to  whether  no.  883  : 

A  do  mui  bon  parecer 
Mandou  lo  adufe  tanger 

was  not  also  by  Codax,  since  at  the  end  of  no.  882  occurs  the  following 
line,  which  has  perhaps  crept  into  the  text  from  the  margin  : 
M'  Codaz,  esta  non  acho  fechada. 
This  raises  the  question  as  to  the  form  of  the  name,  the  meaning  of 
which  is  also  doubtful.  Codax  was  one  of  the  humbler  singers,  an  almost 
anonymous  jogral.  D.  Eladio  Oviedo  y  Arce,  indeed,  made  an  un- 
successful attempt  to  convert  him  into  a  segrier,  wrongly  deriving 
segrier  from  seguir,  '  to  follow,'  and  Codax  from  Italian  codazzo,  '  follow- 
ing,' '  series.'  If  one  must  go  to  the  Italian  codazzo,  it  is  more  tempting 
to  derive  the  name  of  the  singer  of  Vigo's  sea  from  it  through  codaste, 
'  stern-post '  (in  Portuguese  codaste  and  cadaste).  If  Codaz  is  the  correct 
form  it  might  mean  'the  large-elbowed,'  he  of  the  projecting  elbows, 
although  one  is  inclined  to  think  that  it  might  refer  to  a  different 
peculiarity :  the  resemblance  of  bandy  legs  to  arms  akimbo.  On  the 
whole  the  shortening  of  codaste  by  time  may  appear  the  more  probable 
and  would  explain  the  variants  codax,  codaz ;  it  seems  at  least  certain 


AUBREY  F.   G.  BELL  163 

that  the  x  is  due  to  corrupt  pronunciation,  and  the  derivation  from 
'  Codex '  may  be  dismissed.  Whatever  the  precise  form  and  meaning  of 
their  author's  name,  these  charming  songs  form  a  delightful  section  in 
what  might  be  a  fascinating  anthology,  a  Galician-Portuguese  Cancioneiro 
do  Mar.  These  sea-lyrics  would  begin  with  King  Alfonso  X's  beautiful 
poem  (C.  M.  313)  and  would  include  the  barcarolas  of  Admiral  Pai 
Gomez  Charino,  Julian  Bolseiro  (C.  V.  774),  Roy  Fernandez  (C.  V.  488) 
and  other  13th  century  Galician  poets ;  the  fragmentary  C.  M.  B.  458  : 
Mens  olios  van  polo  rio  (mar)  Mirando  van  o  navio  (Portugal),  or  in 
line  2,  Mirando  van  men  amigo  (Professor  Henry  Lang  in  C.G.C.  pp.  140, 
237),  or  Buscando  van  Douro  e  Minho  (Professor  Carolina  Michaelis  de 
Vasconcellos  in  C.  A.  M.  V.  ii,  918) ;  the  Perdia  a  vista  do  mar  from  the 
Fragmento  de  um  cancioneiro  do  seculo  xvi  published  by  the  late 
Epiphanio  Dias  in  the  Revista  Lusitana,  vol.  iv  (1895-6),  pp.  142-79 ; 
Bernardim  Ribeiro's  Pola  ribeira  de  um  rio ;  Gil  Vicente's  Remando  vao 
remadores,  and  so  on  to  Senhor  Guerra  Junqueiro's  Mar  tenebroso,  mar 
pavoroso,  Dr  Lopes  Vieira's  Ilhas  de  Bruma,  and  the  popular  quatrains. 
The  text  of  Roy  Fernandez'  poem,  full  of  the  sea's  rhythm,  should 
certainly  be  set  to  music  : 

Quand'  eu  veo  las  ondas  When  I  watch  the  sea 

E  las  mui  altas  ribas  Round  the  high  cliff  swelling 

Logo  me  veen  ondas  Ever  thoughts  of  thee 

Al  cor  pola  velida  :  To  my  heart  come  welling  : 

Maldito  sea  '1  mare  Ah  sorrow  on  the  sea 

Que  me  faz  tanto  male.  That  brings  such  grief  to  me. 

Nunca  veo  las  ondas  And  woe  for  the  high  cliffs 

Nin  las  mui  altas  rocas  And  waves  that  know  no  quelling 

Que  me  non  vennan  ondas  Still  to  thoughts  of  thee 

Al  cor  pola  fremosa  :  My  sad  heart  compelling  : 

Maldito  sea  '1  mare  Ah  sorrow  on  the  sea 

Que  me  faz  tanto  male.  That  brings  such  grief  to  me. 

Se  eu  veo  las  ondas  And  I  watch  the  sea 

E  veo  las  costeras  About  the  steep  rocks  swelling 

Logo  me  veen  ondas  The  dirge  unceasingly 

Al  cor  pola  ben  feita  : .  Of  my  heart's  love  knelling  : 

Maldito  sea  '1  mare  Ah  sorrow  on  the  sea 

Que  me  faz  tanto  male.  That  brings  such  grief  to  me. 

Centuries  before  the  sea  route  to  India  was  discovered,  medieval 
Galician  poets  sang  of  the  sea  in  lyrics  filled  with  a  wistful  melancholy 
and  music.  The  Galician  Has,  the  lovely  waters  of  Vigo's  bay,  are  pre- 
eminently worthy  to  be  sung ;  and  Martin  Codax,  without  the  use  of 
adjectives  or  any  attempts  at  description,  has  the  true  poet's  gift  of 
making  us  feel  intimately  the  beauty,  even  the  colour,  the  transparent 
depths,  the  swell  and  foam  of  the  waters  of  the  ria,  and  the  silent  charm 


164  The  Seven  Song a  of  Martin  Codax 

of  the  solitary  church  at  the  water's  edge,  where  many  a  prayer  went  up 
for  the  safe  return  of  those  who  went  down  to  the  sea  in  ships  from  the 
little  town  of  Vigo,  now  a  great  city.  The  very  first  line  of  the  first 
poem  '  Ondas  do  mar  de  Vigo '  has  in  it  all  the  rhythmic  swell  of  the 
noontide  ocean.  Like  the  other  poems,  it  is  of  extreme  simplicity  of 
form  and  thought,  just  a  cry  of  the  heart  expressed  in  the  parallel 
strophes  of  the  cossante :  Waves  of  Vigo's  sea,  have  you  seen  my  love  ? 
In  the  second  poem  the  lover  is  coming  home,  and  it  may  seem  strange 
that  he  is  '  del  rey  privado,'  but  this  proves  not  that  Codax  was  of  high 
rank  but  that  his  lyrical  gift  was  appreciated  by  high-placed  ladies  (the 
cossantes  pretend  to  be  composed  by  women,  as  originally  and  among 
the  people  they  no  doubt  really  were).  The  third  poem  is  somewhat 
unusual  because  the  speaker  addresses  not  only  her  sister  but  her 
mother  (the  meeting  with  both  her  lover  and  her  mother  in  the  church 
at  Vigo,  obtained  by  reading  madr  e  instead  of  madre,  would  be  even 
more  unusual).  The  explanation  probably  is  that  the  mother  here,  as 
so  often  in  the  early  lyrics,  is  regarded  as  hostile :  the  daughter  implores 
her  sister's  support,  and,  having  obtained  it,  turns  triumphantly  on  her 
mother — they  are  now  two  to  one — and  tells  her  with  defiance  that  she 
is  going  to  meet  her  lover.  These  lyrics,  simple  as  they  are  in  expression 
and  structure,  are  sometimes  dramatic.  The  fourth  and  seventh  are 
lonely  cries  of  soedade  for  the  absent  lover.  The  first  line  of  No.  5,  half 
barcarola,  half  bailada,  Quantas  sabedes  amar  amigo,  faintly  recalls  the 
more  potent  music  of  the  almost  contemporary  Donne  ch'  avete  intelletto 
a"  amove.  No.  6  is  a  fascinating  religious  dance-song,  of  which  the  music 
in  the  newly-discovered  text  is  unfortunately  missing.  The  text  of  the 
seven  songs  here  given  is  based  on  that  of  the  Vindel  manuscript : 

I. 

i  i 

Ondas  do  mar  de  Uigo  0  flowing  waves  of  Vigo's  bay 

se  uistes  meu  amigo.  Have  you  seen  my  love  who  is  gone  away  ? 

e  ay  Deus,  se  uerra  cedo  !  Ah  God,  will  he  soon  come  to  me  ? 

ii  ii 

Ondas  do  mar  leuado  0  waves,  fair  waves  of  the  swelling  sea, 

se  uistes  meu  amado,  Have  you  seen  my  lover,  woe  is  me  ? 

e  ay  Deus,  se  uerra  cedo  !  Ah  God,  will  he  soon  come  to  me  ? 

iii  iii 

Se  uistes  meu  amigo,  Have  you  seen  my  love  for  whom  I  sigh 

o  por  que  eu  sospiro,  And  sorrowing  weep  incessantly  ? 

e  ay  Deus,  se  uerra  cedo  !  Ah  God,  will  he  soon  come  to  me  ? 

iv  iv 

Se  uistes  meu  amado,  Have  you  seen  my  lover  for  whom  alway 

por  que  ei  gran  coidado,  I  sorrowing  grieve  by  night  and  day  I 

e  ay  Deus,  se  uerra  cedo  !  Ah  God,  will  he  soon  come  to  me  ? 


AUBREY  F.  G.  BELL 


165 


II. 


Mandad'  ei  comigo 
ca  uen  raeu  amigo, 
e  irei,  madr',  a  Uigo. 


My  love's  coming  home, 
For  his  message  has  come, 
I  will  hie  me,  mother,  to  Vigo. 


Comig'  ei  mandado 
ca  uen  mea  amado 
e  irei,  madi'',  a  Uigo. 


He  is  coming  to-day, 

As  his  message  doth  say, 

I  will  hie  me,  mother,  to  Vigo. 


Ca  uen  meu  amigo 
e  uen  san'  e  uiuo, 
e  irei,  madr',  a  Uigo. 


Coming  home  presently, 
Safe  and  well  comes  he, 
I  will  hie  me,  mother,  to  Vigo. 


Ca  lien  meu  amado 
e  uen  uiu'  e  sano, 
e  irei,  rnadr',  a  Uigo. 


My  love's  on  the  way, 
Well  and  safe  comes  to-day, 
I  will  hie  me,  mother,  to  Vigo. 


Ca  uen  san'  e  uiuo 

e  del  rei  amigo, 

e  irei,  madr',  a  Uigo. 


Safe  and  well,  I  wis, 

The  King's  friendship  is  his, 

I  will  hie  me,  mother,  to  Vigo. 


Ca  uen  uiu'  e  sano 
e  del  rei  priuado 
e  irei,  madr',  a  Uigo. 


Well  and  safe  comes  to  me, 

The  King's  favourite  he, 

I  will  hie  me,  mother,  to  Vigo. 


III. 


Mia  yrmana  fremosa,  treides  comigo 
a  la  ygreia  de  Uig'  ue,o  mar  salido 
e  miraremos  las  ondas. 


O  sister  fair,  come  haste  with  me 
To  Vigo  church  the  waves  to  see, 
We  will  look  upon  the  ocean  waves. 


Mia  irmana  fremosa,  treides  de  grado 
a  la  ygreia  de  Uig'  ueo  mar  leuado 
e  miraremos  las  ondas. 


Fair  sister  mine,  be  fain  to  go 

To  Vigo  church  where  the  waves  flow, 

We  will  look  upon  the  ocean  waves. 


A  la  ygreia  de  Uig'  ueo  mar  salido 
e  uerrd  y,  mia  madre,  o  meu  amigo, 
e  miraremos  las  ondas. 


To  Vigo  church,  where  the  waves  beat, 
There,  mother  mine,  my  love  to  meet, 
We  will  look  upon  the  ocean  waves. 


A  la  ygreia  de  Uig'  ueo  mar  leuado 
e  uerrd  y,  mia  madre,  o  meu  amado, 
e  miraremos  las  ondas. 


To  Vigo  church  where  breaks  the  foam, 
There,  mother  mine,  my  love  will  come, 
We  will  look  upon  the  ocean  waves. 


IV. 


Ay  Deus,  se  sab'  ora  meu  amigo 
com'  eu  senneira  estou  en  Uigo, 
e  uou  namorada. 


M.  L.  II.  xvm. 


Ah  God,  couldst  thou,  my  lover,  know  , 
In  Vigo  I  so  lonely  go, 
And  all  in  love,  in  love  go  I. 

11 


166 


The  Seven  Songs  of  Martin  Codax 


Ay  Deus,  se  sab'  ora  meu  amado 
com'  eu  en  Uigo  senneira  manno, 
e  uou  namorada. 


Ah  God,  my  love,  I  fain  would  tell 
How  lonely  I  in  Vigo  dwell, 
And  all  in  love,  in  love  go  I. 


Com'  eu  senneira  estou  en  Uigo 
e  nullas  gardas  non  ei  comigo 
e  uou  namorada. 


So  solitary  in  Vigo  I, 

None  watches  o'er  my  privacy, 

And  all  in  love,  in  love  go  I. 


Com'  eu  en  Uigo  senneira  manno 
e  nullas  gardas  migo  non  trago 
e  uou  namorada. 


Lonely  in  Vigo  I  remain 

And  none  to  guard  goes  in  my  train, 

And  all  in  love,  in  love  go  I. 


E  nullas  gardas  non  ei  comigo, 
ergas  rneus  olios  que  choran  migo, 
e  uou  namorada. 


None  o'er  my  ways  a  watch  doth  keep 
But  my  two  eyes  that  weep  and  weep, 
And  all  in  love,  in  love  go  I. 


E  nullas  gardas  migo  non  trago, 
ergas  meus  olios  que  choran  ambos, 
e  uou  namorada. 


And  none  to  guard  goes  in  my  train 
But  my  two  eyes  that  weep  amain 
And  all  in  love,  in  love  go  I. 


Quantas  sabedes  amar  amigo 
treides  comig'  a  lo  mar  de  Uigo 
e  bannar  nos  emos  nas  ondas. 


All  ye  who  are  of  love's  fair  train, 
To  Vigo's  sea  come  haste  amain, 
We  will  bathe  us  in  the  ocean  waves. 


Quantas  sabedes  amar  amado 
treides  comig'  a  lo  mar  leuado 
e  bannar  nos  emos  nas  ondas. 


All  ye  whose  hearts  love's  secret  know 
Hasten  with  me  where  the  sea- waves  flow, 
We  will  bathe  us  in  the  ocean  waves. 


Treides  comigo  a  lo  mar  de  Uigo 

e  ueeremolo  meu  amigo, 

e  bannar  nos  emos  nas  ondas. 


Hasten  with  me  to  Vigo's  sea 
Thither  my  love  will  come  to  me, 
We  will  bathe  us  in  the  ocean  waves. 


Treides  comigo  a  lo  mar  leuado 
e  uereemoflo]  meu  amado, 
e  bannar  nos  emos  nas  ondas. 


Hasten  to  where  the  sea  flows  free 
And  there  my  lover  shall  we  see, 
We  will  bathe  us  in  the  ocean  waves. 


VI. 


Eno  sagrado  en  Uigo 
baylaua  corpo  uelido, 
amor  ei. 


In  Vigo  and  on  holy  ground 

A  body  fair  danced  round  and  round, 

All  in  love  am  I. 


En  Uigo  no  sagrado 
baylaua  corpo  delgado, 
amor  ei. 


In  Vigo,  in  this  holy  place, 
Danced  so  slim  and  full  of  grace, 
All  in  love  am  I. 


Baylaua  corpo  uelido 
que  nunca  ouuer  amigo, 
amor  ei. 


Danced  a  fair  body  round  and  round 
That  never  had  a  lover  found, 
All  in  love  am  I. 


AUBREY  F.  G.  BELL 


167 


Bailaua  corpo  delgado 
que  nunca  ouuer  amado, 
amor  ei. 


Danced  so  slim  and  full  of  grace 
That  ne'er  had  looked  upon  love's  face, 
All  in  love  am  I. 


Que  nunca  ouuer  amigo, 
ergas  no  sagrad'  en  Uigo, 
amor  ei. 


That  never  had  a  lover  found 
And  danced  there  on  holy  ground, 
All  in  love  am  I. 


Que  nunca  ouuer  amado 
ergas  en  Uigo  no  sagrado, 
amor  ei. 


That  ne'er  had  looked  upon  love's  face 
And  danced  in  this  holy  place, 
All  in  love  am  I. 


VII. 


Ay  ondas  que  eu  uin  ueer, 
se  me  saberedes  dizer 
porque  tarda  meu  amigo 
sen  mi  ? 


Waves  that  I  came  to  see, 
Ah  waves,  say  unto  me 
Why  my  lover  lingers  thus 
Away  from  me. 


Ay  ondas  que  eu  uin  mirar, 
se  me  saberedes  contar 
porque  tarda  meu  amado 
sen  mi  1 


O  waves  that  ebb  and  swell, 
Will  you  not  to  me  tell 
Why  my  love  tarries  thus 
Away  from  me  ? 

Aubrey  F.  G.  Bell. 


S.  JOAO  DO  ESTORIL,  PORTUGAL. 


11—2 


JUDAS'  SUNDAY  REST. 
I. 

It  is  altogether  pleasant  to  find,  among  the  mediaeval  traditions 
which  betray  such  an  obvious  delight  in  heaping  damnation  upon 
damnation  on  the  head  of  the  Arch-Traitor,  the  story  of  Judas'  weekly 
respite  from  the  torments  of  hell.  The  conception  of  a  Sunday  rest  is 
indeed  oriental,  but  its  transference  to  Judas  Iscariot  and  the  invention 
of  a  reason  for  his  relief  from  torture  must  be  credited  to  Western 
Europe  at  the  very  beginning  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

In  the  Vita  Sancti  Brendani,  chapter  xxv,  it  is  related  that  St  Brendan 
and  his  followers  were  walking  abroad  during  a  severe  snow-storm,  and 
the  brothers  asked  him  if  the  cold  of  hell  was  any  worse.  '  Nos  vidimus 
Judam  Domini  proditorem,'  replied  the  saint,  '  in  pelago  horribili  in 
Dominico  die  flentem  et  plangentem  supra  petram  asperam  et  lubricam 
qui  nunc  mergebatur  fluctibus  et  nunc  altior  mari  modice  extra.  Unus 
fluctus  igneus  ab  oriente  et  alius  glaceali  frigore  ab  occidente  super 
petram  veniebat  et  intingebat  terribiliter  Judam  et  haec  pena  maxima 
sibi  requies  videbatur.  In  dominicis  enim  diebus  pro  requie  sibi  de- 
mentia Dei  talis  locus  datur.    Quid  est  igitur  esse  in  inferno1 ! ' 

The  meeting  of  Judas  and  St  Brendan,  which  is  here  very  concisely 
told,  is  narrated  at  considerable  length  in  the  famous  Navigatio  Sancti 
Brendani.  After  sailing  to  the  southward  for  seven  days,  the  voyagers 
came  in  sight  of  the  Smoky  Mountain,  and  then  there  appeared  on  the 
horizon  an  indistinct  little  figure.  Some  thought  it  was  a  bird,  others 
a  ship.  '  Steer  thither,'  ordered  St  Brendan.  When  they  came  near  they 
saw  a  man  seated  on  a  rock  in  the  midst  of  surging  waters :  before  his 
face  hung  a  bit  of  cloth  suspended  from  two  iron  forks  {furcillae  ferreae), 
and  the  wind  flapped  it  continually  in  his  eyes.  Being  questioned,  the 
figure  answered  :  '  Ego  sum  infelicissimus  ille  Judas,  negotiator  pessimus. 
Non  pro  merito  habeo  istum  locum,  sed  pro  misericordia  ineffabili  Jhesu 

1  P.  F.  Moran,  Acta  Sancti  Brendani,  Dublin,  1872,  p.  22.  This  incident  is  slightly 
different  in  detail  in  the  Vita  Prima  Sancti  Brendani  printed  by  Plummer,  Vitae  Sanctorum 
Hiberniae,  Oxford,  1910,  vol.  I,  pp.  98 ff.  (Judas,  p.  147),  from  two  MSS.  which  are 
variously  dated  from  the  first  half  of  the  thirteenth  century  to  the  end  of  the  fourteenth 
or  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century.  The  earliest  Lives  of  Brendan  apparently  do  not 
contain  the  Judas  episode ;  its  presence  here  being  due  to  conflation  with  the  Navigatio 
(see  below). 


PAULL  FRANKLIN  BAUM  169 

Christi.  Non  mihi  computatur  penalis  iste  locus,  sed  pro  indulgentia 
redemptoris  et  pro  honore  resurrectionis  sue  sancte —  Mihi  enim  videtur, 
quando  hie  sedeo,  quasi  in  paradiso  deliciarum  sim  propter  timorem 
tormentorum  que  ventura  sunt  mihi  in  hac  vespera.'  The  infelicissimus 
tells  of  his  hot  and  cold  torments  within  the  Smoky  Mountain,  along 
with  Herod  and  Pilate  and  Annas  and  Caiaphas;  only  Sundays  has  he 
release  and  on  certain  feast-days.  He  then  implores  respite  until  the 
following  dawn :  which  St  Brendan  promises.  In  answer  to  further 
queries  he  explains  that  the  rock  whereon  he  sits  he  had  placed  across 
a  ditch  in  a  highway  for  the  convenience  of  pedestrians ;  the  iron  forks 
he  had  given  to  the  Holy  Temple  'ad  cacabos  sustinendos ' ;  the  cloth 
hanging  from  them  he  had  given  to  a  leper,  yet  it  is  less  a  protection 
than  a  hindrance  because  it  was  not  his  own  to  give.  At  sunset  come 
the  devils  to  carry  Judas  back  to  hell ;  but  St  Brendan  forbids  them  to 
do  so,  and  a  long  altercation  follows,  in  the  course  of  which  they  put  the 
significant  question  to  St  Brendan :  '  Quomodo  invocas  nomen  Domini 
super  ilium  cum  ipse  sit  traditor  Domini1?'  In  the  morning,  however, 
they  return,  threaten  Judas  with  redoubled  torments  (which  St  Brendan 
forbids),  and  carry  him  off  'cum  magno  impetu  et  ululatu2.' 

A  much  longer  version  of  this  episode  occurs  in  another  redaction  of 
the  Navigatio  printed  by  Plummer  (n,  pp:  270  ff.,  Judas  285-9)  from  a 

1  There  is  no  general  survey  of  the  'scholarship'  of  the  Brendan  legend.  The  most 
important  recent  discussions,  which  contain  abundant  bibliography,  are :  Ward,  Catalogue 
of  Romances,  London,  1893,  n,  pp.  516  ff.,Wahlund  (see  below  note  2),  and  Plummer,  op.  cit., 
i,  pp.  xxxvi  ff.  Cf.  also  Celtic  Review,  i  (1904),  p.  135  and  v  (1909),  p.  273;  and  Romania, 
xxn  (1893) ,  pp.  578  If.  The  Kev.  Denis  O'Donoghue's  Brendaniana,  Dublin,  1893,  2nd  ed. 
1895,  contains  the  Irish  Life  with  translation,  and  translations  of  both  the  Latin  Vita  and 
the  usual  version  of  the  Navigatio,  together  with  various  notes  and  data  on  the  historical 
Brendan.  Although  the  following  study  aims  to  be  complete  only  in  what  concerns  the  Judas 
episode  alone,  I  may  add  here  the  following  details  which  are  not  mentioned  in  the  text 
below.  Suchier  refers  to  a  redaction  of  the  Brendan  story  in  Latin  tetrameters  in  a  manu- 
script of  Lincoln  College,  Oxford.  Solovev,  K%  JiereH&a,Wb  o6'l>  Iyxfe  Ilpeji;aTeJ'fe, 
XapLKOBT>,  1895,  p.  122,  names  a  Czech  remaniement :  'Kronika  o  sv.  Brandanu,' 
Polivka,  Drobne  prispevky  literarne  historicke,  1891,  p.  107.  Solovev  devotes  several  pages 
to  Judas'  Sunday  Best  (Chapter  VI,  pp.  121-36),  but  his  discussion  is  repetitious  and 
wandering,  and  dependent  almost  entirely  on  the  articles  of  Graf  cited  below.  I  am  in- 
debted to  him,  however,  for  a  few  suggestions.  In  Poems,  Dublin,  1882,  Denis  Florence 
MacCarthy  has  turned  the  Brendan  story  into  verse.  Klapper,  Exempla  aus  Handschriften 
des  Mittelalters  (Sammhmg  mittellateinischer  Texte,  hrsg.  von  A.  Hilka,  ii),  no.  47,  contains 
under  the  rubric  '  An  suffragia  damnatis  prosint '  the  Judas  episode  taken  from  the  longer 
version  of  the  Navigatio  (T.  F.  Crane,  Mod.  Phil.,  x  (1913),  p.  316).  In  the  Latin  poem 
of  the  mediaeval  Life  of  Judas,  printed  by  Mone,  Anzeiger,  vn  (1838),  col.  532  ff.,  and 
reprinted  by  Du  Meril,  Poesies  populaires  latines  du  moyen  age,  Paris,  1847,  pp.  326  ff., 
there  is  a  passage  referring  to  the  Judas  episode  in  the  Brendan  voyage  (reprinted  by 
Du  Meril,  p.  335,  n.  4).  The  Judas  incident  occurs  separately  in  Irish  in  the  Book  of 
Fermoy.  A  Spanish  translation  of  the  Navigatio  is  sometimes  mentioned,  but  it  has  not 
been  traced. 

2  Carl  Wahlund,  Die  altfranz.  Prosailbersetzung  von  Brendans  Meerfahrt,  Upsala,  1900, 
pp.  80,  82,  84,  86.    The  Latin  text  is  a  '  Kompromiss-Text ' ;  cf.  Einleitung,  p.  lxxxvi. 


170  Judas  Sunday  Rest 

Bodleian  MS.  '  of  about  the  end  of  the  ninth  century.'  In  contrast  to 
the  simple  narrative  in  the  usual  pedestrian  Latin  of  mediaeval  tales, 
this  version  is  elaborate  in  manner  and  in  detail,  uses  a  large  vocabulary, 
and,  in  a  word,  is  composed  in  the  humanistic  manner.  Though  it  is 
about  two  and  a  half  times  longer  than  the  other,  it  says  nothing  of  the 
cause  or  origin  of  Judas'  relief,  nor  of  the  ineffable  mercy  of  Jesus  Christ, 
nor  of  the  iron  hooks  which  Judas  gave  to  the  priests ;  and  it  omits  the 
long  quarrel  between  Brendan  and  the  devils  over  allowing  Judas  the 
few  extra  hours  on  his  rock.  The  chief  addition  is  the  detailed  account 
of  Judas'  round  of  tortures :  on  Monday,  he  is  whirled  through  the  air ; 
on  Tuesday,  dragged  into  a  valley  and  bound  to  a  spiked  bed ;  on  Wed- 
nesday, boiled  in  tar  and  then  roasted ;  on  Thursday,  subjected  to  terrible 
cold ;  on  Friday,  flayed  and  rolled  in  salt,  and  given  melted  lead  and 
copper  to  drink;  on  Saturday,  shut  in  a  damp  reeking  prison1. 

St  Brendan  himself  died  in  577  or  583.  There  are  various  accounts 
of  his  career  dating  from  the  ninth  century  onwards,  but  the  Navigatio 
is  probably  not  much  earlier  than  A.D.  1000.  This  work  was  exceedingly 
popular  in  the  Middle  Ages.  Eighty  manuscripts  of  the  Latin  form  are 
known,  and  there  are  translations  into  most  of  the  vernacular  languages. 
It  is  not  necessary  here  to  enter  into  a  discussion  of  the  origin  of  the 
legend  or  its  subsequent  history2.  The  translations  are  for  the  more  part 
fairly  faithful.  In  the  following  account  of  the  vernacular  versions  I  shall 
note  only  the  important  variants  so  far  as  they  concern  the  Judas  episode. 

The  earliest  translation  is  from  the  longer  Latin  redaction  into 
Anglo-Norman  verse3.     It  was  made  about  1125  by  a  monk  named 

1  There  are  more  fundamental  differences  between  the  usual  form  of  the  Navigatio  and 
this  longer  recension,  but  they  do  not  appear  in  the  treatment  of  the  Judas  incident.  For 
a  concise  statement  of  other  variations  cf.  Heinrich  Calmud,  Prolegomena  zu  einer  kri- 
tischen  Ausgabe  des  altesten  franzosischen  Brendanlebens,  Bonn  Diss.,  1902,  pp.  152  ff. 
(Judas,  pp.  191-7). 

2  Ward  and  Wahlund  accept  essentially  Zimmer's  theory  (Zs.  f.  d.  deutsche  Altertum, 
xxxin  (1889),  pp.  129-220,  257-338;  and  Sitzungsberichte  of  the  Berlin  Academy,  1891,  i, 
pp.  279  ff.)  that  it  is  based  on  the  Irish  Imram  Maelduin  (itself  suggested  by  Virgil),  and 
contains  many  items  of  popular  tradition,  some  perhaps  from  the  Orient.  Plummer  remarks 
that  '  the  relation  of  the  Maelduin  and  Brendan  stories  requires  further  investigation.'  The 
incident  in  the  Imram  Maelduin  which  'corresponds'  to  the  Judas  incident  of  the  Navigatio 
is  §33  of  Zimmer's  analysis  (pp.  171  ff.) :  The  voyagers  see  something  in  the  distance  like 
a  white  bird  on  the  waves.  As  they  approach  they  find  it  is  an  old  man  seated  on  a  rock. 
In  answer  to  their  questions  he  tells  his  story — how  he  was  a  thievish  cook  of  the  monastery 
of  Torach ;  how  once  when  he  was  burying  a  dead  body  a  voice  from  the  earth  commanded 
him  to  dig  the  grave  elsewhere  and  promised  him  eternal  life  with  God ;  how  afterwards 
he  set  sail  in  a  new  boat,  met  a  man  sitting  on  the  water  who  urged  him  to  throw  over- 
board his  stolen  treasures,  gave  him  seven  loaves  and  a  goblet  of  whey,  and  bade  him  stop 
where  his  boat  brought  him ;  and  how  he  had  for  a  long  time  been  living  here  on  food 
miraculously  provided  for  him. 

3  Published,  diplomatico  more,  in  1875  by  Suchier,  Romanische  Studien,  i,  pp.  553  ff. 
(Judas  begins  1.  1211,  p.  580) ;  and  in  1878  by  Francisque  Michel,  Les  Voyages  Merveilleux 
de  Saint  Brandan  (Judas,  pp.  59  ff.).    The  same  translation,  in  the  Picard  dialect  of  the 


PAULL  FRANKLIN  BAUM  171 

Benoit,  and  was  dedicated  to  the  second  queen  of  Henry  I  of  England, 
Adelais  de  Louvain  (to  whom  also  Philippe  de  Thaon  dedicated  his 
Bestiary).  In  MS.  Cotton,  Vespasian  D  IX,  of  the  late  fourteenth  cen- 
tury, occurs  a  rendering  of  this  version  back  into  Latin,  in  the  'Mini  est 
propositum '  stanza  ('  in  zierlichen  Reimen/  says  Suchier)1.  A  few  stanzas 
will  illustrate  the  versifier's  talent.    Judas  on  the  rock : 

Rupes  ibi  cornitur  :  rupis  supra  pinnam 
Nudus  quidam  sorciens  :  sortem  inconcinnam 
Culpam  dignis  planctibus  :  prosequens  malignam 
Culpam  indignissimam  :  omni  planctu  dignam. 

Nudus  ibi  residet  :  herens  columpnelle 
Heret  ei  firmiter  :  fretum  ob  rebelle 
Panno  tectis  vultibus  :  hie  potatur  felle 
Felle  jjIus  quam  felleo  :  fluctus  et  procelle. 

Judas  explains  his  good  deed,  and  is  attacked  by  the  devils : 

Hie  obsistit  fluctibus  :  sed  non  ibi  penis 
Agit  sic  de  sumptibus  :  sumptus  alienis 
Lapis  mihi  subsidens  :  tantis  trito  trenis 
Pons  est  quern  exstruxeram  :  locis  in  obscenis. 

Patuit  periculis  :  locus  plenus  ceui 
Pontern  hoc  de  lapide  :  construens  subveni 
Dixit  et  prosiliunt  :  demones  milleni 
Arrepturi  miserum  :  et  minantes  seni. 

Rapitur  protrahitur  :  obstat  fides  sancti 
Obstat  reluctantibus  :  obstant  reluctati 
Usque  mane  parcere  :  precipit,  obstant  hii 
Adjuratos  obligat  :  cedunt  adjuranti. 

About  1247  there  was  made  an  Old  French  verse  rendering  of  the  usual 
Navigatio2;  and  this  was  included  bodily  (1759  verses)  in  the  second 
redaction  of  the  Image  du  Monde  of  Gautier  de  Metz3.  In  the  thirteenth 
century  the  usual  Navigatio  was  also  translated  twice  into  Old  French 
prose4 ;  and  likewise  in  the  thirteenth  century  it  was  given  a  freer  Anglo- 
Norman  rendering5.  In  all  of  these  translations  the  Judas  incident  offers 
no  variants  of  interest. 

first  half  of  the  thirteenth  century,  was  published  by  Auracher,  Zs.  f.  roman.  Philol.  n 
(1878),  pp.  438  ft*.  (Judas  begins  1.  1162,  p.  451).  In  Blackwood's  Edinburgh  Magazine, 
xxxix,  p.  807,  there  is  a  summary  of  this  poem  with  verse  translations.  E.  Pfitzner,  Das 
angloiwrmannische  Gedicht  von  Brendan  alt  Quelle  einer  lateinisehen  Prosqfassung,  Halle 
Diss. ,  1910,  argues  that  the  writer  of  the  longer  Latin  redaction  was  unacquainted  with  the 
usual  Navigatio,  and  based  his  work  solely  on  the  Anglo-Norman  poem.  Thus  the  many 
differences  between  the  two  Latin  versions  would  be  due  to  the  Anglo-Norman  poet. 

1  Published  by  Moran,  op.  cit.,  pp.  45  ft.,  and  by  Martin  in  Haupt's  Zeitschrift,  xvi 
(1873),  pp.  289  ft'.    The  Judas  episode  occupies  about  forty  of  the  311  stanzas. 

2  Published  by  A.  Jubinal,  La  Legende  Latine  de  S.  Brandaines,  Paris,  1836,  p.  105. 

3  Cf.  C.  Fant,  Image  du  Monde,  Upsala,  1886,  p.  26,  and  Du  Meril,  Poesies  popidaires 
latines  du  moyen  age,  Paris,  1847,  pp.  336  ft. 

4  Published  byWahlund,  op.  cit.,  pp.  3,  5,  7  ff.  (=  Jubinal,  pp.  57  ff.)  and  pp.  103, 105, 
107  ff. 

5  In  British  Museum  MS.  addit.  6524  (mentioned  by  Suchier,  p.  558).    Cf.  Ward,  n, 
pp.  549,  550,  who  says  it  was  made  by  Jean  Belet  in  the  early  fourteenth  century.     . 


172  Judas  Sunday  Rest 

There  exists  in  Provencal,  in  a  manuscript  of  the  middle  of  the 
fifteenth  century,  a  prose  translation  (based  on  a  Latin  text  represented 
by  the  Legenda  in  Festo  Sancti  Brendani,  printed  by  Moran),  which  con- 
tains excerpts  from  the  Navigatio1.  The  Judas  episode  here  occupies 
nearly  one  fourth  of  the  whole  Legenda2. 

In  Italian  there  are  four  prose  translations,  extant  in  several  manu- 
scripts. Two  of  these  have  been  published ;  one  by  Fr.  Novati3,  in  which 
the  Judas  incident  follows  the  usual  Latin  Navigatio ;  the  other  by 
P.  Yillari4,  in  which  the  translator  '  ha  siffatamente  raffazzonato,  alterato 
ed  allungato  il  testo,  senza  retto  giudizio  e  senza  fantasia.'  Here  when 
Brendan  asks  the  wretched  man  on  the  rock  who  he  is,  Judas  replies 
with  a  rather  full  narrative  of  his  earthly  life,  taken  not  from  the  longer 
redaction  of  the  Navigatio,  but  from  the  general  stock  of  Judas  legend. 
'  Know  that  I  am  dead,'  says  he, '  and  that  I  am  Judas  Iscariot.  I  killed 
my  father  with  a  stone.  I  married  my  mother  without  knowing  it  was 
she,  had  several  children  by  her,  and  also  was  a  prosperous  merchant, 
and  always  cheated  and  kept  all  the  money  that  came  into  my  hands,  and 
was  an  usurer  and  a  thief  e  tutto  vizioso.  Then  I  put  all  these  things 
away  and  became  an  apostle  of  Jesus  Christ.  In  order  that  I  might 
bring  up  my  children  the  better,  Jesus  permitted  me  to  keep  the  tithe 
of  all  that  was  given  me,  and  I  did  so.  And  because  Mary  Magdalen 
wasted  the  precious  ointment... I  betrayed  my  Lord  for  thirty  pence... 
and  when  I  saw  him  condemned  to  death  I  was  sorry  and  returned  the 
money,  and  was  so  overcome  with  grief  that  I  went  out  into  a  field 
e  apiccdmi  per  la  gola  a  guisa  d'  uno  ladro.  And  when  I  died  I  came 
here.'  The  remainder  agrees  with  the  usual  Navigatio,  except  that  to 
the  customary  days  of  respite  is  added  All  Saints'6. 

English  has  two  renderings  of  the  story,  one  in  verse  in  the  Gloucester 
legendary  of  the  late  thirteenth  century8,  the  other  in  prose,  'rather 

1  Moran,  op.  cit.,  p.  137. 

2  C.  Wahlund,  Eine  altprovenzalische  Prosaiibersetzung  von  Brendans  Meerfahrt,  in 
Festgabefilr  Wendelin  Forster,  Halle,  1902,  pp.  175  ff. 

3  La  '  Navigatio  Sancti  Brendani'  inantico  Vencziano,  Bergamo,  1892  (Judas,  pp.  52  ff.). 
Novati  thinks  that  the  Italian  texts  (which  agree  in  the  main  with  the  Latin,  except  for  an 
elaborate  expansion  at  the  end)  derive  from  a  single  translation  made  in  the  Venetian 
dialect  in  the  thirteenth  or  fourteenth  century. 

4  Antiche  Leggende  e  Tradizioni  che  illustrano  La  Divina  Commedia,  Pisa,  1865,  pp.  82  ff. 
(Judas,  pp.  96  ff.) ;  also  in  Annali  delle  Univers.  Tosc,  vin  (1865),  pp.  82  ff. 

B  The  story  of  Judas'  parricide  and  incest  I  have  discussed  in  Publ.  Mod.  Lang.  Assoc, 
xxxi  (1916),  pp.  481  ff. 

6  Ed.  C.  Horstman,  The  Early  South-English  Legendary,  E.E.T.S.,  lxxxvii  (1887), 
Brendan,  pp.  220  ff.  The  life  of  Brendan  was  printed  separately  by  T.  Wright  (Percy 
Society,  xiv,  1844) ;  by  O'Donoghue  in  an  appendix  (from  Wright) ;  and  with  a  collation  of 
the  MSS.  by  Martha  Balz,  Die  mittelengluche  Brendanlegende  den  Gloucenterlegendars, 
Berlin,  1909.   I  quote  from  the  last,  in  which  Judas  begins  1.  520. 


PAULL  FRANKLIN  BAUM  173 

confused,'  based  upon  the  poem1.  The  Gloucester  translation  is  adorned 
with  several  moral  observations.  For  example,  when  Judas  explains 
that  the  cloth  does  him  more  harm  than  good  because  he  bought  it 
with  stolen  money,  he  adds :  '  Here  one  may  see  what  it  is  to  give  away 
other  people's  money  wrongfully,  as  many  rich  men  are  wont  every  day 
to  take  from  the  poor  unrighteously  and  then  give  it  as  alms.'  And  he 
concludes : 

Vewe  gode  ded  ich  abbe  ido     of  warn  ich  mowe  telle, 
Ac  non  so  lute,  bat  ine  fynde     her  ober  in  helle. 

A  characteristic  blunder  of  the  prose  version  is  its  mistaking  the 
'  tongen '  of  the  poem,  the  hooks  which  Judas  gave  to  the  priests  of  the 
Temple,  for  tongues :  '  and  also  there  were  two  oxe  tongues  and  a  grete 
stone  that  he  sate  on,  which  dyd  hym  full  grete  ease2.' 

The  Romance  translations  and  the  English  do  not  differ  greatly  from 
the  Latin  on  which  they  are  based,  but  the  German  versions  offer  some 
interesting  peculiarities.    Of  these  versions  the  principal3  are  (1)  a 

1  First  printed  by  Caxton  in  1483,  who  inserted  it  into  the  Golden  Legend ;  then  by 
Wynkyn  de  Worde  in  the  Nova  Legenda  Angliae,  1516  et  seq.;  reprinted  by  Wright  from 
the  1527  imprint  of  Wynkyn  de  Worde.  Graesse,  1'resor,  i,  p.  519,  mentions  a  separate 
print  of  the  Brendan  (Suchier).    Cf.  Ward,  n,  p.  555. 

2  These  tongues  were  a  real  benefit  to  Judas:  'I  bought  them  with  myne  owne  money,' 
says  Judas,  'and  therefore  they  ease  me,  bycause  the  fysshes  of  the  sea  knawe  on  them 
and  spare  me.'  The  verse  rendering  of  the  incident  by  Sebastian  Evans  is  here  rather 
moving: 

For  He  whom  the  gates  of  the  hells  obey, 
Each  winter  hath  granted  me  here  to  stay 
From  Christmas  Eve  for  a  night  and  a  day. 
And  this  is  my  paradise,  here  alone 
To  sit  with  my  cloth  and  tongues  and  stone, 
The  sole  three  things  in  the  world  mine  own. 
The  cloth  I  bought  from  the  Lord's  privy  purse, 
But  gave  to  a  leper.   It  hath  this  curse, 
That  it  beats  on  my  skin,  but  it  saves  from  worse. 
These  tongues  I  gave  to  the  poor  for  meat, 
In  the  name  of  Christ — and  the  fish  that  eat 
Thereon  as  they  list,  forbear  my  feet. 

This  stone  I  found  by  a  road  where  it  lay, 
And  set  for  a  step  in  a  miry  way ; 
Therefore  sit  I  on  stone,  not  ice,  this  day  ! 

On  the  mediaeval  virtue  of  road-mending  see  Skeat's  note  on  Piers  Plowman,  Oxford, 
1886,  ii,  p.  119. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  these  tongues  reappear  in  Lady  Gregory's  vivid  telling  of 
the  story:  'And  there  was  a  cloth  tied  to  his  chin  and  two  tongues  of  oxen  with  it.' 
(A  Book  of  Saints  and  Wonders,  London,  1907,  'Voyage  of  Brendan,'  pp.  185  ff.)  The 
significance  of  the  original  furcae  ferreae  is  not  very  clear,  and  of  course  the  ox  tongues 
do  quite  as  well  so  far  as  the  story  is  concerned.  Another  curious  variant  appears  in  the 
account  of  Brendan  given  by  the  Rev.  John  O'Hanlon,  Lives  of  the  Irish  Saints,  Dublin, 
[n.d.],  vol.  v,  p.  434:  'He  had  a  cloth  tied  about  his  head,  and  holding  a  javelin  in  his 
hand,  he  seemed  hanging  between  two  iron  forceps,  and  tossed  about  by  the  waves,  like  a 
vessel  labouring  in  a  storm.'    This  author  has  a  few  other  similar  variants. 

3  To  which  may  be  added:  a  Low  German  prose  version  in  the  Passional,  Lubeck,  1488; 
a  High  German  translation  of  this  by  Valentin  Forster,  Magdeburg,  1603  (Keller,  'A Itfranz. 


174  Judas  Sunday  Rest 

Middle  High  German  poem  of  the  twelfth  century,  (2)  a  somewhat  con- 
densed and  confused  rifacimento  of  this  in  Low  German  in  a  kind  of 
rough  verse,  (3)  a  Netherlandish  poem  of  the  twelfth  century,  and  (4) 
a  High  German  prose  redaction  of  the  late  fifteenth  century  frequently 
reprinted  as  a  Volksbuch1.  The  exact  interrelations  of  these  four  are 
not  clear.  Suchier  argues  that  (1),  (2),  and  (4)  are  independent  redactions 
of  a  lost  Middle  Frankish  original;  Bonebakker,  on  the  other  hand,  thinks 
the  Netherlandish  poem  is  based  on  a  High  German  text  related  to  that 
printed  by  Schroeder.  However  this  may  be,  the  first  three  and  a  special 
recension  of  the  Volksbuch  represent  essentially  the  same  version.  Judas 
is  discovered  seated  upon  a  glowing  rock;  one  side  of  him  is  frozen  so  hard 
the  flesh  is  scaling  off,  and  on  the  other  side  he  is  burned  by  the  rock2. 
His  only  protection  is  ein  wi}e%  twehelin.  A  striking  addition  to  Judas' 
usual  complaint  is  his  remorse  for  having  lost  faith  in  God's  forgiveness 
— the  mediaeval  sin  of  desperatio. 

Het  ich  gehabet  ruwe, 
Got  der  ist  so  getruwe, 
Er  hette  mich  entphangen  drat3. 

After  hearing  of  his  sufferings,  Brendan  wishes  to  pray  for  Judas,  but 
Judas  declares  it  is  useless,  for  God  will  never  relent.  Another  notable 
difference  of  the  German  versions  is  the  omission  of  Judas'  second  and 
third  good  deeds :  only  his  charity  of  the  garment  is  mentioned — but 
the  Netherlandish  poem  enhances  this  with  the  following  bit  of  edifica- 
tion :  t 

Sagen,  n,  1,  Tubingen,  1840) ;  and  a  translation  by  the  Bavarian,  Johann  Hartlieb,  who 
died  in  1471  or  1474  (Paul's  Grundriss,  n,  i2,  344)  ;  and  translations  also  by  Eollenhagen, 
Kosegarten,  and  A.  von  Keller  (Schroeder,  pp.  xviif.).  A  Dutch  translation  of  the  usual 
Latin  Navigatio  is  found  in  a  manuscript  of  the  second  half  of  the  fifteenth  century; 
published  by  H.  E.  Moltzer,  Leven  ende  Pelgrimadse  den,  Heiligen  Abts  Brandanus  (Biblio- 
theek  van  Middelnederlandsche  Letterkunde,  xlv,  Groningen,  1891),  Judas,  pp.  32  ff.  On 
the  Dutch  versions  of  Brendan  see  J.  Bergsma,  Bijdrage  tot  de  loordingsgeschiedenis  en  de 
critiek  der  middelnederlandsche  Brandaenteksten,  Groningen,  1887. 

1  The  first,  second,  and  fourth  of  these  were  published  by  C.  Schroeder,  Sonet  Brandon, 
Ein  lateinischer  und  drei  deutsche  Texte,  Erlangen,  1871.  The  third  has  been  frequently 
edited,  last  by  E.  Bonebakker,  Amsterdam,  1894. 

2  Compare  the  Acta  S.  Brendani  quoted  above,  p.  169.  This  form  of  torture  is  very 
common.  It  is  found  in  the  hell  of  the  Buddhists,  in  the  Book  of  Enoch  (whence  perhaps 
its  entrance  into  western  Christian  tradition),  and  in  the  Visio  Paidi  (ed.  Brandes,  pp.  66, 
67  and  note).  Cf.  E.  J.  Becker,  Contributions  to  the  Comparative  Study  of  the  Mediaeval 
Visions  of  Heaven  and  Hell,  Baltimore,  1899.  Solovev  cites  Bautz,  Die  Holle,  Mainz,  1882, 
p.  183.    Cf.  Job  xxiv,  19. 

3  Middle  High  German  poem,  11.  977  ff.  Schroeder,  in  a  note,  p.  114,  quotes  from 
Leyser,  Pred.,34,  31:  'Da3  dritte  ist  desperado... da3  du  lichte  zwiveles  an  gote...tustu  da3 
so  tiistu  als  Cayn  und  Judas,  die  da  biede  ewicliche  vertiimet  sint  und  verlorn :  wanne 
hetten  sie  genade  gesucht  an  gote,  so  hetten  sie  genade  an  im  vunden.'  Wahlund  (op.  cit., 
p.  255)  mentions  in  this  connection  an  interesting  remark  by  Verlaine:  'Je  dis  que  Judas 
est  damn£;  mais  pas  pour  avoir  livre  le  Christ;  non,  pas  pour  cela.  II  est  damne  pour 
s'etre  pendu  de  d^sespoir,  pour  avoir  mis  en  doute  l'inhnie  misericorde  de  Dieu. '  (Revue 
bleue,  Aug.  22,  1896.)  Compare  also  the  splendid  scene  between  Judas  and  Desesperance 
in  Jehan  Michel's  Passion,  as  well  as  the  incident  in  Huon  de  Bordeaux  (p.  177,  below). 


PAULL  FRANKLIN  BAUM  175 

Al  en  mach  het  also  vele  niet  sijn, 

Als  oft  met  rechte  mijn  hadde  ghezijn, 

Nochtan  helpet  mi,  heere, 

Harde  vele  meere 

Jeghen  desen  heeten  brant, 

Om  dat  ict  selve  gaf  metter  hant, 

Dan  mi  nu  holpe  alle  die  have, 

Al  waert  dat  mense  over  mi  gave, 

Die  nu  in  der  weerelt  es  ;— 

Dies  moghedi  sijn  ghevves. 

So  wel  helpt  dat  goet 

Dat  die  meinsche  selve  doet 

Ende  dat  hi  selve  gheeft 

Al  die  wijle,  dat  hi  leeft ; 

Want  achter  weldade 

Com  men  dicwile  spade, 

Ende  datmen  near  dleven  doet, 

Dat  heeft  aermen  spoet 

Te  helpene,  die  selve  niet  en  gheeft 

Dor  Gode  die  wijle,  dat  hi  leeft. 

The  Low  German  poem  follows  its  original  in  the  main,  but  abbre- 
viates and  alters  the  arrangement  somewhat.  And  one  of  the  chapbooks 
(the  last  in  Schroeder's  list,  p.  xvi)  belongs  to  the  same  tradition  in 
omitting  Judas'  other  two  acts  of  kindness.  The  usual  prose  recension, 
however,  of  which  Schroeder  mentions  twelve  prints  down  to  1521,  while 
it  agrees  for  the  most  part  with  the  German  versions  in  contradistinction 
to  the  other  vernacular  versions,  records  With  great  fullness  all  three  of 
Judas'  virtuous  deeds : 

Besunder  so  koment  mir  dise  drei  guottat  so  ich  begangen  hab,  mit  sambt  den 
genanten  tuochlein  auch  zuo  hilf  an  nieinem  leiden,  als  ich  dir  sagen  und  erzelen 
wil.  Es  was  ein  tieffe  gruob  in  der  stat  zn  Jherusalem,  darein  vielen  bei  der  nacht 
die  lewt  und  das  vich,  und  es  was  niemand  so  barmhertzig  das  er  die  selben  gruoben 
zuofiillet,  das  solicher  schade  nicht  geschah  :  wann  ich  nam  stein  holtz  und  ertrich 
und  machet  die  selben  gruoben  zuo.  Das  ander  guot  werck  das  ich  tat :  man  machet 
einen  umbhang  in  den  tempel  zuo  Hierusalem,  da  zeran  tuochs  an,  das  gab  ich 
darzuo  damit  das  der  umbhang  volbracht  ward.  Es  zerunnen  auch  zweier  eifmin 
hacken  daran  man  den  selben  hencken  solt :  die  liefi  ich  machen  und  bracht  die  zuo 
wegen  das  der  selbig  umbhang  gehenckt  ward  *. 

II. 

The  marvellous  story  of  St  Brendan's  voyage,  popular  as  it  was  in 
the  Middle  Ages,  copied  and  recopied  in  the  manuscripts,  translated 
and  retranslated  in  the  vernaculars,  has  never  found  favour  with  the 
more  critical  members  of  Holy  Church.  The  Bollandists  have  of  course 
rejected  it ;  and  even  Vincent  de  Beauvais,  who  set  down  in  his  thirteenth- 
century  encyclopedia  many  a  tale  that  staggers  the  imagination,  called 
it  '  deliramenta  apocrypha.'  To  the  mediaeval  story-lovers,  however,  it 
held  a  double  attraction ;  it  contained  elements  of  the  other-world  vision 

1  Schroeder,  p.  180. 


176  Judas  Sunday  Rest 

literature,  and  it  had  all  the  fascination  of  a  wonderful  journey  through 
strange  seas  in  search  of  the  promised  land.  Yet  of  all  the  miraculous 
adventures  that  befell  St  Brendan  and  his  monks,  it  is  the  discovery  of 
lonely  Judas  on  his  wave-swept  rock  that  seems  to  have  made  the 
deepest  impression  on  the  mind  and  memory  of  the  readers.  Not  merely 
is  it  one  of  the  very  few  incidents  to  be  borrowed  from  the  Navigatio 
during  the  Middle  Ages ;  it  is  also  the  only  incident  that  has  survived 
into  modern  literature,  when  all  the  other  events  of  the  voyage  have 
been  forgotten. 

If  time  is  a  test,  certainly  the  conception  of  Judas  freed  for  a  moment 
from  the  pangs  of  everlasting  torment  was  a  work  of  real  creative  imagi- 
nation. But  though  the  conception  itself  has  lived,  the  original  setting 
has  undergone  a  change.  Matthew  Arnold  writes  a  very  mediocre  poem 
on  this  Judas  episode  and  names  it  '  Saint  Brandan.'  Once  a  year,  on 
Christmas  night,  Judas  arises  from  '  the  sinners'  lake '  and  cools  his 
'  burning  breast '  on  a  white  iceberg. 

That  furtive  mien,  that  scowling  eye, 
Of  hair  that  red  and  tufted  fell — 
It  is — Oh,  where  shall  Brandan  fly  ? — 
The  traitor  Judas,  out  of  hell ! 

Palsied  with  terror,  Brandan  sate ; 
The  moon  was  bright,  the  iceberg  near. 
He  hears  a  voice  sigh  humbly  :  '  Wait ! 
By  high  permission  I  am  here.' 

There  is  no  need  to  quote  further.  Perhaps  Arnold  was  interested  in 
the  'moral'  of  the  story  ;  but  'morals'  and  poetry  dwell  on  different  stars. 
Again  Judas  appears  on  an  iceberg1 — most  probably  a  direct  reminiscence 
of  Arnold — in  Mr  Kipling's  '  The  Last  Chantey.'  And  one  must  confess 
that  the  later  poet  comes  nearer  attaining  the  artistic  effect  that  the 
situation  deserves.  When  God  proposed  to  fulfil  his  prophecy  of  de- 
stroying the  sea,  Judas  was  the  first  to  object: 

Then  said  the  soul  of  Judas  that  betrayed  Him  : 
'  Lord,  hast  Thou  forgotten  Thy  covenant  with  me  ? 
How  once  a  year  I  go 
To  cool  me  on  the  floe  ? 
And  Ye  take  my  day  of  mercy  if  Ye  take  away  the  sea  ! ' 

But  even  in  the  Middle  Ages  the  picture  of  Judas  on  his  rock  was 
taken  from  the  Brendan  frame  and  made  the  basis  of  a  separate  incident 
in  two  of  the  French  romances,  Baudouin  de  Sebourc  and  the  continua- 
tion of  Huon  de  Bordeaux  known  as  Esclarmonde.    In  one  of  their 

1  The  iceberg  motif  may  be  an  extension  of  the  freezing  which  Judas  suffered  in  the 
German  versions  ;  or,  more  probably,  it  arose  from  a  confusion  with  Dante's  picture  of  Judas 
in  the  icy  pit  of  hell. 


PAULL  FRANKLIN  BAUM  177 

innumerable  adventures  Baudouin  and  Poliban  come  upon  an  island  of 
terrible  appearance,  which  they  discover  to  be  the  entrance  of  hell. 
There  they  hear  pitiful  cries  issuing  from  a  thicket,  and  Baudouin  asks 
who  it  is.  '  My  name  is  Judas,'  replies  the  voice.  '  What,'  says  Poliban, 
'  am  I  now  in  hell  ? '   '  No,'  answers  Judas  : 

Trestous  les  samedis  qui  sont  de  grant  valour 

Et  le  dymenge  aussi  sui  chi  trestoute  jour. 

Le  lundi  au  matin  revois  en  mon  labour 

En  enfer,  ou  deable  me  boutent  en  lor  four.    (15,365  ff.) 

Poliban  inquires  how  this  can  be.  Then  Judas  explains  that  the  rock  is 
granted  him  in  return  for  a  plank  which  he  put  across  a  large  stream 
to  save  the  people  from  loss ;  thus  he  has  a  respite  every  Saturday.  He 
enjoys  the  Sunday  holiday  because  he  once,  out  of  pity,  gave  all  the 
money  he  had  to  a  '  ladre  de  maladie  enclos.'  Then  hell  is  described, 
with  its  three  divisions,  one  for  unbaptized  infants,  another  for  infidels 
and  suicides,  the  third  (in  which  Judas  is  placed)  for  murderers  and 
other  great  criminals.  Poliban  proceeds  to  pick  a  quarrel  with  Judas, 
and  when  the  devils  catch  sight  of  him  he  and  Baudouin  have  difficulty 
in  escaping  to  their  ship.  Poliban  in  fact  is  so  frightened  that  he  vows 
to  receive  baptism  as  soon  as  he  reaches  a  Christian  land,  and  in  honour 
of  this  event  he  takes  the  name  of  Brendqn1. 

In  Esclarmonde2  the  Judas  episode  is  not  only  a  direct  borrowing 
from  the  Brendan  legend,  but  is  probably  also  influenced  by  the  incident 
in  Baudouin  de  Sebourc3.  After  his  fight  with  the  Emperor,  Huon  with- 
draws quietly  to  Bordeaux,  takes  ship,  and  is  soon  on  the  open  sea. 
Before  long,  however,  the  ship  is  drawn  from  its  course  and  the  steers- 
man confesses  he  does  not  know  where  they  are.  Looking  across  the 
ocean  in  despair  Huon  perceives 

Vne  grant  piece  de  toile  sor  la  mer 
&  voit  les  ondes  a  la  toile  hurter 
&  redoissier  &  arrier  retourner 
Voient  I  home  cjtre  la  toile  ester 

1  Histoire  Litteraire,  xxv,  pp.  574  ff.  That  the  Brendan  story  furnished  the  basis  of 
this  incident  is  clear  from  the  author's  general  acquaintance  with  Brendan  (cf.  vol.  i,  123, 
302,  vol.  ii,  54,  61-64,  66,  68,  70-73  of  the  Valenciennes  edition,  1841)  as  well  as  from  the 
direct  mention  of  the  saint  in  this  context.  I  have  not  seen  Kleinschmidt,  Das  Verhaltni* 
von  'Baudouin  de  Sebourc''  zu  dem. . .'  Brandan,'  Gottingen  Dissertation,  1908. 

2  Edited  by  Max  Schweigel,  Marburg,  1889,  in  Ausgaben  und  Abhandlungen  aus  dem 
(iebiete,  der  romanischen  Philologie,  lxxxiii.  Of  this  continuation  of  Huon  de  Bordeaux 
there  are  two  redactions  in  verse  and  one  in  prose.  Cf.  C.  Voretzsch,  Die  Composition  des 
Huon  von  Bordeaux  (Epische  Studien,  i),  Halle,  1900,  and  Fritz  Klauber,  Characteristik 
unci  Quellen  des  altfranz.  Gedichts  Esclarmonde,  Heidelberg  Dissertation,  1913.  Lord 
Berner's  translation  was  made  from  the  French  edition  of  1545. 

3  Klauber  argues  for  this  point.  There  are  obvious  similarities  between  these  two 
versions  of  the  story  in  which  they  differ  from  the  usual  tradition. 


178  Judas  Sunday  Rest 

Dusqua  la  teste  fu  en  mer  affondres 
Les  iex  auoit  de  la  teste  bendes 
Sestoit  plus  noirs  quarremens  destepres 
•  Tousiours  crioit  caitis  maleures 
Pour  coi  nasqui  je  quant  tant  ai  de  laste.    (996  ff.) 

Huon  and  the  steersman  ask  who  he  is,  and  he  answers  that  he  is  Judas. 
He  had  not  dared  pray  God  for  mercy,  and  so  he  was  placed  here  for 
punishment.  And  here,  with  all  the  water  of  the  whirlpool  rushing  over 
him,  he  must  remain  until  the  end  of  the  world, — but  he  has  some  pro- 
tection from  the  piece  of  sail : 

Cun  poi  de  bie  li  mies  caitis  cors  na 

De  cele  toile  que  vous  vees  ila 

h6s  mo  vizage  Jesucris  mize  la 

De  ces  grans  ondes  souuet  defiedu  ma 

Dendroit  la  toile  nul  mal  ne  me  fera.    (1038  ff.) 

Then  Judas  warns  them  of  the  Magnetic  Mountain,  and  they  depart1. 

The  Marquis  of  Bute,  in  a  lecture  on  Brendan's  Fabulous  Voyage  - 
suggests  that  such  a  subject  as  this  of  Judas  ought  not  to  be  treated  at 
all.  One  wishes  he  had  made  clear  his  reasons  for  such  an  opinion ;  for 
certainly  the  solitary  figure  of  the  great  sinner,  wave-buffeted  and 
remorse-smitten,  trying  to  enjoy  his  momentary  relief  from  eternal 
punishment,  might  well  move  the  mind  with  tragic  pity  and  terror. 
But  we  may  agree  with  the  Marquis — though  it  is  dangerous  to  com- 
pare a  nameless  tenth-century  monk  with  Dante — that  when  we  place 
this  picture  of  Judas  beside  Dante's  picture  of  Judas  ground  between 
Lucifer's  teeth,  we  must  admit  that  the  '  Irish  fabulist '  has  done  better. 

III. 

It  is  now  well  known  that  the  belief  in  a  periodic  respite  for  the 
damned  souls  is  of  ancient  Jewish  origin3  and  seems  to  have  sprung  from 

1  In  the  prose  version,  of  which  Lord  Berner's  translation  (ed.  S.  L.  Lee,  E.E.T.S., 
E.S.,  xl,  xli,  xliii,  l,  1882-1887)  is  very  close,  Chapter  CVIII  is  entitled,  'How  Huon 
aryued  on  the  perelous  Goulfe,  whereas  he  spake  with  Iudas,  and  howe  he  aryued  at  the 
porte  of  the  Adamant.'  Huon  is  struck  with  terror  as  they  approach  the  gulf,  where  all 
the  waters  of  the  world  surge  together,  for  it  is  one  of  the  entrances  of  hell.  But,  as  it 
happens,  at  this  moment  the  gulf  is  full,  and  they  are  able  to  sail  over  it  without  harm. 
Huon  and  his  company  kneel  and  thank  God.  Huon  then  sees  beside  him  a  great  piece  of 
canvas,  and  hears  a  voice  complaining.  The  pilot  asks  who  he  is.  No  reply.  Huon  asks. 
Judas  answers  at  great  length.  He  is  fluent  and  talkative,  and  insists  by  fourfold  repetition 
that  '  if  he  had  trusted  in  God's  great  mercy  all  his  trespass  would  have  been  forgiven  him.' 
(This  idea,  both  here  and  in  the  verse  redaction,  echoes  the  German  versions.)  Huon  urges 
Judas  still  to  ask  mercy.  Judas  answers  that  he  is  damned  for  ever  ;  and  exhorts  Huon  to 
hasten  from  the  Perilous  Gulf. 

2  Scottish  Review,  xxi  (1893),  pp.  371  ff. 

3  On  this  subject  see  chiefly  A.  Graf,  Giomale  storico  della  lett.  ital.,  xi  (1888),  pp.  344  ff .; 
A.  Graf,  Miti,  leggende  e  superstizioni  del  medio  evo,  Turin,  1892,  i,  pp.  241  ff. ;  and  I.  Levi, 
Revue  des  Etudes  Juives,  xxv  (1892),  pp.  1  ff.,  and  xxvi  (1893),  pp.  131  ff.  Cf.  also 
Batiouchkof,  Romania,  xx  (1891),  pp.  1  ff.,  513  ff.,  especially  pp.  44  and  560.  There  is  an 
Irish  tradition  that  all  the  souls  in  suffering  are  released  yearly  for  forty-eight  hours  com- 


PAULL  FRANKLIN  BAUM  179 

a  feeling  that  the  Sabbath  ought  to  be  a  day  of  rest  for  the  dead  as  well 
as  for  the  living.  In  the  ninth  century  it  was  already  a  popular  custom 
to  add  on  Saturday  a  prayer  for  the  prolongation  of  the  relief  which  the 
damned  were  supposed  to  be  enjoying;  and  the  conception  itself  may 
be  traced  as  far  back  as  the  Visio  Pauli,  composed  probably  by  the  end 
of  the  fourth  century1.  It  was  certainly  through  this  work  that  the  idea 
became  current  among  the  Christians  of  the  West.  Among  the  earliest 
witnesses  of  this  heresy  (for  it  was  never  sanctioned  by  Rome)  are 
St  Augustine  and  the  poet  Prudentius  (348-408  ?).  The  former  says  in 
his  Encheiridion,  cap.  cxii :  '  poenas  damnatorum,  certis  temporum  inter- 
vallis  existiment,  si  hoc  eis  placet,  aliquatenus  mitigari.'  And  in  the 
following  chapter :  '  Manebit  ergo  sine  fine  mors  ilia  perpetua  damna- 
torum, idest  alienatio  a  vita  Dei,  et  omnibus  erit  ipsa  communis,  quilibet 
homines  de  varietate  poenarum,  de  dolorum  revelatione  vel  intermissione 
pro  suis  humanis  motibus  suspicientur.'    The  verses  of  Prudentius  run : 

Sunt  et  spiritibus  saepe  nocentibus 
Poenarum  celebres  sub  Styge  feriae 
Ilia  nocte  sacer  qua  rediit  Deus 
Stagnis  ad  superos  ex  Acheroutiis... 

Marcent  suppliciis  tartara  mitibus, 
Exultatque  sui  corporis  otio 
Umbrarum  populus,  liber  ab  ignibus, 
Nee  fervent  solito  flumifia  sulphure2. 

Graf  notes  many  instances  of  the  general  belief,  from  the  sixth 
century  onwards,  in  a  single  day's  respite  for  the  damned,  usually  the 
day  of  Christ's  resurrection;  and  he  is  right  in  observing  that  the  respite 
would  naturally  be  extended  and  transferred  in  the  course  of  time  from 
groups  of  persons  to  individuals.  For  example,  Charlemagne  saw  in  a 
vision  his  father  Louis  standing  in  boiling  water  one  day  and  in  clear 

mencing  on  Holy  Eve  (Folk-Lore,  x  (1899),  p.  121).  For  Germany  cf.  also  Fischart, 
Binenkorb,  n,  viii  (ed.  1581,  p.  114a).  For  the  Orient  cf.  A.  Wiinsche,  Der  Babylouische 
Talmud,  Leipzig,  1886-89,  ii,  3,  p.  113:  Am  Sabbath  steigt  kein  Rauch  vom  Grabe  des 
Sunders,  denn  am  Sabbath  feiert  auch  die  Holle '  (Zs.  d.  Vereins  f.  Volkskunde,  n  (1892), 
p.  297).  For  a  Slavic  account  of  the  Virgin  Mary's  intercession  for  the  damned,  whereby 
their  punishment  was  remitted  between  Green  Thursday  and  Pentecost,  see  M.  Gaster, 
Greeko-Slavonic  Literature,  London,  1887,  pp.  59-61.  On  the  early  history  of  the  Hebrew 
Sabbath  cf.  Hutton  Webster,  Rest  Days,  New  York,  1916,  chap.  VIII. 

1  Cf.  II  Cor.  xii,  2-4.  (Nevertheless  Paul  wrote  down  his  vision,  but  buried  it  under 
his  house  in  Tarsus.  In  the  time  of  the  Emperor  Theodosius  an  angel  revealed  its  existence 
to  one  who  dwelt  in  the  house.)  The  original  is  supposed  to  have  been  in  Armenian  ;  but 
according  to  Abbe  le  Hir  (cited  by  Levi)  it  was  the  work  of  a  Palestinian  monk  of  the  fifth 
century.  It  is  now  extant  in  Greek,  Latin,  and  Syriac;  cf.  Tischendorf,  Apocal.  Apocryph., 
Leipzig,  1866,  pp.  34-69.  Cf.  also  Ward,  Catalogue  of  Romances,  n,  pp.  397  ff.  There  is 
an  attempted  reconstruction  of  the  original  by  Hermann  Brandes,  Halle,  1885.  Cf.  also 
Brandes,  Uber  die  Quellen  der  mittelenglischen  Versionen  der  Paulus- Vision,  in  Eng.  Stud., 
vn  (1884),  pp.  34  ff. 

2  Cathemerinon,  v.  Cf.  Rosier,  Der  kathol.  Dichter  Aurelius  Prudentius  Clemens, 
Freiburg  im  B.,  1886,  on  the  diffusion  of  this  belief. 


180  Judas  Sunday  Rest 

tepid  water  the  next,  all  through  the  prayers  of  St  Peter  and 
St  Remigius1 ;  and  King  Comarchus,  in  Tundal's  vision,  was  tormented 
for  only  three  hours  a  day2. 

We  have  here  then  very  clearly  the  ultimate  source  of  Judas'  tem- 
porary rest;  though  Cholevius  oddly  enough  found  in  the  Brendan 
incident  a  reminiscence  of  Orpheus,  who  lightened  by  his  singing  the 
pains  of  Tantalus  and  Ixion.  The  express  mention  of  Judas'  days  of 
relief,  from  Saturday  evening  to  Sunday  evening,  corresponds  closely, 
mutatis  mutandis,  to  the  Hebrew  tradition  of  the  Sabbath  respite.  The 
extension  of  the  period  to  include  certain  church  holidays  was  a  natural 
elaboration  due  to  Christian  influence,  and  the  additional  few  hours  won 
for  Judas  by  Brendan's  intercession  merely  enlarge  that  tradition3. 

What,  however,  is  much  more  interesting  is  the  fact  that  Judas 
should  be  chosen  for  an  example  of  the  divine  mercy.  The  author  of 
the  Navigatio  must  have  been  somehow  conscious  of  this  peculiarity: 
witness  the  question  of  the  devils  to  St  Brendan,  'Why  do  you  invoke  the 
name  of  the  Lord  in  behalf  of  him  who  betrayed  the  Lord  ?'  Elsewhere  in 
mediaeval  literature  and  popular  tradition,  as  indeed  in  the  Gospels, 
Judas  is  despised  and  accursed.  The  Hebrew  belief  applies  to  all  souls 
who  have  gone  to  the  doloroso  regno,  regardless  of  special  merit,  and 
the  lightening  of  Judas'  punishment  is  due  (as  he  explains)  solely  to 
the  ineffable  indulgence  of  our  Lord.  Why  is  this  indulgence  shown 
to  Judas,  and  not  to  '  Herod  and  Pilate  and  Annas  and  Caiaphas,'  his 
fellows  in  hell  ?  Moreover,  the  bit  of  cloth,  the  iron  hooks,  and  the  rock, 
by  which  Judas  is  both  blessed  and  tortured,  are  details  without  founda- 
tion in  the  New  Testament,  and  must  have  been  imagined  for  him  in 
accord  with  the  belief  that  a  good  deed  in  this  life  has  its  due  reward 
in  the  next,  even  though  the  deed  is  not  altogether  pure.  We  return 
then  to  the  problem,  why  Judas  should  be  singled  out  among  the  arch- 
sinners  for  temporary  comfort  from  the  pains  of  hell,  and  why  the  kindly 
acts  should  have  been  invented  for  him. 

1  Pertz,  Mon.  Germ.  Script.,  v,  p.  458  (Graf). 

2  Schade,  Visio  1'nugdali,  Halle,  1869,  pp.  18,  27.  On  Tundal  see  0.  Mausser,  Fine 
Fahrt  durch  die  Reiche  des  Jenseits,  in  Walhalla,  vi,  pp.  200-71 ;  and  KatuZniacki,  Zur 
Litteratur  der  Visionen  in  der  Art  der  Visio  Tundali,  in  Arch.  f.  slav.  Phil.,  xvi  (1894), 
pp.  42-6. 

3  The  Virgin  Mary's  intercession  with  her  Son  in  behalf  of  sinners  is  familiar ;  and 
there  is  the  particular  tale  mentioned  above.  Solovev  points  to  the  analogy  between  such 
tales  and  the  Judas  incident,  and  suggests  that  the  latter  was  influenced  by  the  former, 
especially  inasmuch  as  Judas  is  freed  '  on  all  the  holidays  sacred  to  the  Blessed  Virgin ' 
(p.  135).  The  analogy  is  clear ;  some  connection  is  not  improbable;  but  in  view  of  the  facts 
that  the  Sabbath  respite  is  a  very  old  tradition  (which  Solovev  seems  not  to  have  known) , 
and  that  the  earlier  texts  of  the  Navigatio  do  not  emphasize  the  festivals  of  Mary  but 
rather  each  Sunday  as  Judas'  rest  days,  it  is  very  unlikely  that  this  incident  of  Judas  was 
inspired  or  directly  suggested  by  the  Virgin's  intercession  for  other  sinners. 


PAULL  FRANKLIN  BAUM  181 

All  that  can  be  offered  for  answer  to  this  question  is  mere  hypothesis. 
Grafs  distinction  between  theology  of  sentiment  and  doctrinal  theology 
is  helpful ;  and  there  is  something  in  the  suggestion  of  P.  Douhaire : 
'  L'idee  d'une  damnation  a  jamais  irrevocable  affligeait  l'imagination  tout 
evangelique  des  hommes  du  moyen-age ;  ils  voulaient  esperer  centre 
toute  esperance  dans  le  retour  du  pecheur;  et  quand  ce  retour  etait 
impossible,  quand  la  damnation  etait  consommee,  ils  faisaient  violence 
a  la  rigidite  du  dogme  th6ologique  pour  faire  descendre  dans  leternel 
sejour  des  supplices  l'intervention  fraternelle  des  prieres  du  juste.  N'est- 
ce  pas  ainsi,  en  effet,  qu'ils  font  suspendre  quelque  temps  les  souffrances 
de  Judas  par  les  prieres  de  saint  Branden  ?  Ecoutez  la  legende  du 
traitre  et  voyez  tout  ce  qu'il  y  avait  de  misericord  e  dans  le  coeur  de  ces 
simples  chretiens  du  onzieme  et  du  douzieme  siecle1.' 

One  would  like  to  think  that  in  contrast  to  the  popular  imagination 
of  the  Middle  Ages,  which  regarded  Judas  as  the  image  and  emblem  of 
all  wickedness,  there  were  some  few  in  whom  the  Christian  spirit  of 
mercy  and  forgiveness  was  abundant  enough  to  include  the  sinner 
of  sinners,  some  who  would  pray :  '  Father,  forgive  him,  for  he  knew  not 
what  he  did,'  and  who  would  believe  that  one  whom  the  Master  had 
chosen  must  be  worthy  of  some  sympathetic  feeling  of  charity.  If  there 
is  nothing  in  the  earliest  versions  of  the  Brendan  legend  to  suggest  a 
meeting  with  Judas  at  the  Smoky  Mountain,  why  did  a  tenth-century 
redactor  add  it  unless  to  register  a  conviction  that  the  lovingkindness  of 
Jesus  had  embraced  Judas  ? 

It  is  of  course  the  custom  of  scholars  to  hunt  out  a  source  for  every 
detail  of  popular  tradition,  and  it  is  generally  true  that  ideas  can  be 
followed  back  from  one  context  to  another  until  a  probable  causa  causans 
is  found.  It  is  even  possible  to  suggest  a  'source'  for  this  figure  of 
Iscariot  freed  temporarily  from  the  intense  sufferings  of  the  damned. 
But  scholars  are  somewhat  prone  to  overlook  the  peculiarities  of  the 
human  mind,  and  to  forget  that  the  same  notion  often  comes  in- 
dependently to  different  persons  ;  and  they  are  sometimes  unwilling 
to  recognize  the  importance  of  the  individual  fancy  or  feeling  of  men 
whose  names  have  not  survived.  It  is  therefore  entirely  possible  that 
the  innominate  monk  who  produced  the  present  version  of  the  Navigatio 
did  himself  invent  the  incident  of  Judas,  having  in  mind  for  a  point  of 
departure  merely  the  tradition  that  some  of  the  doomed  souls  were 
allowed  moments  of  respite  from  the  eternal  torment.    Nowadays  he 

1  Cour»  de  Vhutoire  de  la  poesie  chretienne,  in  L'  Universite  Catholique,  vn  (1839),  p.  282 
(quoted  by  Wahlund,  pp.  254-5). 

M.L.R.XVIII.  12 


182  Judas  Sunday  Rest 

would  not  fail  to  provide  that  his  name  should  be  preserved  with  his 
work,  but  before  the  Renaissance,  although  individuals  existed  as  they 
do  now,  anonymity  was  the  rule  in  authorship.  One  may  furthermore, 
by  the  same  hypothesis,  attribute  to  the  same  man  the  invention  of 
Judas'  charity  to  the  leper,  the  gift  of  the  iron  hooks,  and  the  laying 
of  the  stone  across  the  highway. 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  one  wishes  to  seek  historic  reasons  for  this 
Christian  attitude  toward  Judas,  one  may  find  it,  strangely  enough, 
among  the  early  opponents  of  Christianity.  Now  it  is  certain  that  some 
ideas  perilously  near  heresy  itself  filtered  into  the  minds  of  the  early 
fathers  from  their  contact  with  Gnostic  teachings;  and  one  of  the 
Gnostic  sects,  the  Cainites,  is  known  to  have  specially  reverenced  Judas 
Iscariot1.  The  importance  of  this  in  the  present  connection  lies  in  the 
fact  that  the  lost  Greek  version  of  the  Visio  Pauli  is  mentioned  by 
Epiphanius  in  his  Adversus  Haereses  under  the  heading  '  Adv.  Caianos ' 
(38) 2  and  Epiphanius  is  among  those  who  were  charitable  in  their 
judgment  of  Judas.  Moreover,  the  other  Greek  version  of  the  Visio 
Pauli,  that  which  is  now  extant,  is  mentioned  by  Augustine  (in  his 
98th  Tract  on  the  Gospel  of  John),  who  was  himself  far  from  condemning 
Judas  utterly3.  The  nexus  is  admittedly  very  tenuous,  but  after  all 
proper  allowance  is  made  for  coincidence  and  for  our  fragmentary  know- 
ledge of  the  whole  matter,  it  remains  a  possibility  with  some  slight  show 
of  probability  that  the  germ  of  this  conception  of  Judas'  periodic  respite 
is  to  be  found  among  those  early  fathers  who  knew  both  the  Jewish 
belief  recorded  in  the  Visio  Pauli  and  the  Gnostic  admiration  for  Judas 
Iscariot.  It  is  but  a  single  step  to  combine  the  two  ideas  into  a  notion 
that  Judas  himself  was  honoured,  through  the  grace  of  our  Lord,  with 
a  remission  of  punishment  every  Sabbath.  And  this  notion  may  well 
have  persisted,  though  we  have  now  no  documentary  evidence,  until  the 
anonymous  author  of  the  complete  Navigatio  Sancti  Brendani  gave  it 

permanence. 

Paull  Franklin  Baum. 
Durham,  North  Carolina,  U.S.A. 

1  Cf.  Tertullian,  Liber  de  Praescriptione,  47  (ed.  Leopold,  Leipzig,  1841,  in,  p.  35).  On 
the  Cainites,  see  e.g.  Harnack,  Geschichte  der  altchristlicheii  Litteratur,  Leipzig,  1893,  i,  i, 
p.  163. 

2  M.S.G.,  xli,  col.  656. 

3  Augustine  says  that  in  betraying  Jesus  Judas  did  quite  the  same  thing  that  God  and 
Christ  did,  except  that  Judas  acted  from  a  different  motive  Judas  was  but  an  instrument 
by  which  God  wrought  the  salvation  of  mankind — '  nesciente  scienter  utebatur  '  (in  Joan. 
Ev.  Tract,  lv,  4  (ed.  Paris-,  1837,  in,  1,  2216) ;  cf.  also  iv,  1,  922;  iv,  2, 1457;  v,  97,  etc.). 


THE  GERMAN  INFLUENCE  ON  COLERIDGE. 

II1. 
Coleridge  and  Herder. 

Herder's  views  are  so  different  from  those  of  Kant  that  one  might 
expect  to  find  nothing  in  common  between  Herder  and  the  Kantian 
Coleridge.  There  is,  however,  a  little  in  common.  We  have  no  need  to 
hunt  for  evidence  that  Coleridge  studied  Herder2.  In  the  British  Museum 
there  is  a  copy  of  the  Kalligone  which  was  once  in  Coleridge's  possession 
and  contains  marginal  notes  in  his  handwriting3.  We  may  take  it  for 
granted  that  Coleridge  could  not  have  been  long  in  Gottingen  without 
being  urged  to  read  Herder.  At  Gottingen  Coleridge  went  to  Heyne4 
for  his  reading  matter.  Heyne  was  a  great  friend  of  Herder's ;  much  of 
their  correspondence  is  preserved,  and  from  their  letters  we  learn  that 
they  were  interested  in  and  admired  each  other's  work,  and  exchanged 
their  publications.  Heyne  would  naturally  highly  recommend  Herder's 
work  to  an  Englishman  interested  in  literary  criticism. 

We  should  expect  Von  Deutscher  Art  und  Kunst5  to  appeal  to  J 
Coleridge.  He  would  welcome  the  denunciation  of  those  critics  who 
were  still  judging  Shakespeare's  works  by  Aristotelian  (or  pseudo- Aris- 
totelian) rules,  and  would  agree  with  Herder's  proposition,  '  Sophokles 
Drama  und  Shakespears  Drama  sind  zwei  Dinge,  die  in  gewissem  Be- 
tracht  kaum  den  Namen  gemein  haben6.' 

Herder  was  the  first  critic  to  discuss  Greek  drama  and  Shakespearean  \ 
drama  historically,  and  to  ascribe  the  differences  to  the  fact  that  the  two 
kinds  of  drama  arose  under  different  conditions.    Coleridge  treats  this 
subject  in  much  the  same  way.    Herder  says  that  the  Greeks  produced 

1  Continued  from  Modem  Language  Review,  vol.  xvn,  p.  281. 

2  In  his  Biographia  Literaria  (chap,  xi)  Coleridge  states  that  Herder  '  combined  the 
successful  pursuit  of  the  Muses... with  the  highest  honours... of  an  established  profession.' 

3  In  one  passage,  dated  Malta,  Dec.  19,  1804,  he  expresses  disgust  at  Herder's  attacks 
on  Kant  in  the  Kalligone  and  in  the  Metakritik,  and  mentions  as  some  of  Herder's  '  betterJ 
works  the  Ideen  zur  Philosophic  der  Geschichte  der  Menschheit,  Briefe  das  Studium  der 
Theologie  betreffend,  and  '  Vermischte  Bliitter''  (?  Zerstreute  Blatter). 

4  For  Heyne  see  below. 

5  See  below  for  evidence  that  Coleridge  knew  Goethe's  contribution  to  this  volume  as 
well  as  Herder's. 

6  Herders  Werke  (edited  Suphan),  v,  p.  210.  Coleridge,  comparing  Shakespeare's 
dramas  with  those  of  Sophocles,  says  they  are  '  a  different  genus,  diverse  in  kind  not 
merely  different  in  degree  '  (Notes,  p.  204). 

12—2 


184  The  German  Influence  on  Coleridge 

the  manifold  from  the  simple ;  Shakespeare  united  the  manifold  to  a 
whole.  Thus  in  Greek  drama  we  find  the  unities  of  time  and  place 
observed.  Coleridge  says  that  the  deviation  from  the  simple  forms  and 
unities  of  the  ancient  stage  is  an  '  appropriate  excellence '  of  modern 
drama, '  for  these  unities  were  to  a  great  extent  the  natural  form  of  that 
which  in  its  elements  was  homogeneous1.' 

The  similarity  of  the  following  views,  especially  their  similar  pre- 
sentation, is  striking.  Coleridge,  dealing  with  Shakespearean  criticism, 
remarks  that  some  critics  hold  '  after  Corneille  and  Racine,  that  So- 
phocles is  the  most  perfect  model  for  tragedy  and  Aristotle  its  most 
infallible  censor. .  .that  Shakspere  was  a  sort  of  irregular  genius2,'  that 
other  critics  admit  '  the  splendour  of  the  parts,'  which  compensates,  '  if 
aught  can  compensate  for  the  barbarous  shapelessness. .  .of  the  whole3/  and 
admit  'islands  of  fertility'  which  'look  the  greener  from  the  surrounding 
waste4.'  These  other  critics,  Coleridge  says,  are  '  Shakspere's  own  com- 
mentators and  (so  they  would  tell  you)  almost  idolatrous  admirers5.' 
herder  also  contrasts  the  critics;  he  says  that  Shakespeare's  boldest 
snemies  have  mocked  him,  comparing  him  unfavourably  with  Sophocles 
and  Corneille,  whilst  his  boldest  friends  have  satisfied  themselves  with 
excusing  him,  'seine  Schonheiten  nur  immer  mit  Anstoss  gegen  die 
Regeln  zu  wagen,  zu  kompensieren,  ihn  als  Angeklagten  das  Absolvo 
zu  erreden,  und  denn  sein  Grosses  desto  mehr  zu  vergbttern,  je  mehr 
sie  uber  Fehler  die  Achsel  ziehen  mussten6.' 

Coleridge  remarks  that  '  even  whole  nations '  are  often  '  enslaved  to 
the  habits  of  their  education '  and  thus  do  not  judge  correctly  'on  sub- 
jects of  taste  and  polite  literature.'  For  'instead  of  deciding. ..by  any 
rule  of  reason,  nothing  appears  rational,  becoming,  or  beautiful  to  them, 
but  what  coincides  with  the  peculiarities  of  their  education7.'  Thus  it 
has  happened  that  'whole  nations  have  combined'  in  condemning  Shake- 
speare8. Herder  says  that  just  as  children  are  not  governed  by  reason, 
but  by  their  general  training  and  habits,  '  so  sind  ganze  Nationen  in 
Allem,  was  sie  lernen,  noch  weit  mehr  Kinder,'  and  thus  err  in  judgment 
of  literature9. 

1  Notes,  p.  204.  Herder,  in  another  essay,  deals  with  a  common  error  of  critics  in  not 
recognizing  the  fact  that  there  are  no  '  fixed  forms.'  He  says,  '  Wer  sich  an  Eine  Zeit... 
sklavisch  schliesst,  das  Zeitmassige  ihrer  Formen  fur  ewig  halt,  dem  bleibt  jene  unerreich- 
bare  lebendige  Idee  fern  und  fremde,  das  Ideal,  das  iiber  alle  Volker  und  Zeiten  reichet ' 
(Werke,  xxiii,  p.  76).  And  Coleridge  says,  '  0  !  few  have  there  been  among  critics,  who 
have  followed  with  the  eye  of  the  imagination  the  imperishable  yet  ever  wandering  spirit 
of  poetry  through  its  various  metempsychoses,  and  consequent  metamorphoses...'  (Notes, 
p.  203). 

2  Notes,  p.  51.  3  lb.,  p.  227.  i  lb.,  p.  228.  6  lb.,  p.  229. 

6  Werke,  v,  p.  208.  7  Notes,  p.  226.  8  lb.,  p.  228.  '■>  Werke,  v,  p.  209. 


A.  C.  DUNSTAN  185 

Coleridge  and  Herder  have  the  same  charge  to  bring  against  French 
drama,  it  is  artificial.  Coleridge  demands  'language  inspired  by  the 
passion,  and  the  language  and  the  passion  modified  and  differenced  by 
the  character1,'  And  Herder,  who  elsewhere  states  that  'Ausdruck'  and 
'  Gedanke '  must  be  related  as  soul  to  body,  that  the  poet  '  soil  Emp- 
findungen  ausdriicken2,'  complains  of  Racine's  diction :  '  Es  sind  Gemalde 
der  Empfindung  von  dritter  fremder  Hand,  nie  oder  selten  die  unmittel- 
baren,  ersten,  ungeschminkten  Regungen,  wie  sie  Worte  suchen  und 
endlich  finden3.' 

Possibly  Coleridge  adopted  from  Herder  the  term  '  northern '  to  dis- 
tinguish English  and  German  poetry  from  that  of  ancient  Greece. 

Before  leaving  Herder's  essay  one  more  example  might  be  given. 
Both  men  are  struck  by  the  artistic  skill  shown  in  the  first  scene  of 
King  Lear.  Coleridge  says  '  these  facts,  these  passions,  these  moral 
verities,  on  which  the  whole  tragedy  is  founded,  are  all  prepared  for, 
and  will  to  the  retrospect  be  found  implied,  in  these  first  four  or  five 
lines  of  the  play4.'  Herder  says  that  Lear  '  in  der  ersten  Scene  der 
Erscheinung  tragt  schon  alien  Saamen  seiner  Schicksale  zur  Ernte  der 
dunkelsten  Zukunft  in  sich8.' 

The  relations  of  the  poet  to  nature  and  to  God  are  the  same  for 
Coleridge  and  Herder.  To  Coleridge  Shakespeare  is  the  chosen  poet  of 
nature ;  Shakespeare  is  not  merely  a  wild  irregular  genius,  for  '  does  God 
choose  idiots  by  whom  to  convey  divine  truths  to  men6 '  ?  So  too  Herder, 
'  Wie  die  ganze  Natur  Gottes,  wie  alle  Geschichte  zu  uns  spricht,  so 
spreche  auch  die  Dollmetscherin  beider,  die  gottliche  Dichtkunst7.'  For, 
says  Herder,  '  Ein  Dichter  ist  Schopfer  eines  Volkes  um  sich ;  er  gibt 
ihnen  eine  Welt  zu  sehen  und  hat  ihre  Seelen  in  seiner  Hand,  sie  dahin 
zu  fuhren...immer  aber  und  uberall  kann  nur  ein  Gott  solche  Dichter 
geben8.'  And  again  Herder  tells  us  that  God  uses  '  erwahlte,  grossere 
Menschen'  for  his  work  ('sittliche  Fortbildung  in  menschlichen  Seelen')9. 
In  the  ancient  world  Homer  dispensed  wisdom ;  Herder's  '  Sittlichkeit, 
Kunst  und  Weisheit,'  which  the  Greeks  derived  from  Homer,  is  in 
Coleridge  'wisdom,... writings... ennobling  us  by  grand  thoughts  and 
images10.' 

With  regard  to  the  dependence  of  genius  on  public  taste,  Coleridge 

remarks  that  poets  like  Milton  and  Shakespeare  are  not  corrupted  by  it11, 

1  Notes,  p.  212.  2  Werke,  i,  p.  394.  3  lb.,  v,  p.  215. 

4  Notes,  p.  329.  5  Werke,  v,  p.  220.  6  Notes,  p.  229. 

7  Werke,  vin,  p.  362.    Compare  also  '  [Shakespeare]  ist  Dollmetscher  der  Natur  in  all' 
ihren  Zungen'  (Werke,  v,  p.  219). 

8  Werke,  vm,  p.  433.  9  lb.,  xin,  p.  351. 
10  Notes,  p.  65,  and  Werke,  vni,  p.  371.                       u  Notes,  p.  214. 


186  The  German  Influence  on  Coleridge 

for  'true  poets... write  from  a  principle  within1.'    Herder  says,  'Jeder 

Mensch  von  feinem  Gefiihl  erfahrt,...dass  in  halbgebildeten  oder  irre- 

gefuhrten  Volkern  nichts  so  selten  sey,  als  das  reine  Gefiihl  und  Wohl- 

gefallen  am  echten,  geschweige  am  erhabenen  Schonen.     Der  wahre 

Kiinstler  arbeitet  daher  nicht  fur  den  gemeinen  Geschmack,  ist  auf  das 

Urtheil  des  Pobels  nie  stolz2/    The  artist  works  under  '  die  Idee,  die  in 

ihm  liegt,  die  ihn  treibt  und  beseligt3.' 

The  following  passages  in  which  we  find  the  same  thoughts,  conve}7ed 

in  the  same  way  (viz.  the  relation  of  outward  form  and  inward  idea, 

scorn  of  the  application  of  the  epithet  '  barbarian '  to  Shakespeare, 

Shakespeare's  immense  range),  make  it  almost  impossible  to  believe 

that  Coleridge  is  here  quite  independent  of  Herder.    Coleridge  says  that 

earnest  poetry  is  like  plastic  art,  '  where  the  perfection  of  outward  form 

is  a  symbol  of  the  perfection  of  an  inward  idea4.'     Then,  after  alluding 

to  Voltaire's  criticism  of  Shakespeare  (viz.  '  la  tragedie  d'Hamlet,  c'est 

une  piece  grossiere  et  barbare,...on  croirait  que  cet  ouvrage  est  le  fruit 

de  l'imagination  d'un  sauvage  ivre '),  he  proceeds : 

The  organic  form,  on  the  other  hand,  is  innate ;  it  shapes,  as  it  developes,  itself 
from  within,  and  the  fulness  of  its  development  is  one  and  the  same  with  the  per- 
fection of  its  outward  form.  Such  as  the  life  is,  such  is  the  form.  Nature,  the  prime 
genial  artist,  inexhaustible  in  diverse  powers,  is  equally  inexhaustible  in  forms ;  each 
exterior  is  the  physiognomy  of  the  being  within,  its  true  image  reflected  and  thrown 
out  from  the  concave  mirror  ;  and  even  such  is  the  appropriate  excellence  of  her 
chosen  poet,  of  our  own  Shakspere — himself  a  nature  humanized,  a  genial  under- 
standing directing  selfconsciously  a  power  and  an  implicit  wisdom  deeper  even  than 
our  own  consciousness  6. 

This  is  expressed,  more  concisely,  by  Herder : 

Da  alles  Aussere  nur  Abglauz  der  inneren  Seele  ist :  wie  tief  ist  nicht  der  barba- 
rische,  gothische  Shakespear  durch  Erdlagen  und  Erdschichten  uberall  zu  den 
Grundzugen  gekommen,  aus  denen  ein  Mensch  wachst6. 

The  passages  quoted  above  to  show  the  influence  of  Herder  on 
Coleridge  are  from  Coleridge's  lectures  and  notes  on  English  poetry, 
where  one  would  expect  to  find  an  application  of  his  general  aesthetic 
principles  to  particular  cases7. 

1  lb.,  p.  232.  2  Compare  also  Notes,  p.  55.  3  Werke,  xxn,  p.  105. 

4  Notes,  p.  189.  5  lb.,  p.  229. 

6  Werke,  vni,  pp.  183-4  (cp.  also  below,  p.  189). 

7  For  further  examples  see  the  third  section  of  this  paper.  The  general  trend  of  the 
first  section  of  the  '  Lectures  of  1818 '  is  the  same  as  that  of  a  large  section  of  Herder's 
Ideen  zur  Philosophic  der  Geschichte  der  Menschheit.  Coleridge  uses  the  word  '  Poesy  '  as 
the  '  generic  or  class  term,  including  poetry,  music,  painting,  statuary,  and  ideal  architec- 
ture, as  its  species  '  in  the  syllabus  of  his  1818  lectures.  Herder  says,  '  In  der  Cultur  zura 
Schonen,  die  wir  der  Kurze  halben  Poesie  nennen  wollen  '  (Werke,  xvin,  p.  5).    Further, 

"both  writers  compare  Poetry  with  Science,  treat  Epic  and  Drama  (Fate  as  the  deciding 
factor)  in  much  the  same  way.  They  sum  up  the  question  of  '  imitation  of  nature  ' 
similarly.  Coleridge  says,  '  art  cannot  exist  without,  or  apart  from,  nature ;  and  what  has 
man  of  his  own  to  give  to  his  fellow-men,  but  his  own  thoughts  or  feelings?'  (Notes, 


A.  C.   DUNSTAN  187 

The  formal  aesthetical  essays  of  Coleridge  bear  every  mark  of  Kant's 
influence.  Coleridge,  like  Schiller,  found  the  three  Critiques1  convincing 
(at  least  within  limits),  but  occasionally  doubt  seems  to  have  arisen  in 
his  mind.  The  essays  on  Taste  and  on  Beauty  are  mere  fragments,  and 
one  cannot  read  them  without  feeling  that  the  abrupt  endings  are  due 
to  indecision.  There  seems  to  be  a  faint  echo  of  Herder  in  such  passages 
as :  'As  to  lines,  the  rectilineal  are  in  themselves  lifeless,  the  determined 
ab  extra,  but  still  in  immediate  union  with  the  cycloidal,  which  are 
expressive  of  function —  These  are  not  arbitrary  symbols,  but  the 
language  of  nature...2.'  Herder  remarks  :  '  Wo  es  anging,  hat  die  Natur 
die  Linie  der  Richtigkeit  mit  dem  Kreise  der  Vollkommenheit  um- 
wunden...so  hat  sie  auch  am  Korper  die  Linie  der  Vestigkeit  mit 
Rundheit  umkleidet3.' 

The  distinction  between  '  refined  '  and  '  gross  pleasures4'  reminds  the 
reader  of  Herder's  distinction  between  the  agreeable  and  the  beautiful, 
a  distinction  based  on  the  difference  between  the  '  grbbere '  and  the 
1  feinere  Sinnesorgane5.'  Herder  says  that  the  lower  senses  are  limited 
'  bios  auf  die  thierische  Erhaltung  unsres  Ichs6,'  whilst  in  the  case  of  the 
higher  senses  one  forgets  self:  '  Vermoge  des  Wesens,  das  mich  aus  mir 
selbst  setzt,  indem  es  sich  mir  aneignet,  vergesse  ich  meiner7.'  This 
may  be  the  meaning  of  Coleridge's  statement  on  the  lower  senses,  which 
'  appear  in  part  passive,  and  combine  with  the  perception  of  the  outward 
object  a  distinct  sense  of  our  own  life8.'  Kant  postulates  a  kind  of 
'  Stimme  des  Geschmacks '  parallel  to  the  '  Stimme  des  Gewissens,' 
whilst  Herder  will  not  accept  '  allgemeingiiltige  Geschmacksurteile9,' 
and  Coleridge  seems  to  end  the  essay  on  Taste  with  a  note  of  indecision 

p.  227).  Herder  says,  '  Ohne  Natur  und  ohne  uns  selbst  konnten  wir  uns  weder  Natur 
noch  Empfindung  erfinden  '  (Werke,  xxin,  p.  73).  In  his  definition  of  '  poetry '  Coleridge 
says :  we  expect  '  from  each  part  the  greatest  immediate  pleasure  compatible  with  the 
largest  sum  of  pleasure  on  the  whole... that  splendour  of  particular  lines,  which  would  be 
worthy  of  admiration  in  an  impassioned  elegy,... would  be  a  blemish  and  proof  of  vile 
taste  in  a  tragedy  or  an  epic  poem  '  (Notes,  p.  184).  Herder  points  out  that  Milton  and 
Klopstock  avoid  this  fault  in  their  epics,  and  continues :  '  Wer  beim  Drama  das  Drama 
vergisst,...dagegen  aber  an  Sentenzen,  an  malerischen  Situationen,  an  einzelnen  Charak- 
teren  haftet;  wie  fern  ist  er  vom  Erhabnen  Sophokles  und  Shakespears  !  '  (Werke,  xxu, 
p.  275). 

1  But  Kant's  influence  on  Coleridge  is  not  confined  to  the  Critique*;  Coleridge  read 
Kant's  earlier  essays.  The  passage  on  '  the  lax  hold  which  principles  have  on  a  woman's 
heart '  (Notes,  p.  290)  is  taken  from  Kant's  essay  on  the  Beautiful  and  the  Sublime. 
Coleridge  also  takes  from  Kant  the  curious  comparison  between  mathematics  and  philo- 
sophy (cp.  Misc.,  p.  10  and  Kant,  Werke,  Berlin,  1912  etc.,  n,  p.  182). 

2  Misc.,  p.  40. 

3  Werlce,  viii,  pp.  64-5.  There  is  also  a  general  likeness  between  Coleridge's  remarks 
on  the  senses,  especially  on  the  sense  of  '  touch  '  and  Herder's  remarks  (cp.  Misc.,  pp.  25, 
36-7  and  Werke,  xv,  p.  534). 

4  Misc.,  p.  41.  5  Werke,  xxu,  pp.  34  and  40.  •  lb.,  xxu,  p.  40. 

7  lb.,  xxu,  p.  96.  8  Misc.,  p.  37.  9  Werke,  xxu,  p.  34. 


188  The  German  Influence  on  Coleridge 

and  admits  '  the  consciousness  of  our  liability  to  error1.'  In  the  essay  on 
Beauty  the  historical  treatment  of  aesthetic  which  is  just  hinted  at2  is 
more  akin  to  Herder  than  to  Kant,  whilst  the  final  paragraph  seems  (for 
it  is  rather  unclear)  to  tend  to  unite,  with  Herder,  the  agreeable,  the 
good  and  the  beautiful,  instead  of  divorcing  them ;  for  Herder  protests 
against  'was  die  Natur  in  uns  zart  verschlungen  hat,  unerbittlich  zu 
trennen3.'  The  long  essays  on  The  Principles  of  Genial  Criticism  owe 
a  great  deal  to  Kant4;  here  the  good  and  the  beautiful  are  rigidly 
separated,  but  in  judgment  of  the  beautiful  Kant's  'demand'  that  all 
other  people  shall  agree  is  weakened  in  Coleridge  to  '  expect5.' 

However  much  Coleridge  may  owe  to  Kant  in  these  aesthetical 
essays,  one  cannot  discover  much  trace  of  Kant  in  the  application  of 
general  principles  in  his  lectures  and  notes  on  Shakespeare  and  other 
poets.  It  is  doubtful  whether  Coleridge  as  a  literary  critic  derived  the 
slightest  advantage  from  a  study  of  Kant's  aesthetic.  His  gain  from 
studying  Schiller  and  Herder  is  obvious,  at  the  very  least  estimate  their 
work  justified  the  faith  that  was  in  him.  As  soon  as  Coleridge  leaves 
the  bare  formal  theory  and  gets  to  work  on  poetry,  overboard  goes  all 
'  Zweckmassigkeit  ohne  Vorstellung  eines  Zweckes,'  all  formal  distinc- 
tions between  the  agreeable,  the  beautiful  and  the  good  ;  the  atmosphere 
is  entirely  that  of  Herder,  for  to  Herder  there  is  no  firm  dividing  line 
between  the  agreeable,  the  beautiful  and  the  good :  '  unsre  Natur  in 
alien  ihren  Begriffen  und  Gefuhlen '  is  '  Eine  Natur ' ;  '  Moge  die  Kritik 
ihre  drei  specifisch  verschiedne  Vorstellungsarten  siebenfach  unter- 
scheiden ;  bose  fur  sie,  wenn  ihr  Schones  nicht  angenehm,  und  ihr  Gutes 
nicht  schon  ist6.'  And  Coleridge  can  find  no  application  for  such  definite 
distinctions  in  his  concrete  literary  criticism.  In  his  lectures  Coleridge 
has  little  to  say  about  '  the  beautiful '  and  '  taste,'  and  what  he  does  say 
is  more  akin  to  Herder  than  to  Kant.  To  Herder  experience  is  a  great 
factor  in  forming  taste7,  and  Coleridge  says:  'Taste  is  an  attainment 

1  Misc.,  p.  38.  2  lb.,  p.  40.  3  Werke,  xxn,  p.  9. 

4  See  Biographia  Literaria  and  Aesthetical  Essays,  edited  by  J.  Shawcross,  n, 
pp.  304-15.     '  5  lb.,  ii,  p.  314. 

6  Werke,  xxn,  p.  35.  With  Herder  the  question  is  '  wie  sie  zu  scheiden  oder  zu  ver- 
binden  seyn  '  (Werke,  xxn,  p.  36). 

7  Herder  says:  '  Jede  Kunst...erfodert  Fleiss,  Miihe,  Ubung '  (Werke,  xxx,  p.  76). 
'  Wahrer  Geschmack...lasst  sich.nur  durch  stilles  Nachdenken,  durch  ausharrenden  Fleiss, 
durch  fortgesetzte,  wiederholte  Ubung  erlangen  '  (Werke,  xxx,  p.  279).  Herder  says  also: 
'  Was  das  schnelle  Erfassen  des  Wahren  dem  Verstande,  was  die  Eegung  des  moralischen 
Gefiihls  dem  Willen,  ist  zwischen  beiden  in  Ansehung  des  Schonen  und  Angenehmen 
sowohl  in  Empfindung  als  Ubung  der  Geschmack,  d.  i.  die  leichte  und  siehre#  Compre- 
hension desseloen  im  feinsten  Punkt  seines  Keizes  '  (Werke,  xxn,  p.  219).  Although 
Herder  says  '  Ein  Tyrann  des  Geschmacks  ist. ..die  albernste  Figur '  (Werke,  xxn,  p.  105), 
yet  he  admits  that  we  can  feel  our  taste  is  right,  '  sobald  wir  unsres  Geschmacks  sicher 
sind,'  but  we  must  not  try  to  force  this  taste  on  others  (Werke,  xxn,  p.  106). 


A.  C.  DUNSTAN  189 

after  the  poet  has  been  disciplined  by  experience/  it  is  attained  only  'by 
painful  study ' ;  when  attained  the  poet  '  knows  what  part  of  his  genius 
he  can  make  acceptable  and  intelligible  to  the  portion  of  mankind  for 
which  he  writes.'  '  In  my  mind  it  would  be  a  hopeless  symptom,  as 
regards  genius,  if  I  found  a  young  man  with  anything  like  perfect  taste1.' 
Discussing  the  beautiful,  Coleridge  says : 

We  call,  for  we  see  and  feel,  the  swan  and  the  dove  both  transcendently  beautiful. 
As  absurd  as  it  would  be  to  institute  a  comparison  between  their  separate  claims  to 
beauty  from  any  abstract  rule  common  to  both,  without  reference  to  the  life  and 
being  of  the  animals  themselves,... not  less  absurd  is  it  to  pass  judgment  on  the 
works  of  a  poet  on  the  mere  ground  that  they  have  been  called  by  the  same  class- 
name  with  the  works  of  other  poets  in  other  times  and  circumstances,  or  on  any 
ground,  indeed,  save  that  of  their  inappropriateness  to  their  own  end  and  being, 
their  want  of  significance,  as  symbols  or  physiognomy2. 

This  is  all  in  Herder's  style  :  '  Selbst  den  schonen  Schwan  mogen  wir 
am  liebsten  schwimmen  sehen,...so  sehen  wir  jeden  Vogel  des  Himmels 
am  liebsten  in  seiner  Luft,  auf  seinen  Zweigen3';  we  see  in  the  bird  an 
*  Inbegriff  von  Eigenschaften  und  Vollkommenheiten  seines  Elements, 
eine  Darstellung  seiner  Virtualitat  als  eines  Licht-,  Schall-  und  Luftge- 
schopfs,  dem  in  jeder  Gattung  sein  Habitus  zustimmt4 ' :  '  Wenn  jedes 
lebendige  Geschopf,  seiner  Gestalt  nach,  ein  Maximum  seiner  Bedeut- 
samkeit  an  sich  tragt,  dessen  Anerkennung,  verstandig  oder  sinnlich,  uns 
den  Begriff  seiner  Schonheit,  d.  i.  des  Wohlseyns  in  seinem  Element 
gewahret,  wird  dem  Menschen  dieser  Ausdruck  seiner  Virtualitat 
fehlen5  ? '  '  Nur  die  Bedeutung  innerer  Vollkommenheit  ist  Schonheit' — 
'Schonheit  ist...sinnlicher  Ausdruck  der  Vollkommenheit  zum  Zwecke ' 
— Innere  Vollkommenheit  =  '  Gesundheit,  Leben,  Kraft,  Wohlseyn  in 
jedem  Gliede  [des]  kunstvollen  Geschopfes6.' 

It  has  already  been  pointed  out  that  Coleridge,  like  Schiller7,  lays 
stress  on  the  powerful  attraction  which  the  Beautiful  exerts  in  relation 

1  Notes,  p.  81.  Compare  also :  '  the  merits  which  taste  and  judgment  can  confer  are  of 
slow  growth'  (Notes,  p.  101).  Kant  (Kritik  der  Urteilskraft,  §  50)  says  that  taste  must  be 
combined  with  genius  to  produce  fine  art :  '  Der  Geschmack  ist  so  wie  die  Urtheilskraft 
iiberhaupt  die  Disciplin  (oder  Zucht)  des  Genies.' 

2  Notes,  pp.  202-3.  Reynolds  also,  in  the  Idler,  No.  82,  compares  the  swan  and  the 
dove.  He  and  Coleridge  partly  agree  and  partly  disagree.  Kant  (Kritik  der  Urteilskraft, 
§  48)  says  that  to  estimate  a  beauty  of  nature  it  is  not  necessary  to  know  the  material 
finality  (the  end).  The  mere  form  pleases  on  its  own  account.  Contrast  with  the  above 
Coleridge's  remarks  on  the  sense  of  Beauty  in  the  appendix  to  his  essays  on  the  Fine  Arts 
(Misc.,  p.  33).  In  his  formal  essays  on  general  principles  he  follows  Kant  closely.  The 
above  passage  from  Coleridge  together  with  its  continuation  (Notes,  p.  203)  contains  matter 
which  is  treated  in  more  detail  in  Herder's  essay  on  '  veste  Formen  des  Schonen  '  (Werke, 
xxiii,  pp.  73-6). 

3  Werke,  xxn,  p.  82.  4  lb.,  xxn,  p.  83.  5  lb.,  xxn,  p.  85. 

6  lb.,  vin,  p.  56. 

7  '  Schon  der  Zweck  der  Natur  bringt  es  mit  sich,  dass  wir  der  Schonheit  zuerst  ent- 
gegeneilen...'  (Schiller's  Werke,  xn,  p.  273). 


190  The  German  Influence  on  Coleridge 

to  man,  but  it  is  just  possible  that  Coleridge's  curious  etymological 
adventure,  '  Hence  the  Greeks  called  a  beautiful  object  kcCKov,  quasi 
KaXovv,  i.e.  calling  on  the  soul1,'  was  suggested  by  Herder's  '  Bei  den 
Griechen...bezeichnete  das  Schone  (ro  koXov)  was  hervorscheint  und 
gleichsam  hervorruft  an  Glanz  und  Ansehen...2.' 

Finally,  in  his  essay  on  '  Life3,'  Coleridge  discusses  '  unity  in  multeity  ' 
and  defends  the  use  of '  analogy '  from  physical  science  to  explain  life ; 
so,  too,  Herder  states  that  '  Bildworter '  and  the  use  of  '  Analogie '  are 
necessary  in  speaking  of  our  whole  '  Psychologie,'  and  mentions  '  das 
Gefiihl  von  dem  Einen,  der  in  aller  Mannichfaltigkeit  herrschet4.' 

III. 

The  Charge  of  Plagiarism. 

Coleridge  definitely  repudiates  the  charge  of  plagiarism  in  the  case 
of  Schelling  and  Schlegel : 

In  this  instance,  as  in  the  dramatic  lectures  of  Schlegel,  to  which  I  have  before 
alluded,  from  the  same  motive  of  self-defence  against  the  charge  of  plagiarism,  many 
of  the  most  striking  resemblances,  indeed  all  the  main  and  fundamental  ideas,  were 
born  and  matured  in  my  mind  before  I  had  ever  seen  a  single  page  of  the  German 
Philosopher  ;  and  1  might  indeed  affirm  with  truth,  before  the  more  important 
works  of  Schelling  had  been  written,  or  at  least  made  publick5. 

And  Coleridge  claims  to  have  put  forward  his  views  of  Hamlet  before  he 
knew  a  word  of  German,  and  before  Schlegel  had  delivered  his  lectures6. 
Writing  to  Poole  (March  16,  1801),  Coleridge  says,  'I  have  not 
formed  opinions  without  an  attentive  perusal  of  my  predecessors  from 
Aristotle  to  Kant,'  and  in  a  letter  to  Davy  (Sept.  11,  1807),  Coleridge 
states  that  he  is  writing  out  lectures  on  poetry ;  his  scheme  includes : 
(1)  general  principles,  (2)  Shakspere,  his  genius,  relatively  to  prede- 
cessors and  contemporaries,  his  merits  and  defects,  which  of  them  belong 
to  his  age,  (3)  Spenser,  (4)  Milton,  (5)  Dryden  and  Pope.  This  will  give 
the  '  whole  result  of  many  years'  continued  reflection  on  the  subjects  of 
taste,  imagination,  fancy,  passion,  the  source  of  our  pleasures  in  the  fine 
arts '  And  in  a  letter  to  Davy  in  1801  Coleridge  states  that  he  in- 
tends to  write  'an  essay  concerning  poetry,  and  the  pleasures  to  be  derived 
from  it,  which  would  supersede  all  the  books  of  morals,  and  all  the  books 
of  metaphysics  too7.'   These  statements  of  intentions  support  the  hy- 

1  Misc.,  p.  31.  2  Werke,  xxn,  pp.  92-3. 

3  Theory  of  Life  (Misc.,  pp.  386-7,  and  404). 

4  Werke,  vm,  pp.  169-71. 

8  Biographia  Literaria,  chap.  ix.    See  also  letter  to  Green  (Letters,  ii,  p.  6831. 
6  Notes,  pp.  342-3.  7  Letters,  i,  p.  353. 


A.  C.  DUNSTAN  191 

po thesis  that  Coleridge  had  collected  practically  all  the  material  for  his 
lectures,  even  for  those  of  1818,  before  Schlegel  delivered  his  lectures1. 

A.  W.  Schlegel. 

It  is  possible  to  make  out  a  formidable  list  of  parallel  passages  in 
Coleridge  and  Schlegel2;  in  some  cases  there  is  even  a  striking  verbal 
similarity,  and  the  problem  is  to  reconcile  these  similar  passages  with 
Coleridge's  denial  of  plagiarism3.  A  few  of  these  parallel  passages  are 
examined  below. 

There  is  a  general  likeness  between  Schlegel's  strictures  on  Kotzebue4 
and  those  of  Coleridge5,  a  likeness  that  might  be  mistaken  for  a  bor- 
rowing on  Coleridge's  part — but  there  is  no  borrowing.  Coleridge  knew 
Kotzebue  (through  translations)  before  he  went  to  Germany,  and  the 
passage  in  the  lecture  referred  to  above  was  based  on  a  letter  which 
Coleridge  wrote  in  Germany  in  17986.  This  passage  serves  a  double 
purpose  of  showing  that  a  similarity  need  not  imply  a  borrowing,  and 
that  Coleridge  in  his  lectures  of  1813-14  was  using  material  at  least 
fifteen  years  old. 

The  next  example  will  serve  the  same  double  purpose.  In  speaking 
of  Shakespeare's  characters  Coleridge  says  : 

And  it  is  well  worth  remarking  that  Shakspere's  characters,  like  those  in  real 
life,  are  very  commonly  misunderstood,  and  almost  always  understood  by  different 
persons  in  different  ways.    The  causes  are  the  same  in  either  case.    If  you  take  only 

1  This  hypothesis  gains  further  support  from  a  little  book,  thirty  copies  of  which  were 
printed  for  private  circulation  in  1913,  containing  Coleridge's  Letters  Hitherto  Uncollected, 
edited  by  W.  F.  Prideaux.  In  a  letter  dated  Sept.  1800  (p.  11),  Coleridge  speaks  of  giving 
up  poetry  altogether,  and  devoting  himself  to  interpretative  literary  criticism.  In  another 
letter  (undated,  but  the  fact  that  he  mentions  his  age  fixes  the  date  1818)  to  Mudford  he 
states  (p.  35),  '  My  next  Friday's  lecture  will. ..be  interesting,  and  the  points  of  view  not 
only  original,  but  new  to  the  audience,'  and  refers  to  his  lectures  on  Shakespeare  of  '  16  or 
rather  17  years  ago.'  This  passage  clearly  implies  that  he  was  using  in  1818  matter  which, 
though  '  new  to  the  audience,'  had  been  used  in  far  earlier  lectures  and  was  original. 

There  are  also  several  passages  in  his  lectures  which  show  that  Coleridge  used  matter 
collected  early  for  his  later  lectures.  Thus,  for  example,  in  1818  he  speaks  of  having  been 
at  Helmstadt  '  a  few  years  ago '  (Notes,  p.  198).  Coleridge  left  Germany  in  1799.  His 
remarks  on  the  diction  of  Catullus  in  1811  (Notes,  p.  46)  might  well  have  been  written  in 
the  Lyrical  Ballads  period,  viz.  before  he  went  to  Germany. 

2  Such  a  list  has  been  made  by  A.  A.  Helmholtz,  The  Indebtedness  of  S.  T.  Coleridge 
to  A.  W.  v.  Schlegel,  Madison,  Wisconsin,  1907. 

3  Views  on  this  question  are  extreme.  Traill,  in  his  life  of  Coleridge  (p.  165),  denies 
that  Coleridge  owed  anything  to  Schlegel;  but  he  entirely  ignores  the  many  similar  pas- 
sages, and  is  rather  too  contemptuous  of  German  critics.  Brandl,  on  the  other  hand,  too 
readily  assumes  that  these  similar  passages  are  definite  proof  of  wholesale  borrowings. 
Pizzo,  in  his  article  in  Anglia  (Band  xxviii),  takes  a  middle  course;  he  assumes  consider- 
able influence,  but  says  that  Coleridge  '  entdeckte  mehr  Schonheiten  als  Schlegel.' 

4  Lectures,  trans.  Black,  p.  459.  6  Notes,  p.  485. 

6  Coleridge  read  to  the  audience  a  portion  of  Satyrane's  Letters,  n.  These  letters  from 
Germany  provided  material  for  other  lectures ;  e.g.  the  absence  of  '  sentimental  rat- 
catchers '  in  Shakespeare's  dramas  is  noted  both  in  Sktfyrane's  Letters  and  in  one  of  the 
lectures  (cp.  Notes,  p.  239). 


192  The  German  Influence  on  Coleridge 

what  the  friends  of  the  character  say  you  may  he  deceived,  and  still  more  so,  if  that 
which  his  enemies  say ;  nay,  even  the  character  himself  sees  himself  through  the 
medium  of  his  character  and  not  exactly  as  he  is.  Take  all  together,  not  omitting 
a  shrewd  hint  from  the  clown  or  the  fool  and  perhaps  your  impression  will  be  right, 
and  you  may  know  whether  you  have  in  fact  discovered  the  poet's  own  idea,  by  all 
the  speeches  receiving  light  from  it,  and  attesting  its  reality  by  reflecting  it1. 

And  Schlegel  says : 

[Shakespeare's  characters]  serve  to  bring  out  each  other's  peculiarities... for  we 
can  never  estimate  a  man's  true  worth  if  we  consider  him  altogether  abstractedly  by 
himself ;  we  must  see  him  in  his  relations  with  others ;  and  it  is  here  that  most 
dramatic  poets  are  deficient.  Shakspeare  makes  each  of  his  principal  characters  the 
glass  in  which  the  others  are  reflected,  and  by  like  means  enables  us  to  discover 
what  could  not  be  immediately  revealed  to  us....  Iliad  vised  should  we  be  were  we 
always  to  take  men's  declarations  respecting  themselves  and  others  for  sterling  coin 
....Nobody  ever  painted  so  truthfully  as  he  has  done  the  facility  of  self-deception, 
the  half  self-conscious  hypocrisy  towards  ourselves2. 

The  likeness  of  the  above  passages  is  striking.  Coleridge,  however, 
did  not  borrow  this  thought  from  Schlegel.  We  find  it  partially  stated 
and  fully  implied  in  a  note  in  Coleridge's  handwriting  on  his  translation 
of  the  Piccolomini  and  the  Death  of  Wallenstein  in  the  library  of  Rugby 
School.  This  note  was  first  published  in  1912s.  Coleridge  translated 
Wallenstein,  Dec.  1799 — Apr.  1800.  In  his  preface  he  remarks  that  it 
is  '  more  decorous  to  point  out  excellencies  than  defects.' 

The  following  passage  is  taken  from  this  note : 

The  defects  of  these  dramas  are  all  of  an  instructive  character,  for  tho'  not 
the  products  of  genius,  like  those  of  Shakspere,  they  result  from  an  energetic  and 
thinking  mind.  (1)  The  speeches  are  seldom  suited  to  characters — the  characters  are 
truly  diversified  and  distinctly  conceived — but  we  learn  them  from  the  descriptions 
given  by  other  characters,  or  from  particular  speeches.  The  brutal  Illo  repeatedly 
talks  language  which  belongs  to  the  Countess  etc.4 

It  is  clear  that  Coleridge  is  not  indebted  to  Schlegel  for  this  viewT  of 

Shakespeare's  characters.   Another  passage  in  this  note  is  repeated  by 

Coleridge  in  his  criticism  of  Macbeth.   The  note  reads : 

The  assassins  talk  ludicrously.  This  is  a  most  egregious  misimitation  of  Shak- 
spere....It  is  wonderful,  however,  that  Schiller,  who  had  studied  Shakspere,  should 
not  have  perceived  his  divine  judgment5  in  the  management  of  his  assassins,  as  in 
Macbeth.  They  are  fearful  and  almost  pitiable  Beings — not  loathsome,  ludicrous 
miscreants. 

In  his  criticism  of  Macbeth  Coleridge  says : 

Compare  Macbeth's  mode  of  working  on  the  murderers  in  this  place  with  Schiller's 
mistaken  scene  between  Butler,  Devereux  and  Macdonald  in  '  Wallenstein.'    The 

1  Notes,  p.  241.  »  Lectures,  pp.  368-9. 

8  See  Coleridge's  Poems,  edited  by  E.  H.  Coleridge,  n,  p.  598. 

4  This  is  Coleridge's  opinion  at  the  time  of  translation;  see  letter  to  Sotheby  (Oct.  10, 
1802). 

5  Compare  with  this  early  note  Coleridge's  statement:  '  In  all  the  successive  courses  of 
lectures  delivered  by  me. .  .it  has  been . .  .my  object,  to  prove  that. .  .the  judgment  of  Shakspere 
is  commensurate  with  his  genius'  (Notes,  p.  226).  It  supplies  further  evidence  that 
Coleridge  had  his  material  ready  long  before  Schlegel  delivered  his  lectures. 


A.  C.  DUNSTAN  193 

comic  was  wholly  out  of  season.   Shakspere  never  introduces  it,  but  when  it  may 
react  on  the  tragedy  by  harmonious  contrast1. 

Coleridge2  and  Schiegel3  agree  that  Shakespeare's  characters  are 
'.  genera '  and  yet  '  individualized,'  and  that  his  characters  '  supply 
materials  for  a  profound  theory  of  their  most  prominent  and  distinguishing 
property.'  But  all  this  again  occurs  in  Satyrane's  Letters ;  and  in  other 
passages4  we  find  Coleridge  comparing  poetry  and  geometry,  which  he 
had  done  in  this  connection  in  Satyranes  Letters. 

One  of  the  most  striking  parallels  between  Coleridge  and  Schiegel  is 
found  in  the  comparison  of  ancient  and  modern  drama  with  ancient  and 
modern  architecture.  In  his  first  lecture  Schiegel  says :  '  The  Pantheon 
is  not  more  different  from  Westminster  Abbey  or  the  church  of  St 
Stephen  at  Vienna  than  the  structure  of  a  tragedy  of  Sophocles  from  a 
drama  of  Shakespeare5.'  And  Coleridge  says:  'And  as  the  Pantheon  is 
to  York  Minster  or  Westminster  Abbey,  so  is  Sophocles  compared  with 
Shakspere6.' 

If  the  passages  from  which  these  extracts  are  taken  are  compared, 

the  reader  may  too  readily  assume  that  Coleridge  has  borrowed  the  ideas 

(and,  to  some  extent,  the  mode  of  expressing  the  ideas)  from  Schiegel. 

This  is,  however,  not  the  case.    Schlegel's  contrast  between  ancient  and 

modern  architecture  is  based  largely  on  Goethe's  Deutsche  Baukunst. 

This  we  recognize  in  the  following  quotation : 

A  style  of  architecture,  which  has  been  called  Gothic,  but  ought  really  to  have 
been  termed  old  German.  When,  on  the  general  revival  of  classical  antiquity  the 
imitation  of  Grecian  architecture  became  prevalent,  and  but  too  frequently  without 
a  due  regard  to  the  difference  of  climate  and  manners  or  to  the  purpose  of  the  build- 
ing, the  zealots  of  this  new  taste,  passing  a  sweeping  sentence  of  condemnation  on 
the  Gothic,  reprobated  it  as  tasteless,  gloomy  and  barbarous. 

The  above  quotation  condenses  a  part  of  Goethe's  essay.  Schiegel 
then  mentions  '  the  powerful,  solemn  impressions  which  seize  upon  the 
mind  at  entering  a  Gothic  cathedral ' ;  on  investigating  the  source  of 
this  impression  we  recognize  the  '  profound  significance '  of  Gothic  archi- 
tecture7.   Schiegel  is  clearly  basing  his  remarks  on  Goethe's  essay. 

Now  in  Coleridge  we  have  two  other  versions  of  this  comparison 
between  architecture  and  drama  of  the  ancient  and  modern  world8.  Of 
the  three  versions  the  most  complete  is  found  in  the  lecture  on  Dante, 
which  has  been  fully  quoted9.  It  was  pointed  out  that  much  was  sug- 
gested by  Schiller's  Uber  naive  und  sentimentalische  Dichtung,  but  some 

1  Notes,  p.  377.  -  Notes,  p.  282.  3  Lectures,  pp.  363-4. 

4  Notes,  pp.  11,  68.  8  Lectures,  pp.  22-3.  8  Notes,  p.  234. 

7  Lectures,  pp.  22-3. 

v  Xotes,  p.  461,  and  Misc.,  p.  142  (cp.  also  p.  92). 

9  In  the  first  part  of  this  paper  (Modern  Language  Revieiv,  July,  1922,  pp.  275,  278). 


194  The  German  Influence  on  Coleridge 

parts  seem  to  have  been  suggested  by  Goethe's  essay.  We  find  in  it 
matter  which  is  in  Goethe's  essay,  but  does  not  occur  in  Schlegel1.  This 
fact  shows  that  Coleridge  was  working  directly  on  Goethe's  essay,  and  did 
not  make  use  of  Goethe  through  Schlegel.  Thus  the  similarity  of  the 
passages  is  due  simply  to  the  fact  that  both  writers  used  a  common 
source.  Schlegel's  sole  contribution  to  Coleridge  is  the  illustration  of  the 
likeness  between  the  Pantheon  and  the  ancient  drama  on  the  one  hand 
and  that  of  Westminster  Abbey  and  modern  drama  on  the  other,  viz. 
examples  to  illustrate  a  principle,  a  very  slight  contribution  indeed2. 

The  parallel  passages  are  to  be  found  not  so  much  in  detailed  criti- 
cism of  Shakespeare's  work  as  in  the  more  general  discussion  of  the  fine 
arts,  and  in  descriptions  of  Greek  sculpture  and  literature.  Both  Coleridge 
and  Schlegel  had  read  the  same  German  critics,  both  had  heard  the 
lectures  of  Heyne3.    Thus  they  had  common  sources. 

No  doubt  a  good  deal  that  Schlegel  writes  on  ancient  art  was  based 
on  what  he  learnt  from  Heyne.  A  few  examples  must  suffice.  Schlegel 
says :  '  both  costume  and  mythology  were  handled  by  dramatic  poetry 
with  the  same  independence  and  conscious  liberty4.'  This  recalls  Heyne's 
'  Die  Dichterfabel  ist  aber  die  erste  Mythologie  nicht  mehr5.'  Another 
example  is  found  in  Schlegel's :  '  for  the  Grecian  gods  are  mere  powers 
of  nature,  and  although  immeasurably  higher  than  mortal  man,  yet, 
compared  with  infinitude,  they  are  on  an  equal  footing  with  himself6/ 
and  Heyne's :  '  die  Gottheit  in  menschlicher  Gestalt,  als  Mensch,  aber 
in  allem  iiber  den  vollkommensten  der  Menschen  erhaben7.'   Schlegel's 

1  Coleridge's  distinction  between  'simple  beauty  or  beauty  simply'  and  'majestic 
beauty  or  majesty '  corresponds  to  Goetbe's  distinction  between  '  scbdne  Kunst '  and 
>grosse  Kunst.'  Coleridge's  statement:  'Hence  in  a  Gothic  cathedral,  as  in  a  prospect 
from  a  mountain's  top,  tbere  is,  indeed,  a  unity,  an  awful  oneness,  but  it  is,  because  all 
distinction  evades  the  eye '  corresponds  to  Goethe's :  '  Wie  oft  hat  die  Abenddammerung 
mein  durch  forschendes  Schauen  ermattetes  Aug',  mit  freundlicher  Euhe  geletzt,  wenn 
durch  sie  die  unzahligen  Theile,  zu  ganzen  Massen  schmolzen,  und  nun  diese,  einfach  und 
gross,  vor  meiner  Seele  standen,  und  meine  Kraft  sich  wonnevoll  entfaltete,  zugleich  zu 
geniessen  und  zu  erkennen.'  Helene  Eichter  seems  to  be  hardly  justified  in  saying  (in  her 
article  in  Anglia,  referred  to  above) :  •  Vollig  unberiihrt  scheint  Coleridge  von  Goethes 
Kunstansichten. ' 

2  The  Pantheon  and  York  Cathedral  are  favourite  examples  with  Coleridge,  see  Essay 
on  the  Fine  Arts. 

3  C.  G.  Hejne,  Professor  in  Gottingen,  lectured  on  Greek  Art  and  Poetry,  and  was 
especially  interested  in  Greek  Mythology.  He  was  a  polyvoluminous  writer,  but  he  did  not 
publish  his  lectures.  Our  sources  of  information  as  to  the  matter  and  manner  of  his 
lectures  are.  the  traditions  on  which  his  biographers  worked,  and  a  small  volume,  based  on 
(rather  inadequate)  notes  taken  by  one  of  his  students,  and  published  with  the  title 
Vorlesungeii  iiber  die  Archdologie  der  Kunst  des  Altertums,  Braunschweig,  1822.  In  his 
lectures  Heyne  spoke  about  the  fine  arts  generally,  and  treated  several  ancient  works  of  art 
in  detail.  He  referred  his  students  to  Winckelmann  and  Lessing.  He  appears  to  have 
spoken  rapidly,  so  that  note-taking  was  no  easy  matter. 

*  Lectures,  p.  70.  s  Heyne's  Vorlesungen,  p.  89.  6  Lectures,  p.  67. 

7  Vorlesungen,  p.  17. 


A.  C.  DUNSTAN  195 

doctrine  :  '  The  Grecian  Mythology  was  a  web  of  national  and  local 
traditions1'  was  taught  by  Heyne. 

We  find  Coleridge  emphasizing  in  his  lectures  certain  facts  that 
Heyne  emphasized.    Coleridge  says  : 

The  Greek  stage  had  its  origin  in  the  ceremonies  of  a  sacrifice,  such  as  of  the 
goat  to  Bacchus,  whom  we  most  erroneously  regard  as  merely  the  jolly  god  of  wine, — 
for  among  the  ancients  he  was  venerable,  as  the  symbol  of  that  power  which  acts 
without  our  consciousness  in  the  vital  energies  of  nature,— the  vinum  mundi — as 
Apollo  was  that  of  the  conscious  agency  of  our  intellectual  being.  The  heroes  of 
old  under  the  influence  of  this  Bacchic  enthusiasm  performed  more  than  human 
actions ; — hence  tales  of  the  favourite  champions  soon  passed  into  dialogue 2. 

And  Heyne  taught : 

Der  thebaische  Bakchus...ist  der  Erfinder  des  Weinbaues,  daher  auch  der  Gott 
der  Freude,  und  zwar  sowohl  der  gesitteten,  als  auch  der  ausgelassenen  Freude  und 
Frohlichkeit.  Gemeiniglich  wurden  bei  den  Bakchusfesten  Chortanze  gehalten,  und 
des  Bakchus  Begebenheiten  pantomimisch  vorgetragen.  Hieraus  ist  die  Dramatic, 
Tragodie  und  Comodie  hervorgegangen3. 

Schlegel  puts  it  in  this  way  : 

For  Bacchus,  and  not  Apollo,  was  the  tutelary  deity  of  tragic  poets,  which,  on  a 
first  view  of  the  matter,  appears  somewhat  singular,  but  then  we  must  remember 
that  Bacchus  was  not  merely  the  god  of  wine  and  joy,  but  also  the  god  of  all  higher 
kinds  of  inspiration4. 

Examples  of  further  parallels  between  Coleridge  and  Heyne  are  the 
following.  Of  poetry  Coleridge  says :  '  pleasurable  excitement  is  its 
origin  and  object/  it  '  produces  delight,  the  parent  of  so  many  virtues5.' 
Heyne  too  connects  the  moral  influence  of  art  with  the  pleasure  it 
affords :  '  Die  Frage,  welches  der  Zweck  des  Schonen  sey,  hat  man  ofbers 
gehort.  Ohnstreitig  das  Vergnligen,  so  heisst  dieses  nicht  anders,  als, 
sie  streben  unsern  sittlichen  und  moralischen  Zustand  zu  veredeln  und 
zu  verfeinern.  Durch  die  Sinne  wird  am  kraftigsten  zur  Seele  geredet6.' 
Again  Coleridge  says :  '  the  condition  of  the  stage,  and  the  character  of 
the  times  in  which  our  great  poet  flourished,  must  first  of  all  be  taken 
into  account,  in  considering  the  question  as  to  his  (Shakespeare's) 
judgment7.'  This  Heyne  expresses:  '  Wer  ein  Kunstwerk  vollkommen 
gerecht  betrachten  will,  muss  sich  zuvor,  um  es  ganz  zu  verstehen,  auf 
den  Standpunkt  des  Kiinstlers  erheben,  und  die  Zeiten,  in  welchen  der 
Kunstler  lebte,  beachten8.'    Schlegel  says  much  the  same9. 

Coleridge's  distinction  between  poetry  and  sculpture  (or  painting) 
is  expressed :  '  The  term  "  poetry  "  is  rightly  applied  by  eminence  to 

1  Lectures,  p.  72.  2  Notes,  p.  234  (also  p.  462). 

3  Vorlesungen,  p.  115.  *  Lectures,  p.  80. 

8  Notes,  p.  49.  6  Vorlesungen,  p.  21.  7  Notes,  p.  52. 

8  Vorlesungen,  p.  5.  9  Lectures,  pp.  18  and  47. 


196  The  German  Influence  on  Coleridge 

measured  words,  only  because  the  sphere  of  their  action  is  far  wider...1/ 
'  the  narrow  limit  of  painting,  as  compared  with  the  boundless  power  of 
poetry :  painting  cannot  go  beyond  a  certain  point ;  poetry  rejects  all 
control,  all  confinement2.'  And  Heyne  says :  '  Die  Kunst  kann  immer 
nur  einen  Gegenstand...vorfiihren.  Der  Dichter  hat  ein  tieferes  Feld3.' 
Of  course  Heyne  is  following  Lessing,  who  speaks  of  the  '  nothwendige 
Schranken  und  Bediirfnisse  '  of  sculpture,  and  says  :  '  schwerlich  durfte 
sich  also  wohl  eine  derselben  auf  die  Poesie  anwenden  lassen4,'  and 
remarks  that  Spence  has  not  thought  of  the  fact  '  dass  die  Poesie  die 
weitere  Kunst  ist,  dass  ihr  Schonheiten  zu  Gebote  stehen,  welche  die 
Malerei  nicht  zu  erreichen  vermag5.' 

Whether  Heyne  taught  Coleridge  anything  that  he  did  not  know  before 
he  went  to  Germany  may  be  considered  doubtful.  It  is,  however,  possible 
that  Coleridge,  when  he  had  to  select  the  material  for  his  lectures  and  to 
decide  what  he  should  include,  may  have  been  influenced  to  some  extent 
in  his  decision  by  the  courses  given  by  Heyne.  That  Coleridge's  syllabus 
was  not  influenced  by  Schlegel  is  clear  from  the  fact  that  Coleridge  was 
planning  such  a  course  of  lectures  long  before  Schlegel  had  delivered  his. 

Schlegel  and  Coleridge  compare  the  German  and  Greek  languages 
in  the  same  way6.  But  their  comparison  is  similar  to  Lessing's7.  They 
also  remark  on  the  adverse  influence  of  pageants  and  gladiators  on  the 
development  of  drama  in  Rome8.  Again  this  is  a  repetition  of  what 
Lessing  had  already  said9. 

Other    parallel    passages    in    Coleridge    and    Schlegel   which    are 

strikingly  similar  will  also  be  found  to  be  based  on  a  common  source. 

Coleridge,  discussing  the  artificial  language  of  French  drama,  says : 

It  is  a  very  inferior  kind  of  poetry,  in  which,  as  in  the  French  tragedies,  men  are 
made  to  talk  in  a  style  which  few  indeed  even  of  the  wittiest  can  be  supposed  to 
converse  in,  and  which  both  is,  and  on  a  moment's  reflection  appears  to  be,  the 
natural  produce  of  the  hot-bed  of  vanity,  namely,  the  closet  of  an  author,  who  is 
actuated  originally  by  a  desire  to  excite  surprise  and  wonderment  at  his  own 
superiority  to  other  men, — instead  of  having  felt  so  deeply  on  certain  subjects,  or  in 
consequence  of  certain  imaginations,  as  to  make  it  almost  a  necessity  of  his  nature 
to  seek  for  sympathy, — no  doubt,  with  that  honourable  desire  of  permanent  action 
which  distinguishes  genius10. 

Schlegel,  discussing  the  same  matter,  says : 

It  has  often  been  remarked,  that  in  French  Tragedy  the  poet  is  always  too  easily 
seen  through  the  discourses  of  the  different  personages,  that  he  communicates  to 
them  his  own  presence  of  mind,  his  cool  reflections  on  their  situation,  and  his  desire 

1  Notes,  p.  209.  2  lb.,  p.  92.  3  Vorlesungen,  p.  8. 

4  Laokoon,  ch.  iv.  5  lb.,  ch.  vni. 

6  Notes,  p.  70;  Lectures,  p.  47.  7  Laokoon,  ch.  xvni. 

8  Notes,  p.  196;  Lectures,  pp.  209-10.  9  I^aokooti,  ch.  iv. 

10  Notes,  pp.  212-13. 


A.  C.  DUNSTAN  197 

to  shine  on  all  occasions.  When  most  of  their  tragical  speeches  are  closely  examined, 
they  are  seldom  found  to  be  such  as  the  persons  speaking  or  acting  by  themselves 
without  restraint  would  deliver ;  something  or  other  is  generally  discovered  in  them 
which  betrays  a  reference  to  the  spectator  more  or  less  perceptible.  Before,  however, 
our  compassion  can  be  powerfully  excited,  we  must  be  familiar  with  the  persons  ; 
but  how  is  this  possible  if  we  are  always  to  see  them  under  the  yoke  of  their  designs 
and  endeavours,  or,  what  is  worse,  of  an  unnatural  and  assumed  grandeur  of 
character  *  1 

These   passages   are    alike,  not   because  Coleridge  borrowed  from 

Schlegel,  but  because  both  borrowed  from  Schiller,  who  says : 

Dies  Letztere  ist  der  Fall  bei  dem  Trauerspiel  der  ehemaligen  Franzosen,  wo  wir 
hochst  selten  oder  nie  die  leidende  Natur  zu  Gesicht  bekommen,  sondern  meistens 
mir  den  kalten,  deklamatorischen  Poeten  oder  auch  den  auf  Stelzen  gehenden  Komo- 
dianten  sehen.  Der  frostige  Ton  der  Deklamation  erstickt  alle  wahre  Natur,  undt 
den  franzosischen  Tragikern  macht  es  ihre  arigebetete  Dezenz  vollends  ganz  unmog- 
lich,  die  Menschheit  in  ihrer  Wahrheit  zu  zeichnen.  Kaum  konnen  wir  es  einem 
franzosischen  Trauerspielhelden  glauben,  dass  er  leidet,  denn  er  lasst  sich  iiber  seinen 
Gemutszustand  heraus  wie  der  ruhigste  Mensch,  und  die  unaufhorliche  Rucksicht 
auf  den  Eindruck,  den  er  auf  andere  macht,  erlaubt  ihm  nie,  der  Natur  in  sich  ihre 
Frciheit  zu  lassen2. 

The  passage  in  Coleridge  also  contains  thoughts  found  in  Herder, 
who,  contrasting  Greek  and  French  drama,  says : 

Die  wahre  Kunst  ist  nicht  eitel.  Nicht  der  aussern  Wirkung  wegen  stehet  sie 
da,  vielweniger  zu  einer  fliichtigen  Parasiten-Wirkiing3. 

Speaking  of  'Ausdruok,'  Herder  says  that  in  French  drama  (as  con- 
trasted with  Greek  drama)  it  'fast  immer  zu  sehr  auf  aussere  augen- 
blickliche  Wirkung  gestellt  ist,  selten  also  der  Eitelkeit  ganz  entsaget3.' 
Another  close  parallel  is  interesting.  Coleridge  says  that  stage- 
illusion  may  be  compared  '  to  our  mental  state  when  dreaming.  In  both 
cases  we  simply  do  not  judge  the  imagery  to  be  unreal;  there  is  a 
negative  reality,  and  no  more4.'  The  production  of  this  effect  'will 
depend  on  the  degree  of  excitement  in  which  the  mind  is  supposed  to 
be5.'  Further  '  the  principal  and  only  genuine  excitement  ought  to  come 
from  within, — from  the  moved  and  sympathetic  imagination6,'  and  not 
to  depend  on  stage  scenery.    The  parallel  passage  in  Schlegel  is : 

No,  the  theatrical  as  well  as  every  other  poetical  illusion,  is  a  waking  dream,  to 
which  we  voluntarily  surrender  ourselves.  To  produce  it  the  poet  and  actors  must 
powerfully  agitate  the  mind,  and  the  probabilities  of  calculation  do  not  in  the  least 
contribute  towards  it7. 

Here  again  we  find  all  this  in  Herder  and  Schiller.  Further,  we 
find,  on  examining  other  remarks  of  Coleridge  on  this  subject,  that 
Coleridge  repeats  remarks  made  by  Herder  and  Schiller  which  Schlegel 
floes  not  reproduce.    If  parallel  passages  are  evidence  of  borrowing,  then 

1  Lectures,  pp.  266-7.  2  Werlce,  xi,  p.  247. 

:i  Werke,  xxm,  p.  69.  4  Notes,  p.  274. 

5  lb.,  p.  275.  «  lb.,  p.  276.  7  Lectures,  p.  246. 

M.L.R.XVIII.  13 


198  The  German  Influence  on  Coleridge 

we  must  conclude  that  Coleridge  borrowed  his  matter,  not  from  Schlegel, 

but  from  Herder  and  Schiller1.    This  can  be  made  clear  by  quoting  the 

passages.    Coleridge  says :  '  The  true  stage-illusion  in  this  and  in  all 

other  things  consists — not  in  the  mind's  judging  it  to  be  a  forest,  but  in 

the  remission  of  the  judgment  that  it  is  not  a  forest.'    He  then  rejects 

the  theory  of '  actual  delusion  (the  strange  notion,  on  which... the  French 

poets  justify  the  construction  of  their  tragedies)'  and  Dr  Johnson's 

denial  of  any  illusion,  and  proceeds  : 

For  not  only  are  we  never  absolutely  deluded — or  anything  like  it,  but  the 
attempt  to  cause  the  highest  delusion  possible  to  beings  in  their  senses  sitting  in  a 
theatre,  is  a  gross  fault,  incident  only  to  low  minds,  which,  feeling  that  they  cannot 
affect  the  heart  or  head  permanently,  endeavour  to  call  forth  the  momentary 
affections.  There  ought  never  to  be  more  pain  than  is  compatible  with  co-existing 
pleasure,  and  to  be  amply  repaid  by  thought2. 

Herder's  remarks  on  stage-illusion  are  as  follows : 

Vergessen  soil  ich  mich  selbst,  vergessen  sogar  meine  Zeit  und  meinen  Raum, 
auf  den  Fliigeln  der  Dichtkunst  in  die  dramatische  Handlung,  in  ihre  Zeit,  ihren 
Raum  getragen.  Von  Decorationen  hangt  dieser  Tausch  nicht  ab  :  denn  historisch 
vergesse  ich  nicht,  dass  ich  vor  einem  Brettergeriist  stehe,  und  es  wird  lacherlich, 
wenn  mich  das  franzosische  Trauerspiel  durch  Kunstgriff'e  und  Worte  selbst  daran 
erinnert,  dass  ich  nicht  davor  stehe,  sondern  hie  oder  dort  zu  seyn  belieben  werde. 
A  us  Macht  der  Handlung,  geistig  also  muss  ich  daseyn,  wo  der  Dichter  mich  seyn 
lasst,  meine  Einbildungskraft,  meine  Empfindung,  nicht  meine  Person  steht  ihm  zu 
Dienst3. 

In  his  preface  to  Die  Braut  von  Messina  Schiller  says  that  the 

spectator  at  the  theatre  knows 

dass  er  im  eigentlichen  Sinn  nur  an  Traumen  weidet,  und  wenn  er  von  dem  Schau- 
platz  wieder  in  die  wirkliche  Welt  zuriickkehrt,  so  umgibt  ihn  diese  wieder  mit 
ihrer  ganzen  driickenden  Enge,  er  ist  ihr  Raub  wie  vorher,  denn  sie  selbst  ist 
geblieben,  was  sie  war,  und  an  ihm  ist  nichts  verandert  worden.  Dadurch  ist  also 
nichts  gewonnen  als  ein  gefalliger  Wahn  des  Augenblicks,  der  beim  Erwachen  ver- 
schwindet.... 

Die  wahre  Kunst  aber  hat  es  nicht  bloss  auf  ein  voriibergehendes  Spiel  abgesehen  ; 
es  ist  ihr  ernst  damit,  den  Menschen  nicht  bloss  in  einen  augenblicklichen  Traum 
von  Freiheit  zu  versetzen,  sondern  ihn  wirklich  und  in  der  Tat  frei  zu  rnachen. 

People  who  believe  that  Coleridge  was  very  materially  influenced  in 
his  lectures  on  Shakespeare  by  Schlegel's  lectures  must  be  puzzled  to 
account  for  the  fact  that  the  two  critics  hold  directly  opposite  views  on 
matters  which  both  regard  as  of  great  importance4.   Illustrations  of  such 

1  Viz.  from  Kalligone  and  Die  Braut  von  Messina  (preface),  which,  we  know,  Coleridge 
had  read. 

2  Notes,  p.  207. 

3  Werke,  xxn,  p.  155.  Compare  also :  '  Shaksperian  drama  appealed  to  the  imagination 
rather  than  to  the  senses,  and  to  the  reason  as  contemplating  our  inward  nature.... The 
reason  is  aloof  from  time  and  space ;  the  imagination  is  an  arbitrary  controller  over  both ; 
and  if  only  the  poet  have  such  power  of  exciting  our  internal  emotions  as  to  make  us 
present  to  the  scene  in  imagination  chiefly,  he  acquires  the  right  and  privilege  of  using 
time  and  space  as  they  exist  in  imagination,  and  obedient  only  to  the  laws  by  which  the 
imagination  itself  acts  '  (Notes,  pp.  204-5).    Compare,  further,  Herder,  Werke,  xxm,  p.  383. 

4  Compare  E.  Pizzo,  Anglia,  Bd.  xxvin,  p.  221. 


A.  C.  DUNSTAN  199 

divergent  views  are  the  following.    Coleridge  denies  that  Shakespeare 

intended  to  represent  Othello  as  a  negro  and  confused  'Moor'  and 

'  Negro.'    He  quotes  the  term  '  thick-lips,'  and  speaks  of  it  as  '  one  if  not 

the  only  seeming  justification'  for  assuming  that  Othello  is  a  negro. 

Schlegel  regards  it  as  'a  fortunate  mistake '  that  Shakespeare  made 

Othello  '  in  every  respect  a  negro.'    Coleridge  states  that  Othello  kills 

Desdemona  not  in  jealousy,  which  term  does  not  describe  '  the  solemn 

agony  of  the  noble  Moor1.'    Schlegel  says  Othello's  jealousy  'is  not  the 

jealousy  of  the  heart,'  but  it  is  of  a  'sensual  kind.'    The  Moor  only 

seems  noble2.  Both  Coleridge  and  Schlegel  allude  to  Theobald's  note  on 

the  '  contradiction  '  in  Hamlet : 

That  undiscover'd  country,  from  whose  bourne 
No  traveller  returns... 

but  they  offer  very  different  explanations  of  this  seeming  contradiction3. 
They  differ,  too,  in  their  remarks  on  the  weird  sisters  in  Macbeth*. 

We  may  sum  up  the  relationship  of  Coleridge  to  Schlegel  as  follows. 
Where  they  say  much  the  same  about  Greek  drama,  with  its  unities  and 
chorus,  and  where  they  compare  poetry  with  sculpture  and  painting, 
they  are  repeating  what  had  been  said  by  Lessing ;  where  they  compare 
ancient  and  modern  poetry,  they  follow  Herder  and  Schiller. 

We  have  seen  that  it  can  be  shown  that  Coleridge  used  for  his 
lectures  of  1.811,  1813  and  1818  material  which  was  collected  long 
before  those  lectures  were  given ;  and,  no  doubt,  much  of  the  essay  on 
poetry  he  was  planning  in  1800,  and  the  lectures  he  was  writing  out  in 
1807  supplied  material  for  all  his  lectures,  and  contained  the  matter  he 
was  accused  of  taking  from  Schlegel.  The  extent  of  his  '  borrowings ' 
seems  to  be  limited  to  the  possibility  that  he  adopted  in  some  cases  a 
few  phrases  which  expressed  what  he  had  to  say  more  happily  than  he 
himself  had  expressed  it. 

An  examination  of  the  parallels  shows  that  Coleridge's  express  denial 
of  plagiarism  can  be  reconciled  with  some  at  least  of  these  many  simi- 
larities. Whatever  Coleridge  may  owe  to  his  German  contemporaries, 
there  is  nothing  to  show  that  his  debt  to  Schlegel  is  material. 

SCHELLING. 

Coleridge's  debt  to  Schelling,  like  his  debt  to  Schlegel,  has  been 
exaggerated.  In  the  latter  half  of  the  nineteenth  century  this  was  due 
mainly  to  Sara  Coleridge's  edition  of  the  Notes  and  Lectures  on  Shake- 


1  Notes,  pp.  393,  385-6. 

2  Lectures,  p.  401.  3  Notes,  p.  361  and  Lectures,  p. 
4  Notes,  p.  370  and  Lectures,  p.  407. 


406. 
13—2 


200  The  German  Influence  on  Coleridge 

speare  in  1849.  In  the  preface  to  his  edition  of  the  Biographia 
Literaria,  Shawcross  has  shown  that  Coleridge's  claim  to  have  arrived 
at  his  views  independently  of  Schelling,  can,  to  some  extent,  be  sub- 
stantiated1. Shawcross  also  shows  that  Coleridge  does  not,  in  fact,  agree 
with  Schelling  so  entirely  as  had  been  assumed ;  that  there  are  matters 
on  which  they  differ  fundamentally. 

It  remains  only  to  make  a  few  observations  on  the  parallel  passages 
from  Schelling  quoted  by  Sara  Coleridge ;  the  following  are  examples : 

Has  not  every  theory  of  later  times  even  set  out  from  the  principle,  that  Art 
should  be  the  imitatress  of  Nature  ?  It  has  so  ;  but  what  did  this  broad  general 
principle  avail  the  artist,  amid  the  various  significations  (Vieldeutigkeit)  of  the 
conception  of  Nature,  and  when  there  were  almost  as  many  representations  of  this 
Nature  as  different  modes  of  existence  ? 

How  comes  it  that,  to  every  cultivated  sense,  imitations  of  the  so-named  real, 
carried  even  to  illusion,  appear  in  the  highest  degree  untruthful, — even  convey  the 
impression  of  spectres  ;  whereas  a  work,  in  which  the  idea  is  dominant,  seizes  us 
with  the  full  force  of  truth, — nay  transports  us  for  the  first  time  into  the  genuine 
world  of  reality  ?  Whence  does  this  arise,  save  from  the  more  or  less  obscure  per- 
ception, which  proclaims  that  the  idea  is  that  alone  which  lives  (das  allein  Lebendige) 
in  things  : — that  all  else  is  beingless  and  empty  shadow2? 

The  science,  through  which  Nature  works,  is  indeed  like  to  no  human  science, 
which  is  united  with  self-reflection.  In  it  conception  is  not  distinct  from  Art,  nor 
design  separate  from  execution. 

It  has  long  been  perceived  that,  in  Art,  not  every  thing  is  performed  with  con- 
sciousness ;  that  with  the  conscious  activity  an  unconscious  power  must  be  united,.... 
The  attitude  of  the  Artist  toward  Nature  should  frequently  be  explained  by  the 
maxim,  that  Art  in  order  to  be  such,  must,  in  the  first  instance,  depart  from  Nature, 
and  only  return  to  her  in  the  last  fulfilment... he  must  remove  himself  from  the 
product  or  creature,  but  only  for  the  sake  of  raising  himself  up  to  the  creative  power 
and  seizing  that  intellectually  or  spiritually.  Hereby  he  rises  into  the  domain  of 
pure  ideas  ;  he  forsakes  the  creature  in  order  to  win  it  back  again  with  a  thousand- 
fold profit,  and  in  this  way  he  will  come  back  to  Nature  indeed. 

Now  the  passages  in  Coleridge  with  which  these  passages  from 
Schelling  are  compared  have  been  quoted,  and  it  has  been  shown  that 
these  thoughts  are  found  in  Schiller3.  The  fact  is  again  simply  that 
Schelling  was  himself  deeply  indebted  to  Kant  and  Schiller.  Practically 
all  that  Schelling  has  to  say  in  these  particular  passages  had  been  said 
by  Kant  and  Schiller.  Coleridge's  study  of  Kant  and  Schiller  preceded 
his  study  of  Schelling.  Much  that  he  found  in  Schelling  he  was,  there- 
fore, already  familiar  with. 

Thus  Coleridge  found  in  Schelling  (1)  material  already  familiar  to 
him,  because  Schelling  had  been  influenced  by  Kant  and  Schiller, 
(2)  thoughts  at  which  he  had  arrived,  he  tells  us,  independently,  in 

1  With  this  conclusion  Max  Deutschbein  agrees.  See  Das  Wesen  des  Romantisehen, 
Cothen,  1921,  p.  11. 

2  All  this  was  obviously  suggested  by  the  first  few  pages  of  Schiller's  Uber  naive  mid 
sentimentalische  Dichtung ;  see  also  preface  to  Die  Braut  von  Messina  on  'die  Kunst  des 
Ideals.' 

3  See  the  first  part  of  this  article,  Modem  Language  Review,  July,  1922,  pp.  276-7. 


A.  C.  DUNSTAN  201 

support  of  which  claim  there  is  some  evidence,  (3)  thoughts  with  which 
he  immediately,  or  on  further  reflection,  disagreed1.  So  that  in  view  of 
Coleridge's  repudiation  of  plagiarism  we  must  put  forward  the  hypo- 
thesis that  the  actual  borrowing  is  limited  to  the  manner  of  expressing 
the  thought,  and  that  Schelling  had  far  less  material  influence  on 
Coleridge  than  was  once  assumed. 

The  German  influence  on  Coleridge's  literary  criticism  may  be 
summed  up  as  follows.  Lessing  attracted  Coleridge  for  a  short  time  on 
his  arrival  in  Germany.  But  Coleridge  soon  found  that  Lessing  had 
little  to  teach  him,  and  Lessing's  influence  is  a  question  of  method 
rather  than  of  matter2.  Coleridge  speaks  of  Lessing  as  'a  model  of 
acute,  spirited,  sometimes  stinging,  but  always  argumentative  and 
honourable  criticism3.'  Kant  influenced  Coleridge  as  far  as  his  formal 
essays  on  general  principles  are  concerned,  but  it  is  impossible  to  trace 
much  definite  influence  of  Kant  in  Coleridge's  detailed  literary  criticism4. 
Herder  and  Schiller  were,  like  Coleridge,  poet-philosophers.  All  three 
approached  poetry  in.  much  the  same  way.  Schiller's  essay  on  '  naive ' 
and  'sentimental'  poetry  exerted  a  great  influence  on  Coleridge,  but 
in  style  Coleridge's  lectures  on  Shakespeare  have  the  rhetorical  form  of 
Herder's  essays.  There  are  fundamental  ideas  common  to  both,  which 
have  been  pointed  out  above.  These  ideas  admit  of  no  proof.  They  are 
based  on  faith,  on  so  strong  a  faith  that  they  have  all  the  validity  of 
established  facts  for  Herder  and  Coleridge ;  and  the  ideas  are  presented 
to  their  audiences  with  the  same  kind  of  passionate  rhetoric. 

Coleridge  began  to  study  Schelling  after  he  had  already  worked  out 
for  himself  what  Schelling  elaborated  from  the  same  sources.  The  verbal 
similarities  between  Coleridge  and  Schelling  are  due  to  the  fact  that 
Coleridge,  in  these  cases,  elected  to  state  his  views  in  the  words  of 
Schelling. 

From  Schlegel  Coleridge  learnt  nothing.  Where  he  agrees  with 
Schlegel,  he  is  stating  views  he  held  long  before  Schlegel's  lectures 
were  delivered.  His  whole  debt,  if  debt  it  can  be  called,  is  found  in  the 
adoption  of  a  phrase  here  and  there.  Schlegel  suggested  no  fundamental 
principle,  and  no  application  of  fundamental  principles. 

London.  A.  C.  DUNSTAN. 

1  See  Biographia  Literaria,  ed.  Shawcross  (Introduction). 

■  The  most  striking  example  of  Lessing's  teaching  is  found  in  the  Essay  on  Poesy  or 
Art,  '  the  subjects  chosen  for  works  of  art. ..should  be  such  as  really  are  capable  of  being 
expressed  and  conveyed  within  the  limits  of  those  arts  '  (Misc.,  p.  49). 

3  Biographia  Literaria,  ch.  xxi. 

4  It  has  been  shown  that  the  application  of  any  such  general  principles  was  more 
probably  due  to  Schiller's  influence. 


MISCELLANEOUS  NOTES. 

Grendel's  Glove  and  his  Immunity  from  Weapons. 

The  Glove. 
The  connexion  which  has  recently  been  established  between  the 
main  theme  of  the  Grendel  Fight  and  folk-lore  originals  explains  the 
significance,  not  before  understood,  of  Grendel's  curious  glove  described  in 
Beowulf,  11.  2085-92.  Stopford  Brooke  says  that  the  glove  was  probably 
'  a  kind  of  pouch,'  and  Chambers,  following  ten  Brink,  translates  glof  as 
'  pouch,  bag.'  The  glove  may  have  been  used  as  a  bag — there  is  no 
definite  evidence  of  its  use  as  such, — but  a  large  glove  was  a  charac- 
teristic property  of  trolls.  The  feature  was  probably  inherited  from  the 
glove  episode  of  Thor  and  the  giant  Skrymir  as  told  by  the  Edda.  This 
glove  was  so  large  that  Thor  and  his  party  lodged  in  a  part  of  it.  Thorpe, 
in  his  Northern  Mythology,  II,  p.  149,  relates  the  story  of  a  troll  whose 
glove  could  hold  a  barrel  of  rye.  In  every  case  where  the  mention  of  a 
glove  has  been  introduced  into  a  troll-story,  the  reason  for  its  introduc- 
tion has  been  to  emphasise  the  gigantic  stature  and  terrible  nature  of 
the  fiend,  and  this  was  also  the  scop's  intention  in  Beowulf.  From  what 
is  known  of  trolls  and  their  gloves,  it  is  not  impossible  that  Grendel 
used  his  glove  as  a  game-bag.  But  nevertheless  its  significance  as  the 
special  mark  of  a  troll  remains. 

The  Immunity  from  Weapons. 

Grendel's  immunity  from  weapons  is  another  of  his  characteristics 
which  has  not  hitherto  been  sufficiently  explained.  The  facts  as  given 
in  Beowulf  are  related  in  an  allusive  and  obscure  manner  and  are  widely 
scattered  over  several  passages.  The  first  mention  of  this  attribute  in 
the  monster  occurs  in  11.  433-40,  where  Beowulf  says  he  has  heard  that 
Grendel  cares  not  for  weapons  by  reason  of  his  rashness.  This  does  not 
sound  like  magic.  It  gives  the  idea  that  Grendel  in  the  presence  of  his 
foe  is  seized  with  a  blind  fit  of  courage  and  rage,  like  a  berserker  or  a 
wild  beast,  and  hurls  himself  fiercely  on  his  adversary  without  thought 
of  the  weapons  which  that  enemy  might  possess.  Beowulf  scorns  to  have 
the  advantage  of  arms  over  an  enemy  ignorant  of  their  very  use,  so  at 
11.  671-87  he  is  found  disarming  himself  in  preparation  for  the  struggle. 
So  far  the  description  is  consistent. 


Miscellaneous  Notes  203 

But  at  11.  794-805,  where  the  fight  begins,  it  is  said  that  Beowulf's 
followers  try  to  assist  him  by  striking  at  Grendel  with  their  swords,  but 
that  no  war-bill,  not  even  the  best  of  blades,  could  touch  the  accursed 
foe.  Why  not  ?  Now,  the  next  sentence  has  usually  been  taken  as  the 
explanation  :  'because  he  used  enchantment  against  conquering  weapons, 
every  sort  of  blades '  (Clark  Hall).  But  there  is  a  possibility  that  this  is 
a  mistranslation.  He,  the  subject  of  forsworen,  could  according  to  the 
rules  of  modern  English  syntax  refer  only  to  Grendel,  in  which  case 
Clark  Hall's  rendering  would  be  correct.  But  O.E.  syntax  allows  of  such 
rapid  changes  of  subject  that  he  quite  possibly  refers  to  Beowulf,  and  in 
that  case  the  passage  merely  repeats  Beowulf's  resolve  to  trust  to  his 
hand-grip  alone.  Such  an  explanation  does  not  require  the  invention  of 
a  forced  meaning  for  forswor en.  Nor  would  the  sentence  be  an  irrelevant 
reminder  of  Beowulf's  resolve,  for  it  would  be  a  hint,  in  the  scop's  typical 
manner,  that  the  hero  had  been  wise  in  rejecting  the  use  of  weapons. 
Moreover,  this  explanation  fits  in  with  what  has  been  said  of  the  monster's 
recklessness,  whereas,  if  he  had  laid  a  spell  on  all  cutting  weapons,  his 
disregard  for  their  blows  could  hardly  have  been  termed  reckless. 

What  then  is  the  explanation  of  the  monster's  immunity  from  the 
retainers'  swords?  This  is  given  at  11.  985-90:  'Everyone  said  that' no 
excellent  blade  (even)  of  the  harder  sort  would  touch  him  or  sever  the 
blood-stained  battle-hand  of  that  monster.'  It  was  therefore  this  tough- 
ness of  skin,  in  keeping  with  the  steel-like  claws,  of  the  monster  which 
protected  him  against  the  weapons  of  the  Geats.  Such  a  characteristic 
would  be  highly  appropriate  to  a  monster,  especially  to  one  who  seems 
in  early  versions  of  the  tale  (e.g.  Saxo)  to  have  had  some  connexion 
with  a  bear.  Nor  would  mere  toughness  of  skin  be  incompatible  with  the 
recklessness  of  Grendel,  for  presumably  there  was  always  the  possibility 
of  his  skin  being  pierced,  just  as  his  mother's  was  pierced  later. 

Besides,  there  is  corroboration  in  11.  1518-28  and  1557-69.  Here  it 
is  said  that  even  the  well-tried  blade  of  Hunferth  failed  to  penetrate 
the  mere-wife's  skin,  and  in  consequence  the  hero's  life  was  in  serious 
danger.  But  presently  he  saw  hanging  on  the  wall  a  mighty  sword  with 
which  he  was  able  to  cut  off  his  adversary's  head.  If  the  immunity  of 
Grendel  and  his  dam  had  been  due  to  magic,  this  sword  must  have 
possessed  superior  magic  power.  But  the  sword  is  described  at  length 
at  11.  1557-62  and  again  at  11.  1688-98,  and  in  neither  passage  is  there 
any  mention  of  magic  properties.  What  is  emphasised  is  its  great  size 
and  its  excellence.  It  was  so  big  that  no  other  man  than  Beowulf  could 
wield  it  in  battle,  and  it  was  said  to  have  been  the  work  of  giants,  those 


204  Miscellaneous  Notes 

legendary  smiths  to  whose  skill  all  excellent  swords  were  attributed. 
Hence,  it  would  seem  that  the  success  of  the  blade  was  due  to  material, 
and  not  to  magical,  properties. 

To  sum  up  then,  one  of  the  characteristics  of  Grendel  was  a  tough- 
ness of  skin  which  protected  him  against  weapons.  Beowulf  realised  the 
futility  of  attacking  him  with  his  sword  and  preferred  to  trust  to  his 
muscular  strength.  When  the  monster's  arm  and  shoulder  were  dis- 
played, the  Danes  understood  why  all  their  efforts  to  rid  themselves  of 
their  foe  had  been  in  vain.  The  same  protective  toughness  of  skin — 
though  possibly  in  a  less  degree — was  also  an  attribute  of  Grendel's 
mother,  but,  by  the  fortunate  acquisition  of  a  sword  of  special  excellence, 
the  hero  was  able  to  overcome  her. 

E.  D.  Laborde. 
London. 

Blake's  Indebtedness  to  the  'Eddas.' 

In  Ellis  and  Yeats'  The  Works  of  William  Blake,  I,  p.  336,  we  read, 
'Vala,  a  Scandinavian  prophetess,  may  have  given  her  name  to  Albion's 
wife.'  Even  in  this  over-elaborate  edition  of  Blake  I  find  only  the  above 
rather  tentative  statement  bearing  on  Blake's  probable  indebtedness  to 
the  Eddas.  Other  critics  have,  however,  been  reminded  of  Norse  mytho- 
logy in  reading  the  Prophetic  Books.  In  Irene  Langridge's  William 
Blake,  p.  129,  we  find, '  Looking  through  the  pages  of  "  Jerusalem,"  vague 
memories  of  Norse  sagas... come  to  one  and  cause  a  delightful  and  yet 
fearful  shudder.'  In  P.  Berger's  William  Blake  (London  edition  of  1914), 
p.  157,  '  From  this  first  great  labour  we  get  the  myth  of  Los  the  Black- 
smith, a  sort  of  Thor,  standing  hammer  in  hand...';  and  p.  347,  'We 
must  not  compare  it  (Vala)  with  the  Iliad  or  the  Divine  Comedy,  but 
rather  read  it  as  we  should  read  some  northern  Saga....  He  (the 
student)  must  regard  Urizen,  Los,  Enitharmon,  Tharmas,  and  all  the 
rest  as  demigods,  of  protean  shapes  and  subject  to  no  logical  rules ;  as 
gigantic  heroes  of  a  prehistoric  age ;  as  beings  like  Odin,  Balder  or 
Siegfried.'    But  all  of  this  is  rather  vague.    Can  it  be  made  more  definite  ? 

It  is  of  some  interest  to  note  that  Blake  refers  to  Odin  three  times, 
to  Frigga  four  times,  and  to  Thor  five  times.  One  of  the  references 
to  Odin  is  to  Wodan;  and  Frigga's  name  is  spelled  Friga  in  all  four 
instances.  The  contexts  in  which  these  three  names  occur  do  not,  how- 
ever, make  it  evident  that  Blake  had  more  than  a  very  general  knowledge 
of  Norse  mythology. 

Of  more  importance  is  the  fact  that  Blake  seems  to  adopt  several 


Miscellaneous  Notes  205 

names  that  occur  in  the  Eddas,  and  uses  several  others  that  may  have 
been  suggested  by  names,  more  or  less  similar,  in  Eddie  material.  The 
names  Vala,  Har,  and  Hela  are  well  known  to  the  reader  of  Blake's 
Prophetic  Books ;  but  they  are  still  better  known  to  the  reader  of  the 
Eddas.  The  name  Mam-Tor  occurs  three  times  in  Jerusalem ;  this  he 
may  of  course  have  got  from  the  Derbyshire  hill  of  that  name,  but  Tor 
and  Torus  are  both  found  in  the  part  of  the  Latin  version  of  the  Younger 
Edda  appended  to  Mallet's  Northern  Antiquities  (Bishop  Percy's  trans- 
lation, 1770).  Since  Mallet's  two  volumes  were  very  well  known  and 
were  considered  the  principal  source  of  the  matters  in  question,  I  shall 
assume  for  the  moment  that  Blake  was  acquainted  with  them.  The  two 
following  columns  of  names  will  then  appear  significant. 


From  Blake  : 

From  Mallet : 

Vala. 

Vala,  Valascialf,  Vale,  Vali,  Vola, 

Har. 

Har. 

Hela. 

Hela. 

Mam-Tor. 

Tor,  Torus. 

Ona. 

Onar. 

Belin. 

Belen,  Belenus,  Bel,  Bil. 

Rintrah. 

Rinda. 

Estrild. 

Estridsen. 

Heva. 

Havamaal. 

I  am  aware  that  the  last  five  names  in  the  column  from  Blake  are  not 
necessarily  derived  from  the  last  five  in  the  column  from  Mallet  (Blake 
might  have  found  '  Estrild '  for  example  in  Faerie  Queene,  Book  n);  but 
the  evident  similarities  between  the  two  groups  are  at  least  suggestive 
of  a  probable  influence.  Several  editors  of  Blake  have  called  attention 
to  the  fact  that  he  seems  to  have  borrowed  several  names  from  Ossian ; 
but  it  should  be  recalled,  in  this  connexion,  that  not  in  a  single  case 
does  Blake  use  exactly  the  same  spelling  as  Macpherson.  It  has  already 
been  pointed  out  above  that  he  chose  the  form  Friga  in  preference  to 
the  common  and  accepted  form  Frigga. 

Cottle's  Edda  appeared  in  1797,  and  Blake's  three  long  Prophetic 
Books,  in  which  most  of  the  above  names  occur,  were  written  after  this 
date.  Cottle  translated  only  the  Elder  Edda ;  but  the  following  names, 
important  for  our  purpose,  appear  also  in  his  book :  Hela,  Harr, 
Valaskialf,  Vali,  Belenus,  Rinda.  The  name  Harr,  it  will  be  noted,  is 
not  spelled  as  in  Mallet  and  in  Blake. 

There  were  of  course  many  other  possible  sources  of  Norse  material 
accessible  in  the  time  of  Blake,  though  most  of  them  were  of  lesser 
value.  Of  considerable  importance  was  the  publication  of  the  Copen- 
hagen Edda,  in  1787.    This  critical  edition  contained  thirteen  poems 


206  Miscellaneous  Notes 

from  the  Elder  Edda,  in  Norse  and  in  Latin.  This  book  must  have 
created  considerable  stir  in  England,  since  it  was  reviewed  in  the 
Critical  Review,  the  Gentleman  s  Magazine,  and  the  Analytical  Review 
— in  the  last  two  at  great  length.  A  fairly  exhaustive  study  of  Scandi- 
navian sources  accessible  during  this  period  may  be  found  in  F.  E. 
Farley's  Scandinavian  Influences  in  the  English  Romantic  Movement, 
Boston,  1903.  Mr  Farley  does  not,  however,  give  us  any  information  as 
to  Eddie  influences  on  Blake. 

Blake's  perverse  and  mystical  originality  in  dealing  with  his  material 
makes  it  exceedingly  difficult  to  determine  whether  he  borrowed  any 
subject-matter  from  the  Eddas.  Perhaps  it  may  be  worth  while  to  point 
out  that  Vala,  the  first  of  Blake's  long  Prophetic  Books,  is  somewhat 
analogous  to  the  first  and  most  important  poem  of  the  Elder  Edda, 
generally  called  in  translations  The  Prophecy  of  Vala.  The  very  names 
are  significant.  Again,  both  poems  are  prophecies ;  and  both  poems  deal, 
in  a  general  way,  with  the  creation,  the  development,  the  degeneration, 
the  destruction,  and  the  regeneration  of  the  world.  Both  women  bearing 
the  name  Vala  are  pagan  in  spirit  and  rather  heartless.  Blake's  Vala 
represents  (among  other  things)  natural  religion ;  the  Norse  Vala  is  the 
prophetess  of  a  kind  of  natural  religion. 

A  few  other  matters  may  be  worthy  of  mention.    Blake's  giant  Tree 

of  Mystery  reminds  one  of  the   giant  ash    Yggdrasil ;    and   gigantic 

animals  figure  largely  both  in  Blake  and  in  the  Eddas.   In  Jerusalem 

Los's  hammer  is  referred  to  as  his  '  thunderous  hammer '  three  times ; 

this  is  suggestive,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  Thor  also  thunders  with  his 

hammer.   It  is  perhaps  unnecessary  to  add  that  both  Blake's  Prophetic 

Books  and  the  Eddas  are  mythical  and  mystical. 

Theodore  T.  Stenberg. 
Austin,  Texas,  U.S.A. 


A  Note  on  Fernan  Perez  de  Guzman,  '  Mar  de  Historias,' 

cap.  xevi  ('  Del  sto  grial'). 

Del  imperio  de  leon  ano  d'l  sefior  de  deexxx  (MS. '  seyscientos  treynta ')  fue  en 
bretana  avn  hermitano  fecha  vna  marauillosa  reuelacion  segun  se  dize  :  la  qual  diz 
que  le  reuelo  vn  angel  d'  vn  grial  o  escndilla  que  tenia  josep  abarimatia  en  que  ceno 
nuestro  senor  jfiu  xpo  el  jueues  dela  cena.  Dela  qual  reuelacion  el  dicho  hermitano 
escriuio  vna  estoria  q-  es  dicha  del  sancto  grial :  eata  historia  no  se  halla  en  latin  sino 
en  frances :  &  dizese  que  algunos  nobles  la  escriuieron.  La  qual  quanto  quier  q  sea 
deletable  de  leer  &  dulce :  enpero  por  muchas  cosas  estraiias  que  enella  se  cuenta 
asaz  deuele  ser  dada  poca  fe. 

Madrid,  BibL  Nac.  lib.  Raros  597  fol.  xliiii;  cf.  MS.  9564  fol.  134. 
Commenting  on  this  passage,  Amador  de  los  Bios  remarked  (Hist 


Miscellaneous  Notes  207 

Crit.  de  la  Lit.  Esp.,  v,  p.  76) :  '  Fernan  Perez  de  Guzman  daba  no 
obstante  a  entender  en  su  Mar  de  Historias  citada,  que  al  escribirlo,  no 
se  habia  puesto  aim  en  castellano  la  Demanda  del  Santo  Grial,  por  estas 
palabras :  "  Esta  historia  non  se  falla  en  latin,  sinon  en  frances,  e  dizese 
que  algunos  nobles  la  escriuieron  ".'  To  this  inference  O.  Klob  assents 
(Zeitschrift  fur  roman.  Phil.,  xxvi,  1902,  p.  180),  developing  it  a  propos 
of  the  Joseph  of  Joao  Samchez  mestre  escolla  dastorga  :  '  Die  Annahme 
eines  spanischen  Originals  ist  jedoch  unmoglich,  und  zwar  aus  zweierlei 
Griinden.  Aus  der  Art  und  Weise,  wie  Alvarez  in  der  Einleitung  das 
beim  Ubertragen  eingehaltene  Verfahren  schildert,  geht  ohne  jeden 
Zweifel  hervor,  dass  die  Vorlage  nur  altportugiesische  abgefasste  sein 
konnte.  Dasselbe  erhellt  aus  einer — spater  noch  naher  zu  erorternden — 
Bemerkung  Perez  de  Guzmans  im  Mar  de  Historias  (cap.  96),  worin  der 
Verfasser  ausdriicklich  betont,  dass  zur  Zeit,  wo  er  dieses  Werk  ge- 
schrieben  habe  (2.  Halfte  des  xv.  Jhdts.)  eine  kastilianische  tlbersetzung 
des  Joseph  von  Arimathia  noch  nicht  bestanden  habe '  and  he  holds 
that  '  diese  altere  Vorlage  direkt  auf  ein  franzosisches  Original  zurtick- 
gehe'  (p.  173). 

The  whole  statement  goes  back,  however,  to  Helinandus,  and  its 
bibliographical  value  should  be  restricted  to  the  earlier  years  of  the 
thirteenth  century  and  the  Beauvaisis.  This  traditional  comment  on  the 
opening  of  the  Grand  St  Graal  reached  Perez  de  Guzman  by  way  of  the 
Speculum  historiale,  probably  in  an  excerpt  by  Giovanni  Colonna,  author 
of  the  Mare  Historiarum.  As  given  by  P.  Paris,  Romans  de  la  Table 
Ronde,  I,  p.  91,  it  reads:  'Anno  717.  Hoc  tempore,  cuidam  eremitse 
monstrata  est  mirabilis  qusedam  visio  per  Angelum,  de  sancto  Josepho, 
decurione  nobili,  cui  corpus  Domini  deposuit  de  cruce ;  et  de  patino  illo 
vel  paropside  in  quo  Dominus  coenavit  cum  discipulis  suis ;  de  qua  ab 
eodem  eremita  descripta  est  historia  quae  dicitur  Gradal.  Gradalis  autem 
vel  Gradale  dicitur  gallice  scutella  lata  et  aliquantulum  profunda  in  qua 
pretiosoe  dapes,  cum  suo  jure,  divitibus  solent  apponi,  et  dicitur  nomine 
Graal... Hanc  historiam  latine  scriptam  invenire  non  potui :  sed  tantum 
gallice  scripta  habetur  a  quibusdam  proceribus  ;  nee  facile,  ut  aiunt,  tota 
inveniri  potest.  Hanc  autem  nondum  potui  ad  legendum  sedulo  ab 
aliquo  impetrare.'  To  these  remarks,  which  already  formed  part  of  the 
common  stock  of  Arthurian  criticism,  Perez  de  Guzman  adds  no  more 
than  his  final  caustic  phrase  ;  but  Helinandus  implies  as  much  when  he 
proceeds,  '  Quod  mox  ut  potuero,  verisimiliora  et  utiliora  succincte 
transferam  in  Latinum1' :  and,  so  far  as  it  goes,  the  passage  would  rather 
1  Migne,  Patrologice  Cursus,  t.  212,  p.  815. 


208  Miscellaneous  Notes 

prove  that  he  had  read  the  History  of  the  Graal — and  why  not  in 
Castilian  ?  It  may  be  worth  while  to  mention  in  this  connexion  that 
Nicolas  de  Valencia  (Cane,  de  Baena  No.  485),  when  compelled  to  make 
the  distinction  that  the  Blessed  Virgin  was  wed 

con  santo  Joseph  non  de  Abazimatia, 

suggests  that  the  Spanish  popularity  of  the  first  Part  of  the  Cycle  was 
sufficient  to  challenge  the  vernacular  Gospels!  That  the  second  Part 
enjoyed  just  such  a  vogue  is  a  permissible  deduction  from  the  Conde  de 
Benavente's  Brivia  complida  en  romance  con  un  poco  del  libro  de  Merlin 
(circa  1440). 

W.  J.  Entwistle. 
Manchester. 


REVIEWS. 

Macbeth,  King  Lear,  and  Contemporary  History.  By  Lilian  Winstanley. 
Cambridge :  University  Press.    1922.    228  pp.    15s. 

In  this  small  but  compact  volume  Miss  Winstanley  attempts  to  carry 
further  the  line  of  research  and  speculation  exemplified  in  her  Hamlet 
and  the  Scottish  Succession  a  year  or  two  previously.  It  is  a  second  ap- 
plication of  what  she  describes  as  '  the  new  method,'  and  we  are  invited 
to  expect  a  series  of  other  illustrations  of  its  validity,  since  few,  if  any,  of 
Shakespeare's  plays  appear  to  be  beyond  its  scope.  The  preliminary  ex- 
position of  the  new  method  is  somewhat  needlessly  provocative,  and 
tends  to  prejudice  the  reader's  reception  of  what  is  really  fresh  and 
important  in  the  chapters  which  follow.  The  belief  that  Shakespeare, 
like  other  great  men,  was  of  his  age  and  must  be  interpreted  by  its 
conditions  and  mentality  is  in  itself  a  commonplace,  accepted  by  many 
who  have  not,  like  our  critic,  '  read  Bergson,'  and  are  still  in  the  toils  of 
'  the  Cartesian  idea  of  time.'  And  it  certainly  has  not  remained  a  mere 
pious  belief.  Even  the  special  notion,  which  Miss  Winstanley  champions, 
that  contemporary  history  and  personages  are  reflected  in  the  plays,  has 
itself  a  history  in  the  Shakespearean  research  of  the  last  generation. 
Hamlet,  in  the  hands  of  Fleay  and  others,  had  been  James  I,  or  Essex, 
or  Sidney,  or  all  three,  years  before  she  began  to  write,  and  when  she 
benignly  dismisses  Mr  Bradley  and  his  school  as  representatives  of  a 
method  henceforth  obsolete,  an  unkind  critic  might  suggest  that  she 
too,  setting  out  to  plough  this  virgin  acre,  has  harnessed  some  pretty 
well-worn  horses  to  her  yoke. 

This  criticism  would,  however,  be  incomplete,  and  so  far  unfair. 
Though  her  method  is  not  strictly  'new,'  she  has  applied  the  notion  that 
contemporary  history  and  historical  interest  are  reflected  in  Shakespeare 
with  a  thoroughness  of  research  and  an  acuteness  of  combination  to 
which  no  predecessor,  so  far  as  we  know,  could  lay  claim.  Historians 
had  ransacked  the  state  archives  and  the  correspondence  of  Venetian 
and  Spanish  ambassadors  for  light  upon  the  obscure  politics  of  the  early 
Jacobean  time ;  literary  antiquarians  had  immersed  themselves  in  the 
records  of  stage  legislation  and  the  vicissitudes  of  theatrical  companies. 
But  Miss  Winstanley  has  reaped  the  reward  of  those  who  explore  the 
unfrequented  borderland  which  lies  between  the  beaten  highways. 
Thanks  to  her  laborious  researches  in  the  Record  Office  and  elsewhere, 
she  has  been  able  to  paint  with  extraordinary  energy  and  fulness  of 
detail  the  '  complexes '  of  emotions  and  ideas  which  gathered  about 
certain  storm-centres  of  criminal  event — the  murder  of  Darnley,  the 
massacre  on  St  Bartholomew's  Eve — for  the  contemporary  world.  The 
purport  of  the  book,  put  shortly,  is  that  Macbeth  and  King  Lear  are 


210  '  Reviews 

figurative  transcripts,  in  varying  combinations  and  proportions,  of  these 
two  sensational  events.  And  not  merely  by  way  of  casual  or  distant 
allusion.  They  are  the  real  'subject'  of  the  plays,  for  which  their 
apparent  subjects  serve  as  '  symbolic  '  or  '  mystic '  disguise. 

Before  discussing  this  hypothesis  itself,  a  word  may  be  said  about  the 
ascription  to  Shakespeare  of  the  systematic  use  of  hieroglyphics  on  the 
stage, — and  of  hieroglyphics  that  had  to  wait  three  centuries  for  their 
decipherer.  Shakespeare  does,  no  doubt,  occasionally  allude  to  current 
events,  even  when  the  allusions  are  dramatically  irrelevant.  But  then 
the  allusions  are  transparent.  There  has  never  been  any  question  about 
those  in  Macbeth's  second  interview  with  the  witches,  or  in  Henry  V. 
But,  Miss  Winstanley  urges,  it  was  dangerous  to  present  current  or 
recent  history,  and  yet  it  was  just  these  topics  that  the  audience  was 
burning  to  hear  discussed.  How  could  it  be  done  except  by  '  symbolic 
mythology '  ?  I  shall  say  something  later  of  Miss  Winstanley 's  use  of 
this  specious  phrase.  She  claims  that  mystic  symbolism  of  this  kind  was 
not  merely  a  means  of  evading  the  perils  of  direct  speech,  but  was 
peculiarly  congenial  to  the  '  mentality '  of  Elizabethan  audiences  and 
playwrights.  For  this  belief,  which  was  evidently  vital  to  her  argument, 
since  the  'new  method'  consisted  precisely  in  taking  due  account  of  that 
mentality,  she  offers  surprisingly  little  evidence.  She  points  again  and 
again  to  the  Faerie  Queene,  as  if  that  were  drama,  as  if  Spenser  had  not 
publicly  explained  his  own  allegory,  and  as  if  he  were  in  all  points  to  be 
counted  a  typical  Elizabethan.  She  is  very  confident  that  the  'mentality' 
of  the  Elizabethans  was  quite  unlike  our  own.  But  in  one  point  it  can- 
not have  been  very  different :  if  they  were  addressed  in  symbols  they 
wanted  to  know  what  the  symbols  meant.  They  did,  of  course,  sometimes 
write  and  witness  symbolic  drama.  But  Lyly's  Endymion  was  assuredly 
understood  by  the  whole  court ;  and  everyone  but  the  government 
fathomed  instantly  the  pretty  transparent  symbolism  of  Middleton's 
Game  of  Chess.  She  swells  her  meagre  list  of  examples,  which  so  far 
make  against  her,  by  adducing  Eastward  Ho ;  but  it  is  well  known  that 
Jonson  and  Chapman  were  arrested  for  disrespectful  allusions,  a  totally 
different  matter.  And,  on  the  other  hand,  we  find  Chapman  in  a  whole 
series  of  plays  representing  quite  without  disguise  contemporary  French 
history,  and  Marlowe  no  less  openly  dramatizing  that  very  '  Massacre  of 
Paris'  which  Shakespeare,  it  seems,  a  dozen  years  later,  preferred  to 
envelop  in  the  integument  (never  pierced  till  now)  of  the  sufferings  of 
Lear  or  Gloucester.  The  well-known  readiness  of  the  government,  under 
both  Elizabeth  and  James,  to  resent  and  punish  political  allusions  on 
the  stage,  and  the  suppression  of  the  deposition  scene  in  Richard  II 
where  such  an  allusion  was,  quite  gratuitously,  suspected,  only  tells 
against  her  argument,  for  why  did  the  political  '  symbolism '  of  Hamlet, 
nay  of  Lear  and  Macbeth  themselves,  escape  suspicion  ?  Or  if  the  sym- 
bolism was  only  flattering,  why  was  it  so  obscure  ?  And  as  for  the 
audience,  did  they,  after  all,  come  to  the  theatre  thirsting  to  decipher 
political  allusions,  or  did  they  come  to  see  a  play? 

To  all  this,  so  far  as  Macbeth  and  King  Lear  are  concerned,  Miss 


Reviews  2 1 1 

Winstanley  replies  with  a  suggestion  of  which  we  quite  admit  the  im- 
portance and  the  force.    Both  plays  were  pretty  certainly  written  in  the 
months  following  the  abortive  but  terrifying  plot  of  Guy  Fawkes.  The  plot 
is  known  to  have  been  compared  to  the  successful  catholic  conspiracy 
of  St  Bartholomew,  and  also  to  the  murder  (likewise  by  gunpowder)  of 
Darnley, — both  events  being  then  a  full  generation  old.    She  thinks 
that  Shakespeare  deliberately  played  upon  these   parallels.     Taking 
Macbeth  first,  she  points  to  the  well-known  fact  that  the  drama  largely 
follows  the  Donwald-Duff  instead  of  the  Macbeth-Duncan  story,  and  in- 
geniously argues  that  this  makes  it  accord  better  with  the  facts  of  the 
Darnley  murder.    And  in  a  number  of  details,  as  in  the- two  servants 
killed  in  the  king's  room,  the  two  others  lodged  apart,  and  the  introduc- 
tion of  Lennox  (a  namesake  of  Darnley's  father),  she  points  out  corre- 
spondences between  the  play  and  accessible  accounts  of  the  murder. 
So  again,  the  younger  Bothwell,  a  deadly  enemy  of  James,  had  intimate 
relations  with  the  witches.    Miss  Winstanley  here  makes  a  real  con- 
tribution to  our  data.  Shakespeare  constructed  his  colossal  tragedy  from 
an  imagination  charged  with  remembered  experience,  and  may  well  have 
drawn,  for  a  nominally  Scottish  drama,  upon  the  records  of  the  most 
sensational  royal  crime  in  recent  Scottish  history.    But  as  to  a  reflexion 
of  it  ?   There  was  surely  one  fatal  difficulty :  if  Darnley  was  Duncan,  and 
Bothwell  Macbeth,  then  Mary,  James's  mother,   was  Lady  Macbeth ! 
Was  Shakespeare,  whatever  his  turn  for  '  symbolic  mythology,'  likely  to 
adopt,  for  the  king's  entertainment,  symbols  which  could  only  mean  that 
his  mother  had  been  the  chief  agent  in  her  husband's  murder  ?  It  is  true 
that  further  meanings  for  these  symbols  are  adduced.    Lady  Macbeth  is 
also  Catherine  de  Medici  urging  the  reluctant  Charles  to  consent  to  the 
Massacre,  and  this  on  the  ground  of  a  former  agreement,  like  that  hinted 
at  in  Macb.  I,  7.    And  symbols  from  the  Massacre  frequently  float  in 
among  those  drawn  from  the  native  tragedy.    When  the  bell  rings,  for 
instance,  which  sounds  Duncan's  knell,  it  is  the  chimes  of  Saint  Auxerre, 
summoning  the  faithful  of  Paris  to  the  Massacre.    Such  a  parallel  has 
poetry  in  it ;  it  might  have  flashed  across  the  mind  of  some  imaginative 
old  man,  who  remembered  the  horror  of  that  August  night,  as  he  looked 
on  at  the  first  performance  of  Macbeth ;  but  it  does  not  belong  to  the 
scientific  interpretation  of  what  Shakespeare  meant.   And  if  it  be  sug- 
gested that  Shakespeare  too  had  some  imagination,  and  may  have  been 
conscious  of  these  analogues  in  an  alien  and  far  off  past,  what  shall  be 
said  of  the  huge  mass  of  thought  and  passion-fraught  poetry,  vocal  and 
responsive  to  the  universal  experience  of  men,  which  the  tales  of  Macbeth 
and  Lear  generated  in  that  Shakespearean  imagination,  and  for  which 
Miss  Winstanley  herself  claims  no  relevance  to  her  supposed  historic 
origins  ? 

It  is  in  King  Lear,  however,  that  the  Massacre  comes  into  the  fore- 
ground of  interest.  The  comparison  is  prepared  for,  as  in  Macbeth,  by  an 
acute  analysis  of  the  story  as  Shakespeare  found  it.  It  was  not  a  tragedy 
at  all,  and  the  division  of  the  kingdom  was  a  mere  'baby-tale.'  Why 
then  should  he  choose  such  a  subject  except  to  use  it  as  symbolic  ex- 


212  Reviews 

pression  for  momentous  real  events  ?  There  is  a  strange  ignoratio 
elenchi  in  this  question ;  a  teacher  of  literature  so  distinguished  as  Miss 
Winstanley  knows  very  well  that  the  '  subject '  of  King  Lear  is  not  the 
story  that  Shakespeare  found  but  the  story  that  he  made.  But  the  story 
that  he  made  must,  for  her,  be  '  found '  too.  So  Darnley,  outcast  and 
despised  by  his  next  of  kin,  is  Lear,  without  prejudice  to  his  being 
reflected  also  (more  plausibly)  in  Albany.  So  Bothwell  is  Edmund, 
Mary  is  Goneril  or  Regan  as  occasion  demands.  But  it  is  very  properly 
felt  that  Darnley,  though  capable  of  furnishing  the  'pathetic  and  helpless' 
phase  of  Lear,  will  not  quite  serve  for  the  Titanic  Lear  of  the  first  two 
acts.  What  was  Shakespeare  to  do  ?  Fortunately  there  was  an  example 
to  his  hand  of  a  grand  heroic  figure,  who  had  met  a  yet  more  tragically 
horrible  doom, — Coligny,  the  Huguenot  chief,  '  second  king  of  France,' 
and  chief  victim  of  the  Massacre.  Of  more  interest  than  this  guess-work 
is  Miss  Winstanley's  attempt  to  interpret  the  Gloucester-story  so 
daringly  yet  effectively  interwoven  with  that  of  Lear.  Her  discovery — 
that  an  allegory  of  a  father  with  two  sons,  one  of  whom  betrays  and  the 
other  saves  him,  was  actually  used  in  Shakespeare's  time  to  describe  the 
relation  of  Guise  (Edmund)  and  Henry  IV  (Edgar)  to  France,  their 
'  father  ' — is  of  real  importance,  whatever  we  may  think  of  her  conclusion 
that  Pere  Mathieu,  the  author  of  the  allegory,  took  it  from  King  Lear, 
or  of  such  comic  developments  of  the  theme  as  the  suggestion  that 
Edgar's  assumption  of  rustic  dialects  alludes  to  the  alleged  traces  of 
Beam  dialect  in  Henry's  French. 

It  will  be  seen  that  we  recognize  solid  value  in  this  book,  but  not 
precisely  of  the  kind  the  writer  claims.  Her  attempt  to  show  that  Lear 
and  Macbeth  were  '  symbolic  mythology '  in  her  sense  breaks  down,  in 
our  judgment,  altogether.  What  she  has  done,  and  done  with  a  degree 
of  enterprise,  originality,  industry,  and  scholarship  rarely  surpassed  in 
this  field,  is  to  throw  a  vivid  light  upon  some  elements  of  the  mass  of 
floating  tradition,  knowledge  and  belief,  which  entered  into  and  coloured 
all  Elizabethan  experience,  and  provided  the  living  tissue  of  Elizabethan 
art.  Macbeth  and  King  Lear  are  assuredly,  as  Miss  Winstanley  insists 
Elizabethans  in  this  sense,  if  they  are  of  any  age  at  all.  But  not  because 
they  are  '  symbolic  mythology '  to  which  any  given  Elizabethan  event 
provides  the  key. 

One  last  word  upon  this  phrase,  which  is  fundamental  with  her,  for 
she  uses  it  on  her  title-page  to  define  the  aim  of  her  book.  It  is  a 
complex  and  ambiguous  phrase,  and  its  ambiguity  lends  a  certain 
plausibility  to  her  contentions.  There  is  a  noble  and  there  is  a  mean 
symbolism.  All  great  poetry  is  in  some  sense  symbolic.  So  is  a  riddle,  or 
a  pun.  The  Prometheus  Vinctus  and  the  Divina  Commedia  are,  she 
tells  us  justly  enough,  'pieces  of  symbolic  mythology.'  And  she  imagines 
that  these  great  examples  support  the  contention  that  Macbeth  and  Lear 
are  '  symbolic  mythology '  reflecting  the  murder  of  Darnley  and  the 
Bartholomew  massacre !  Suppose  they  are ;  these  great  examples  are 
only  damaging  to  her  case.  To  confirm  it,  vEschylus  ought  to  have  been 
disguising,  in  Prometheus,  the  features  of  some  Attic  rebel  of  the  pre- 


Reviews  213 

vious  generation.  But  is  not  Beatrice  a  'symbolic  myth'  in  her  sense? 
No,  for  though  the  Beatrice  of  the  Comedy  have  her  ultimate  origin  in 
the  real  woman  Beatrice  Portinari,  and  though  she  be  herself  symbolic, 
no  one  (certainly  not  Miss  Winstanley)  imagines  that  what  she  sym- 
bolizes— what  Dante  is  actually  relating — is  the  life  of  the  Florentine 
lady  who  died  in  1290.  Perhaps  this  example  may  suggest  that,  in  the 
'noble'  symbolism,  the  purely  personal,  local,  and  temporal  matter  is  the 
starting  point  and  not  the  goal,  the  element  by  which  we  step  into 
universal  experience,  not  the  '  answer '  to  a  riddle. 

Manchester.  C.  H.  HERFORD.  ; 

Shakespeare -Worterbuch.  Von  Leon  Kellner.  (Englische  Bibliothekr 
herausgegeben  von  Max  Forster,  I.)  Leipzig:  Tauchnitz.  1922.  8°, 
viii  +  358pp.   576  M. 

While  the  latest  Shakespeare  glossary  is  primarily  designed  for 
German  readers,  it  will  be  found  of  no  small  interest  by  students  of 
Shakespeare  of  whatever  nationality,  and  while  it  is  necessarily  in  the 
main  a  compilation  from  previous  works,  from  Schmidt  to  Onions,  the 
material  has  all  passed  through  a  fresh  mind  and  not  a  little  that  is 
original  has  been  added,  while  the  author  claims  to  have  provided, 
throughout  a  more  definite  and  critical  analysis  of  the  meanings  and 
uses  of  words  than  those  hitherto  available.  In  the  course  of  a  most 
interesting  preface  he  remarks,  after  enumerating  the  sources  he  has 
used :  '  Dass  trotz  dieser  vortrefflichen  Arbeiten  die  Worterklarung,  die 
Grundlage  aller  Interpretation,  noch  sehr  ltickenhaft  ist,  wissen  alle 
ernsten  Leser  Shakespeares ;  nur  wollen  sich's  wenige  eingestehen,  wie 
vieles  noch  dunkel  geblieben  ist.'  His  view  of  Shakespeare's  vocabulary 
he  sets  forth  as  follows :  '  Ich  habe  dunklen  Stellen  gegeniiber  vor  allem 
an  der  Ansicht  festgehalten,  dass  hinter  Shakespeares  Wortern  stets 
eine  klare  Vorstellung,  hinter  seinen  Satzen  immer  ein  klarer  Gedanke. 
vorhanden  ist.'  Shakespeare's  mintage  is  always,  he  holds,  clear-cut  and 
sharp.  '  Gibt  eine  Metapher,  wenn  man  die  landlaufige  Worterklarung 
anwendet,  kein  scharfes,  greifbares  Bild,  so  ist  die  Erklarung  sicher 
falsch.'  These  are  excellent  principles  for  a  lexicographer  to  hold. 
Another  interesting  suggestion  is  this:  '  Konnte  man  eine  Anzahl 
Anglisten  so  schulen,  dass  sie  ohne  jede  Kenntnis  des  Neuenglischen 
vom  Altenglischen  her  iiber  Langland,  Chaucer,  Gower,  Lydgate  zu 
Shakespeare  gelangten,  sie  wiirden  sicher  Hunderte  von  Stellen  zu- 
treffender  erklaren,  als  es  bis  jetzt  geschah.'  It  is  true  that  on  examining 
the  references  given  to  illustrate  these  principles  I  by  no  means  always 
find  myself  able  to  agree  with  the  proposed  interpretation  of  particular 
passages,  but  this  merely  bears  out  what  Dr  Kellner  says  about  the 
uncertainty  of  our  knowledge  of- Shakespearian  vocabulary,  and  though 
such  works  as  his  will  undoubtedly  tend  to  lessen  that  uncertainty, 
opinions  must  always  to  some  extent  differ  as  to  the  interpretation  of 
such  a  rich  language  as  Shakespeare's  and  a  language  moreover  that 
was  the  instrument  of  so  rapid  a  mind. 

London.  W.  W.  Greg. 

M.L.R.XVIII.  14 


214  B,eviews 

Charlemagne  {The  Distracted  Emperor).  Edition  critique  avec  introduc- 
tion et  notes.  Par  Franck  L.  Schoell.  Princeton :  University 
Press ;  London :  H.  Milford.    1920.    Roy.  8vo.    157  pp.    12s.  Qd. 

The  anonymous  Elizabethan  drama  here  called  Charlemagne  re- 
mained unpublished  till  1884,  when  it  was  printed — 'assez  fautivement,' 
says  Professor  Schoell — by  the  late  A.  H.  Bullen  (A  Collection  of  Old 
English  Plays,  Vol.  in)  under  the  title  of  The  Distracted  Emperor. 

Professor  Schoell  gives  us,  what  Bullen  did  not  profess  to  give,  a  text 
as  faithful  as  possible  to  the  manuscript  (British  Museum  MS.  Egerton, 
1994),  reproducing,  not  only  the  orthography,  but  the  errors'  of  the 
scribe,  even  to  the  prefacing  of  the  first  act  with  the  words  '  [Actus]  2. 
Scena  2.' 

The  new  editor  properly  takes  credit  for  the  superiority  of  his  text, 
though  it  is  as  well  to  bear  in  mind  that  in  1884  accuracy  so  meticulous 
in  the  reproduction  of  Elizabethan  texts  was  less  highly  esteemed  than 
nowadays.  And  to  Bullen  is  due  something  more  than  the  credit  of 
having  introduced  Charlemagne  to  students  of  the  drama.  It  was  he 
who  first  attributed  it  to  Chapman,  noting,  as  justification  for  this 
attribution,  its  author's  'trick  of  moralizing  at  every  opportunity/  his 
'  abundant  use  of  similes  more  proper  to  epic  than  dramatic  language,' 
and  '  the  absence  of  all  womanly  grace  in  the  female  characters.' 

To  produce  a  text  more  accurate  than  Bullen's  was  not  a  difficult 
matter,  nor  was  it  the  main  object  Professor  Schoell  had  in  view  in 
putting  forth  a  new  edition.  His  chief  object  was,  as  he  says,  to  settle 
the  question  of  authorship — '  a  prouver,  s'il  est  possible,  que  Charlemagne 
est  l'ceuvre  de  George  Chapman ;  s'il  n'est  pas  possible,  a  accumuler  les 
pre'somptions  en  faveur  de  notre  these  et  favoriser  la  decouverte  de  la 
preuve  d6finitive  qui  rendra  retrospectivement  vain  tout  le  laborieux 
appareil  de  notre  argumentation'  That  he  has  succeeded  in  proving 
that  Chapman  wrote  the  play  we  think  there  can  be  no  question ; 
though  the  task,  as  his  notes  show,  was  no  easy  one.  So  far  as  phraseo- 
logy is  concerned  Chapman  shows  little  tendency  to  repeat  himself,  and 
though  he  uses  certain  metaphors  with  unusual  frequency,  few  of  these 
are  of  a  distinctive  kind.  At  the  most  but  half-a-dozen  noteworthy 
parallels  with  Chapman's  acknowledged  works  have  been  detected  by 
Professor  Schoell,  and,  buried  as  they  are  in  a  forest  of  comment  upon 
small  points  of  resemblance  to  the  dramatist's  style  and  vocabulary, 
their  significance  as  evidence  of  Chapman's  authorship  is  rather  ob- 
scured. But,  though  few  in  number,  they  exhibit  the  kind  of  resemblance 
that  one  finds  between  passages  in  Chapman's  acknowledged  plays,  and 
when  taken  in  conjunction  with  the  evidence  of  the  vocabulary,  the 
lavish  use  of  simile  and  metaphor,  the  constant  moralizing,  the  numerous 
apophthegms,  the  occurrence  in  I,  i,  and  V,  iii,  of  images  borrowed  from 
the  Semaines  of  Du  Bartas  (as  in  Bussy  d'Ambois,  Chabot  and  at  least 
two  of  Chapman's  poems)  and  such  minor  points  as  the  occasional 
mocking  repetition  of  the  words  of  one  speaker  by  another  (noted  by 
Professor  Parrott  as  a  common  feature  in  Chapman's  plays),  the  proof 


Reviews  215 

may  be  said  to  be  complete.  Professor  Schoell  seems,  by  the  way,  to  be 
ignorant  that  Professor  Parrott,  to  whom  is  due  the  vindication  of 
Chapman's  claim  to  Sir  Giles  Goosecap,  also  assigns  this  play  to  him 
(see  Modern  Philology,  Vol.  xm,  1915-16),  for  he  makes  no  mention  of 
this  in  his  introduction.  This  introduction  is  a  careful  piece  of  work  and 
the  notes  also  are  well  done,  the  only  adverse  criticism  of  these  that 
suggests  itself  being  that  they  are  too  exclusively  concerned  with  the 
problem  of  authorship.  The  play  contains  many  unusual  expressions  and 
one  or  two  obscure  passages  which  have  been  passed  over  without  com- 
ment. Apart  from  this,  Professor  Schoell  has  given  us  as  good  an  edition 
of  Charlemagne  as  could  be  desired.  He  favours  1598-9  as  the  date, 
agreeing  with  Bullen  in  declining  to  accept  the  allusion  to  '  King 
Charlimayne '  in  Peele's  Farewell  to  Norris  and  Drake  of  1589  (where 
the  name  occurs  in  conjunction  with  '  Mahomet's  Poo  and  mighty 
Tamburlaine')  as  a  reference  to  this  play. 

Enfield.  H.  DUGDALE  SYKES. 

A  Pepysian  Garland.  Black-letter  Broadside  Ballads  of... 1595-1639, 
chiefly  from  the  collection  of  Samuel  Pepys.  Edited  by  Hyder  E. 
Rollins.  Cambridge:  University  Press.  1922.  8vo.  xxxi  +  491pp. 
21s. 

Having  recently  returned  from  a  visit  to  Cambridge  and  a  renewed 
study  of  Pepys's  collection  of  broadside  ballads,  I  was  very  agreeably 
surprized  by  the  receipt  of  this  volume,  which  gives  to  those  who  are  not 
acquainted  with  the  original  ballads  a  very  good  impression  of  what 
they  are  like,  minus  the  black-letter,  which  is  retained  only  in  the  titles, 
and  reminds  those  who  have  pored  over  the  diarist's  wonderful  collection, 
of  hours  pleasantly  and  instructively  spent  in  the  study  of  this  engrossing 
subject  within  the  hospitable  walls  of  the  University  Library.  Those 
who  have  experienced  the  courtesy  of  Mr  O.  F.  Morshead,  the  librarian 
of  Magdalene  College,  will  be  gratified  to  see  that  the  Garland  is  dedi- 
cated to  him. 

The  volume  marks  a  rapid  progress  after  Professor  Rollins's  first 
publication,  especially  noticeable  in  the  copious  introductory  notes.  In 
the  preface  the  author  gives  a  concise  history  of  the  ballad,  and  discusses 
its  merits  and  demerits.  'To  judge  the  ballads  as  poetry  is  altogether 
unfair....  Ballads  were  not  written  for  poetry.'  This  is,  of  course,  a  per- 
fectly just  and  correct  statement,  but  one  is  pleased  to  read  that  '  From 
the  point  of  view  of  sheer  melody  and  rhythm,  ballads  often  answer  more 
than  fairly  to  the  test,'  for  it  is  a  very  remarkable  fact,  too  often  neglected 
by  writers  on  the  subject,  that  although  the  balladists  are  inferior  poets, 
they  frequently  have  a  fine  ear  for  rhythm  and  rime.  Take  for  example 
the  stanza  of  No.  19,  The  pedlar  opening  his  pack  : 

Who  is  it  will  repaire, 

or  come  and  see  my  packet : 
Where  there's  store  of  Ware, 

if  any  of  you  lacke  it, 
view  the  Fayre. 

14—2 


216  Reviews 

It  is  written  to  the  tune  of  Last  Christmas  'twas  my  chance,  which  Pro- 
fessor Rollins  says  he  has  not  met  with  elsewhere,  but  which  he  will 
find  in  Pills  to  purge  Melancholy,  vol.  v,  p.  25.  The  tune  is  so  named 
from  the  first  line  of  The  Dance  of  the  Usurer  and  the  Devil : 

Last  Christmas  'twas  my  chance, 

To  be  in  Paris  city  ; 
Where  I  did  see  a  Dance, 

In  my  conceit  was  very  pretty — By  men  of  France. 

Or,  take  the  four-line  stanza,  brisk  in  movement,  running  on  the  same 
rime  and  crowned  by  a  twice -repeated  refrain,  of  No.  41,  The  Wiving  Age  : 

The  Maidens  of  London  are  now  in  despaire, 
How  they  shall  get  husbands,  it  is  all  their  care, 
Though  maidens  be  neuer  so  vertuous  and  faire, 
Yet  old  wealthy  widowes,  are  yong  mens  chiefe  ware. 

Oh  this  is  a  wiuing  age. 

Oh  this  is  a  wining  age. 

Or,  for  a  last  example,  the  metrically  interesting  stanza  of  No.  11,  The 
history  of  Jonas,  with  its  artistic  rime-scheme,  and  its  relieving  short 
couplet  connecting  a  long-lined  quatrain  and  tercet : 

Vnto  the  Prophet  lonas  I  read, 
The  word  of  the  Lord  secretly  came, 
Saying  to  Niniuy  passe  thou  with  speed, 
To  that  mightie  Citie  of  wondrous  fame. 

Against  it  quoth  he 

cry  out  and  be  free. 
Their  wickednesse  great  is  come  vp  to  me. 
Sinne  is  the  cause  of  great  sorrow  and  care, 
But  God  through  repentance  his  vengeance  doth  spare. 

The  most  important  part  of  the  preface  is  undoubtedly  Professor  Rollins's 
disquisition  on  the  jig.  I  believe  he  is  the  first  to  have  thrown  clear  light 
upon  the  real  nature  of  this  interesting  miniature  drama,  which  'was 
sung  and  danced  on  the  stage  to  ballad-tunes.'  Jigs  have  suffered  from 
erroneous  definition,  partly  owing  to  the  fact,  no  doubt,  that  very  few 
genuine  jigs  were  known  when  the  definition  was  given.  The  editor  prints 
a  most  interesting  specimen,  which  worthily  opens  the  Garland.  It  is 
entitled  '  Frauncis  new  Jigge,  betweene  Frauncis  a  Gentleman,  and 
Richard  a  Farmer.'  The  title  is  not  quite  correct,  for  there  is  a  very 
important  third  personage,  viz.  Besse,  Richard's  wife,  while  the  second 
part  introduces  a  fourth  dramatis  persona,  Master  Frauncis'  '  owne  wife, 
having  a  maske  before  her  face,  supposing  her  to  be  Besse.'  It  is  a 
dramatic  sketch,  sung  to  various  tunes.  Evidently  there  was  a  dance  at 
the  end  of  the  first  part,  for  after  the  last  line  there  is  the  stage  direc- 
tion: 'Enter  Mistris  Frauncis  with  Richard.  To  the  tune  of  Bugle  Boe.' 
That  is  to  say,  they  danced  upon  entering,  after  which  came  their  dia- 
logue, to  the  tune  of  As  I  went  to  Walsingham,  opening  the  second  part. 
Students  of  the  Shirburn  Ballads  will  remember  a  somewhat  different 
version  of  this  jig  under  the  title  of '  Mr  Attowel's  Jigge.'  It  is  so  called 
from  George  Atto well  (Atvvell),  the  actor,  who,  no  doubt,  danced  in  this 
jig  and  whose  name  is  under  the  printed  copy,  which  need  not  imply  that 


Reviews  217 

he  is  the  author.  Professor  Rollins  does  more  than  to  define  the  character 
of  the  jig;  he  also  gives  its  history  and  traces  its  influence,  adding  a 
valuable  page  to  the  history  of  the  English  drama. 

Although  the  volume  is  mainly  what  the  title  calls  it,  a  Pepysian 
Garland,  yet  a  small  number  of  ballads  is  added  from  other  sources,  viz. 
six  from  the  Wood  and  Rawlinson  collections  at  the  Bodleian  Library, 
and  one  from  the  Manchester  Free  Reference  Library.  Among  these  is 
the  spirited,  musical ' Round  boyes  indeed.  Or  The  Shoomakers  Holy-day.' 
It  is  what  it  calls  itself '  a  very  pleasant  new  Ditty. . .  To  a  pleasant  new 
Tune.' 

Here  we  are  good  fellowes  all, 

round  Boyes  round  : 
Attendance  giue  when  we  doe  call, 

round  boyes  indeed. 
Since  we  are  here  good  fellowes  all, 

drinke  we  must  and  worke  we  shall. 
And  worke  we  will  what  ere  befall, 
for  money  to  serue  our  need. 

Professor  Rollins  has  been  particularly  happy  in  the  choice  of  the 
seventy-three  ballads  from  the  first  of  the  five  stout  volumes  of  the  Pepys 
collection.  Fortunately  '  no  attempt  has  been  made  to  smooth  away  or 
omit  the  three  or  four  objectionable  words  that  occur.  Bowdlerizing  is 
out  of  the  question  in  a  work  of  this  kind.'  Occasionally  more  is  meant 
than  meets  the  eye,  but  the  specialist  does  not  mind  and  the  general 
reader  will  not  be  harmed.  The  Garland  is  representative  and  forms 
with  its  instructive  preface  and  notes  an  excellent  introduction  to  the 
study  of  a  subject  which  is  gradually  being  recognized  as  indispensable 
to  those  who  wish  to  understand  '  the  lives  and  thoughts,  the  hopes  and 
fears,  the  beliefs  and  amusements,  of  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  century 
Englishmen.'  Ballads  were, '  in  the  main,  the  equivalent  of  modern  news- 
papers, and  it  cannot  well  be  denied  that  customarily  they  performed 
their  function  as  creditably  in  verse  as  the  average  newspaper  does  in 
prose.  Journalistic  ballads  outnumbered  all  other  types.  Others  were 
sermons,  or  romances,  or  ditties  of  love  and  jealousy,  of  tricks  and 
"jests,"  comparable  to  the  ragtime,  or  music  hall,  songs  of  the  present 
time.'  In  this  collection  a  variety  of  subjects  is  represented.  Local, 
English  and  continental  history  (Nos.  9 ;  15  ;  4,  7,  52);  customs,  social 
conditions,  trades  (Nos.  2,  5.  10,  12,  34,  70;  47;  72,  3,  64);  marriage 
(Nos.  41,  58,  62;  40);  didactic  and  moral  lessons  (Nos.  64,  65;  27, 
31,  66);  biblical  history  (Nos.  11,  61);  repentant  sinners  (Nos.  14,  15, 
49,  63,  75);  murder  and  cruelty  (Nos.  39,  14,  49,  50,  51);  events  of  the 
day  (Nos.  14,  22,  24,  39,  68) ;  prognostications  and  wonders  (Nos.  24,  25, 
26,  78,  79);  witches  (No.  16),  and  a  voracious  eater  (No.  60),  are  a  few 
of  the  multifarious  subjects  dealt  with  in  this  Garland. 

Ballad-readers  were  kept  well-informed  of  what  happened  on  the 
continent.  The  execution  of  Johan  van  Oldenbarneveldt  is  commemo- 
rated in  Murther  unmasked,  Or  Barneviles  base  Conspiracie  against  his 
owne  Country,  discouered.  The  portrait  which  adorns  the  broadside  is 
most  decidedly  not  van  Oldenbarneveldt's.    We  do  not  now  speak  of  his 


218  Reviews 

'base  conspiracy,'  but  such  was  the  view  then  held  in  England.  The 
play  by  Massinger  and  Fletcher,  a  new  edition  of"  which  has  lately  ap- 
peared1, represents  the  great  patriot  in  a  slightly  less  unfavourable  light. 
The  struggle  between  Spain  and  the  United  Provinces  attracted  a  good 
deal  of  attention  as  is  evident  from  No.  80,  A  new  Spanish  Tragedy2. 
Many  readers  will  be  interested  in  No.  20,  The  Lamenting  Lady,  which 
narrates  the  famous  legend  of  the  Countess  Margareta  van  Henneberg, 
of  Loosduinen  near  the  Hague,  who,  as  the  result  of  a  curse,  produced 
365  boys  and  girls  at  one  birth.  The  story  is  preceded  by  a  detailed  note 
in  which  the  editor  adduces  a  number  of  interesting  facts  connected  with 
this  legend,  which  owes  its  origin  to  the  unfortunate  circumstance  that 
the  lady,  an  historical  personage,  was  confined  on  Good  Friday  of  as 
many  children  as  the  days  the  year  had  yet  to  run,  viz.  two,  the  New 
Year  falling  on  Easterday.  There  is  a  slight  mistake  in  the  note :'  the 
marvel  did  not  happen  at  Dordrecht  or  Dort,  but  at  Loosduinen3. 

If  one  compares  Professor  Rollins's  notes  with  those  of  Ebsworth  and 
Chappell  in  the  publications  of  the  Ballad  Society  the  advance  is 
immense.  Ebsworth  was  deeply  read  in  ballads  and  songs,  but  his  vagaries 
are  apt  to  irritate  the  reader.  Mr  Rollins  is  very  accurate  and  deals  with 
his  subject  scientifically.  There  is  one  unfortunate  printer's  error  in  the 
note  on  p.  248,  preceding  The  life  and  death  of  M.  Geo:  Sands.  The 
ballad  describes  how  Sandys  was  hanged  for  robbery.  In  the  note  the 
editor  says  that  'Mr  George  Sandys,  his  father  Sir  George,  and  his 
mother  Lady  Susanna  were  notorious  rotters,  inveterate  criminals.'  I  sup- 
pose we  should  read  '  robbers '  for  the  slangy  '  rotters.'  Prof.  Rollins  has 
paid  greater  attention  to  the  tunes  than  in  his  previous  volume.  No.  13 
offers  a  very  rare  instance,  as  the  editor  duly  notes,  of  the  second  part  of 
a  ballad  being  written  to  a  tune  different  from  that  of  the  first  part. 
The  first  example  in  the  note  is  only  apparent,  for  Philliday  (Phillida 
flouts  me)  is  written  to  the  tune  of  Dainty  come  thou  to  me,  vide  Shirburn 
Ballads,  No.  lxxiii.  Another  example  is  the  famous  ballad  of  The 
Widow  of  Wailing  Street  and  her  three  daughters,  the  first  part  of  which 
is  written  to  the  tune  of  Bragandary,  the  second  to  that  of  The  wanton 
wife4.  '  Bragandary '  is  also  represented  in  the  Garland,  and  it  is  in- 
teresting to  find  that  No.  76,  Murder  upon  Murder,  is  written  to  the  tune 
of  Bragandary  downe,  &c,  which  I  have  not  found  elsewhere.  There  is 
a  variant  Braggendarty,  the  tune  of  A  netoe  songe  of  the  triumphs  of  the 
Tilt,  Stationers'  Registers,  28  March  1604  (cp.  No.  49). 

One  would  be  inclined  to  identify  In  Slumbring  Sleepe,  the  tune  of 
No.  45,  with  the  first  line  of  Death's  uncontrollable  Summons  in  J.  P. 
Collier's  A  Book  of  Roxburghe  Ballads,  p.  328,  which  runs : 

In  slumber  and  sleep  my  senses  fall, 

1  The  Tragedy  of  Sir  John  Van  Olden  Barnavelt.   Ed.  by  W.  P.  Frijlinck,  Amsterdam, 
1922. 

2  Trump  in  the  introduction  to  this  ballad  (p.  455)  should  be  Tromp. 

3  Prof.  Rollins  has  published  interesting  details  in  Notes  and  Queries  12th  S.,   xi, 
p.  351. 

4  Shirburn  Ballads,  No.  1. 


Reviews  219 

but  the  following 

hey  ho,  hey  ho  !  then  slept  I 
seems  to  forbid  this. 

I  think  Prof.  Rollins  has,  on  the  whole,  struck  le  juste  milieu  in  the 
case  of  the  tunes;  too  little  information  irritates,  too  much  confuses. 
There  is  enough  here  for  the  general  reader  and  sufficient  indication  for 
those  who  are  interested  in  the  subject  to  find  further  information. 

Some  of  the  refrains  are  very  interesting.  There  is,  for  example,  that 
of  No.  28,  which  we  might  term  incremental,  and  that  of  No.  42,  which 
we  might  call  repetitional. 

I  heare  say  y'are  married  since  I  saw  you  last  ; 
0  this  is  a  hasty  Age, 
0  this  is  a  hasty  Age 

must  have  been  very  effective  if  sung  with  proper  emphasis  and  with 
the  requisite  gesture. 

The  Glossarial  Index  is  very  full.  On  the  whole  the  language  of 
black-letter  ballads  is  not  difficult,  but  naturally  here  and  there  a  rare  or 
obsolete  word  will  crop  up.  I  do  not  think  there  is  a  single  case  in  which 
the  reader  will  turn  to  the  glossary  in  vain.  It  is  curious  to  find,  now 
and  then,  a  learned  word  in  these  popular  songs,  as  when,  for  instance, 
one  balladist  refers  to  a  competitor  as 

The  hetroclite  Singer,  that  goes'  vpon  Crutches. 

Prof.  Rollins  does  not  tell  us  if  Martin  Parker  was  meant. 

The  editor  has  been  particularly  happy  in  his  choice  of  woodcuts ; 
the  porters  on  p.  12,  the  fool  shooting  his  bolt -on  p.  317,  the  ratcatcher 
on  p.  61  are  fine  specimens,  and  the  illustration  representing  a  man  in 
the  stocks  contentedly  playing  his  fiddle  (p.  193)  is  by  no  means  devoid 
of  humour.  A  treatise  on  the  woodcuts  of  these  broadside  ballads  would 
be  interesting  and  instructive  reading. 

The  book  is  very  carefully  printed  on  good  paper.  The  fine  exterior 
covers  an  excellent  interior,  and  both  publishers  and  author  deserve  our 
full  praise.  Let  us  hope  that  Prof.  Rollins  will  dive  into  the  other  volumes 
of  Pepys  and  confer  the  boon  of  a  sequel  to  this  Garland  upon  all  who 
have  enjoyed  the  perusal  of  this  volume. 


A.  E.  H.  Swaen. 


Amsterdam. 


The  Place-names  of  Lancashire.    By  Eilert   Ekwall.    Manchester : 
University  Press.    8vo.    xvi  +  280  pp.    25s. 

There  is  no  field  of  English  linguistic  studies  in  which  we  are  not 
heavily  indebted  to  Scandinavian  scholars,  but  this  is  true  in  a  peculiar 
degree  of  the  study  of  place  and  personal  names.  Our  debt  to  Zachrisson 
and  Bjorkman  has  long  since  been  recognized  and  we  have  owed  much 
to  the  work  of  their  pupils,  and  here  it  may  suffice  to  mention  the 
names  of  Lindkvist,  Ekblom  and  Redin.  Dr  Ekwall  has  in  one  book  and 
in  many  articles,  notes  and  reviews,  given  us  a  foretaste  of  his  own 
excellence  as  a  student  of  place-names,  and  now  in  the  volume  which 


220  Reviews 

lies  before  us  we  have  the  full  measure  of  his  strength.  It  is  no  exaggera- 
tion to  say  that  there  is  no  book  since  the  days  of  Dr  Skeat's  little 
volume  on  Cambridgeshire  which  has  marked  so  great  an  advance  in 
the  methods  of  place-name  study  and  that  there  is  no  book  on  the  place- 
names  of  any  single  English  county  which  approaches  it  in  scholarship, 
fulness  of  detail,  or  breadth  of  outlook. 

It  shows  an  advance  in  method  in  many  different  ways.  The  material 
is  arranged  topographically  and  not  alphabetically  or  under  suffixes, 
and  before  each  Hundred  with  its  various  place-names  denoting  human 
habitation  we  have  the  names  of  its  natural  features.  This  has  the 
double  advantage  that  it  serves  readily  to  bring  out  any  connexion 
which  may  exist  between  the  name  of  a  place  and  its  topography  and 
at  the  same  time  brings  into  close  relation  those  places  which  may  owe 
their  names  to  some  common  cause,  e.g.  Wuerdle  and  Wardle,  where  the 
first  seems  to  be  O.E.  weorodhyll  '  troop-hill '  and  the  second  weardhyll 
'  look-out  hill.'  They  stand  close  together,  and  both  alike  are  seen  to  be 
of  military  significance.  With  the  full  treatment  of  river  and  hill  names 
Ekwall  is  led  on  to  a  much  fuller  and  more  successful  attempt  to  deal 
with  the  Celtic  element  in  our  place-names  than  has  been  hitherto 
made.  Lastly,  under  the  head  of  method  we  may  note  that  Ekwall  is 
not  content  unless  his  explanation  of  a  place-name  satisfies  linguistic, 
historical  and  topographical  conditions  alike. 

Of  Dr  Ekwall's  scholarship  it  is  superfluous  to  speak.  Of  the  fulness 
of  his  book  it  suffices  to  say  that  he  has  attempted  to  deal  with  all  those 
names  found  in  earlier  documents,  which  can  be  identified  on  the  modern 
map.  This  is  what  is  needed  in  each  county  and  very  few  of  his  pre- 
decessors have  attempted  it.  But  perhaps  the  most  stimulating  feature 
of  the  book,  for  the  student  as  well  as  for  the  educated  layman,  is  its 
breadth  of  historical  outlook.  Not  only  have  we  the  usual  distinction  of 
the  Celtic,  Anglian,  and  Scandinavian  elements  in  the  place-names  of 
the  county  but  also  a  searching  discussion  of  the  vital  problems  arising  out 
of  them,  e.g..  the  survival  of  a  Celtic-speaking  population  in  Lancashire, 
the  respective  parts  played  by  Northumbria  and  Mercia  in  the  settle- 
ment of  this  area,  the  Norse  or  Danish  provenance  of  the  Scandinavian 
settlers,  the  relative  age  of  the  various  types  of  place-name  which  appear 
on  the  present-day  map.  In  other  words,  we  have  the  beginnings  of  the 
use  of  place-names  as  an  effective  auxiliary  in  the  cause  of  historical 
research. 

In  a  work  of  such  detail  and  in  a  subject  where  the  range  of  com- 
parative material  is  so  vast  that  each  scholar  must  contribute  his  own  little 
quota  of  knowledge  there  are  of  course  many  small  points  in  which  one 
must  disagree  with  Dr  Ekwall's  interpretation  or,  as  one  is  often  in- 
clined to  do,  suspend  judgment.  A  few  notes  upon  such  points  may  be 
given  here,  not  so  much  by  way  of  criticism  as  in  the  hope  that  they 
may  lead  to  fresh  discussion  and  inquiry. 

p.  27.  The  change  from  lake  (O.E.  lacu)  to  lock  in  Medlock  would 
seem  to  be  the  normal  development.  Cf.  Matlock.  D.  B.  Meslach  (sic), 
where  we  have  clear  local  evidence  that  there  was  a  lacu  in  earlier  times. 


Reviews  221 

p.  42.  Shoresworth,  '  enclosure  of  the  shore,'  «eems  impossible  for 
many  reasons.  Such  genitival  compounds  are  very  rare,  worth  is  a  suffix 
which  early  passed  out  of  use,  while  shore  is  unknown  till  the  fourteenth 
century,  there  is  a  Shoreswood  in  Norham,  earlier  Shoresworth,  which  is 
nowhere  near  water.  Both  names  alike  probably  contain  the  Old  English 
personal  name  Scorra,  which  may  be  assumed  from  scorranstan  (Birch, 
no.  574).    Dr  Ekwall  himself  postulates  this  for  Shorrock  (Green). 

p.  44.  Wingates.  This  is  a  fairly  common  place-name  and  like  its 
etymologically  equivalent  Winnats  (for  wind-yats),  the  name  of  the 
famous  gorge  near  Castleton,  is  used  of  a  place  where  the  wind  sweeps 
down  with  great  force.    It  is  not  to  be  connected  with  wind,  the  verb. 

p.  45.  Royton.  ton  here  and  elsewhere  would  be  more  happily 
rendered  'farm.'  Similarly  Moreton  (p.  77)  is  'farm  by  the  swamp' 
rather  than  '  moor-town.'  It  is  doubtful  if  mor  was  used  in  O.E.  in  the 
sense  '  moor.'   Ashton  (p.  100)  is  '  ash-farm.' 

p.  67.  It  is  suggested  here  and  elsewhere  that  the  Lancashire  hill- 
name  Billinge  is  derived  from  O.E.  bill,  '  sword,'  and  was  so  called  from 
its  shape.  One  wrould  like  to  know  how  in  that  case  Dr  Ekwrall  explains 
the  suffix. 

p.  69.  For  once  Dr  Ekwall's  knowledge  of  O.E.  charter  material  has 
failed  him.  Semington,  Wilts.,  takes  its  name  from  the  stream  semnit 
mentioned  in  Birch,  no.  1127,  while  Semley  in  the  same  county  is  so 
named  from  the  semene,  a  stream  mentioned  in  Kemble,  no.  641.  Neither 
name  will  therefore  help  us  wdth  the  Lancashire  Samlesbury. 

p.  70.  Madgell  Bank,  earlier  Maggeldes  meduclif  about  whose  inter- 
pretation Dr  Ekwall  is  very  doubtful,  should  probably  be  considered 
together  with  the  equally  difficult  Maggleburn,  a  stream-name  in  North- 
umberland (1261  Macgild,  1308  Maggild). 

p.  83.  Hey  sand  forth,  earlier  Feasandford,  i.e.  a  pheasant-ford.  Change 
of  initial  f  to  h  is  not  necessarily  due  to  dissimilation.  Other  examples 
are  given  in  Place  Names  of  Northumberland  and  Durham,  p.  85,  and 
since  that  was  written  a  fresh  example  has  been  noted  in  Hobb's  Well 
in  Charford  in  Wilts,  which  probably  represents  the  fobban  wylle  of 
Birch,  no.  27. 

p.  84.  Towneley  (c.  1200  Tunleia)  is  rendered  as  'the  lea  belonging 
to  the  town  (of  Burnley),'  but  surely  tun  at  that  date  could  not  mean 
anything  more  than  a  village  at  the  very  utmost. 

p.  85.  Rowley.  We  must  accept  Dr  Ekwall's  second  alternative  of 
■  rough  lea,'  with  a  modern  spelling  pronunciation  [rofo'J.  O.E.  raw,  'row' 
is  unknown  as  the  first  element  in  a  place-name,  and  such  a  compound 
seems  unlikely. 

p.  92.  Rawtenstall  is  derived  by  Dr  Ekwall  from  M.E.  routande  stall, 
'roaring  pool,'  but  the  uniform  ronton,  routun  of  the  M.E.  forms  for  this 
place  and  the  similar  Yorkshire  one  of  Rawtonstall  forbid  this.  In 
Rowton  Brook,  where  Dr  Ekwall  similarly  finds  M.E.  routande,  the 
medieval  forms  uniformly  preserve  the  and ;  '  rough-tun-stall '  seems 
a  more  probable  etymology,  tunstall  being  a  well  recognized  place-name 
element. 


222  Reviews 

p.  104.  Hawkley  *with  alternative  forms  in  cliff,  for  which  further 
earlier  evidence  is  needed,  is  probably  a  case  of  the  comparatively 
common  loss  of  final  f  in  an  unstressed  syllable  ;  cf.  Harkley  for  Horn- 
cliffe,  Nthb.  and  Keisley,  Wm.  (thirteenth  century  Kesclif),  though  it 
may  be  due  on  the  other  hand  to  the  development  of  alternative  forms 
from  the  nora.  leah,  giving  a  final  f  and  from  the  oblique  form  leage 
giving  ley. 

p.  127.  Wymott  Brook.  The  uniform  o  vowel  of  the  suffix  in  the 
M.E.  forms  suggest  O.E.  mot,  '  meeting,  confluence,'  rather  than  O.E. 
mupa,  '  mouth,'  as  in  Dr  Ekwall's  own  Emmott  from  O.E.  ea-mot. 

p.  128.  Worthington.  Derivation  from  O.E.  wor®ign-tun,  does  not 
seem  very  probable  from  the  point  of  view  of  meaning  ('  enclosure- 
enclosure  ')  or  form,  for  the  form  wording  for  worfiign  is  very  rare  in  O.E. 
There  is  the  further  difficulty  that  there  is  no  evidence  for  the  use  of 
this  element,  later  English  wardine,  either  as  the  first  element  in  a 
compound  or  so  far  north  as  Lancashire.  This  last  criticism  applies  to 
one  of  the  explanations  offered  for  Faldworthings,  p.  138. 

p.  130.  Hunger  Hill  may  well  mean  what  it  says,  but  there  is  an 
equal  possibility  that  hunger  here  is  a  well  recognized  alternative  form 
of  hanger,  '  a  wooded  slope.' 

p.  139.  Loud.  The  suggestion  is  made  that  this  river-name  means 
the  '  loud '  stream.  If  so  it  is  a  case  of  irony,  for  a  quieter  or  more 
sluggish  stream  could  not  be  found. 

p.  150.  Freckleton.  Dr  Ekwall  is  bothered  by  spellings  with  q,  e.g. 
Frequinton,  Frequelton,  which  suggest  the  presence  of  aw  not  found  in 
the  eleventh  and  twelfth  century  forms.  This  is  probably  one  of  those 
cases,  which  are  not  uncommon,  of  a  Norman-French  spelling  in  qu  for 
English  k;  cf.  Aquilate,  Staffs.,  with  alternative  forms  Akilote  etc.,  Laques 
in  Carmarthenshire,  which  seems  to  be  a  rendering  of  M.E.  lakes, 
'  streams,'  and  the  form  Aquelie  found  in  the  Calendar  of  Documents 
preserved  in  France  for  Oakley,  Ess. 

p.  154.  Singleton  in  Sussex  probably  gives  no  help  with  Singleton, 
La.,  with  its  alternative  M.E.  forms  with  initial  s  and  sh.  There  is  a 
Sussex  charter  (Birch,  no.  144),  unfortunately  in  damaged  condition, 
from  the  topography  of  which  it  is  clear  that  Singleton  must  be 
associated  with  the  scengelpicos  (sic)  of  the  charter,  and  this  agrees  with 
the  later  phonology  of  the  name,  where  we  have  almost  uniformly  an  e 
as  the  vowel  and  not  an  i  as  in  the  Lancashire  name. 

p.  158.  Dr  Ekwall's  assumption  of  an  English  trundle,  '  a  rounded 
hill,'  is  happily  borne  out  by  the  well-known  '  Trundle '  at  Goodwood. 

p.  181.  Old  Wennington  is  not  necessarily  older  than  Wennington. 
Old  Durham  is  much  younger  than  Durham. 

p.  182.  Stauvin,  earlier  Stouvin,  Stowing,  is  probably  the  O.N.  stofn, 
stufn,  '  stump,'  quoted  by  Ekwall  himself  later  on  (p.  207).  The  alterna- 
tion between  final  in  and  ing  is  of  course  common  in  colloquial  English. 

The  book  is  remarkably  free  from  misprints  of  any  kind  considering 
the  vast  mass  of  detail  involved.  Not  more  than  some  half  dozen 
have  been  noted  in  two  or  three  readings  of  the  book.    One  can  only 


Reviews  223 

hope  that  it  will  be  read  and  studied  by  .all  who  are  interested  in  place- 
name  study  and  that  it  will  give  a  real  stimulus  to  work  on  fresh  and 
fruitful  lines. 

Allen  Mawer. 
Liverpool. 

Sainte-Beuve  et  le  Sillage  de  Napoleon.  Par  Jules  Dechamps.  (Biblio- 
theque  de  la  Faculte  de  Philosophie  et  Lettres  de  l'Universite 
de  Liege,  Fascicule  xxx.)  Liege:  Vaillant-Carmanne;  Paris:  H. 
Champion.    1922.   8vo.    117  pp.    7  fr.  50. 

En  une  premiere  partie  l'auteur  donne  un  tableau  des  manifestations 
d'enthousiasme  que  provoqua  le  genie  de  Napoleon  dans  presque  toutes  les 
classes  de  la  society,  dans  presque  tous  les  partis  pendant  les  annees  qui 
suivirent  la  chute  du  grand  empereur;  une  etude  de  l'influence  exercee 
par  l'ere  napoleonienne  sur  '  les  philosophes,  les  historiens,  les  sociologues, 
les  reformateurs  et  les  purs  ecrivains,'  notamment  sur  ces  derniers  parmi 
lesquels  Napoleon  'n'a  guere  eu  moins  d'eleves  que  Byron  et  Chateau- 
briand,' a  tel  point  que  le  romantisme  de  1830  'apparait  comme  le 
prolongement  ou  la  transcription  litteraire  de  l'epoque  imperiale';  et  il 
s'attache  surtout  a  marquer  la  part  qui  revient  a  Napoleon  dans  le 
developpement  du  hero-worship  ou  doctrine  du  surhomme. 

Cela  pose,  M.  Dechamps  analyse,  dans  la  seconde  partie  de  son  ouvrage, 
les  motifs  pour  lesquels  Sainte-Beuve  resista  a  cette  doctrine  du  sur- 
homme, a  laquelle  il  adhera  d'ailleurs  pendant  sa  phase  romantique 
comme  pendant  sa  phase  saint-si  monienne;  a  laquelle  il  revient  plus 
tard  des  1839 — 1840,  lorsqu'il  semble  deja  se  rallier  au  c^sarisme,  pre- 
parant  ainsi  sa  conversion  au  regime  imperial,  ce  qui  ne  l'empeche  pas 
de  pr£tendre,  en  1869,  alors  qu'il  se  separe  nettement  de  la  politique  de 
Napoleon  III,  'avoir  en  1836  ete  si  peu  chaud  pour  les  souvenirs  du 
premier  Empire.'  Pourquoi  en  1834  et  a  d'autres  moments  Sainte-Beuve 
montre-t-il  de  la  malveillance  pour  Napoleon?  Pourquoi  se  laisse-t-il 
aller  a  l'indignation  contre  ceux  qui  celebrent  l'eclat  des  triomphes 
militaires  du  Consulat  et  de  l'Empire  ?  Pourquoi  fait-il  allusion  a  'cette 
pourpre  mensongere  qu'on  jette  a  la  statue  de  Napoleon  qui  va  s'elargis- 
sant  chaque  jour  et  qui  couvre  deja  pour  beaucoup  de  spectateurs  eblouis 
ces  hideux  aspects  mais  ne  les  derobe  pas  entierement  a  qui  sait  regarder 
et  se  souvenir?'  Les  raisons  de  cette  attitude  l'auteur  les  attribue  a  la 
nature  egoi'ste,  mesquine  et  ondoyante  de  Sainte-Beuve,  a  son  inapti- 
tude a  Taction,  a  son  insuffisance  de  temperament,  a  son  besoin  de 
denigrer  et  de  rapetisser  les  grands  hommes;  a  son  gout  pour  les  esprits 
moyens  qu'il  prlfeYait  aux  'genies  a  pic,'  enfin  a  ses  reactions  contre 
Victor  Hugo  qu'il  visa  plus  d'une  fois  par  rancune  et  par  jalousie  sous 
couleur  d'attaquer  le  ge'ant  corse. 

Ecrite  d'un  style  brillant,  pittoresque,  plein  de  mouvement,  qui  sait 
de  la  facon  la  plus  heureuse  s'adapter  aux  nuances  les  plus  variees  de  la 
pens6e,  cette  etude  est  un  modele  de  composition  souple  et  originale, 
ou  l'auteur  n'hesite  pas  a  rompre  avec  les  pratiques  qui,  pour  etre  con- 


224  Reviews 

sacrees  et  de  tradition,  ne  lui  apparaissent  pas  devoir  etre  forcement 
admises  partout  et  pour  tout.  II  faut,  entre  autres  choses,  le  louer  d'avoir 
renverse  l'ordre  chronologique  adopte  en  general  pour  ce  genre  de  tra- 
vaux:  en  exarainant  d'abord  Sainte-Beuve  a  partir  de  1834,  puis  Sainte- 
Beuve  dans  sa  jeunesse,  il  a  mis  en  un  relief  saisissant  l'une  des  idees 
maitresses  de  sa  these.  L'erudition  de  l'auteur  est  aussi  digne  de  tous 
eloges:  elle  est  abondante  sans  etre  jamais  excessive;  elle  est  sou  vent 
aussi  d'une  concision  voulue,  soit  qu'il  examine  les  sentiments  de  Sainte- 
Beuve  pour  l'Angleterre;  soit  qu'il  mentionne  1'influence  du  Memorial 
de  Sainte-Helene;  soit  qu'il  signale  le  cas  specialement  interessant  de 
Stendhal  (a  propos  duquel  il  vient  de  faire  paraitre  un  article  des  plus 
piquants  dans  le  N°  de  Novembre — Decembre  1922  de  la  Revue  des 
Etudes  Napoleoniennes) :  tous  points  sur  lesquels  l'auteur,  on  le  sent  bien, 
aurait  pu  se  livrer  a  de  copieux  d6veloppements;  elle  est  humaine  et 
fait  fi  de  ce  fameux  masque  'd'objectivite'  qui  ne  sert  si  souvent  qua 
dissimuler  l'indigence  des  idees  et  des  sentiments;  elle  fournit  enfin 
un  solide  aliment  a  1'independance  d'esprit,  au  sens  critique  et  a  la 
logique  de  l'auteur  qui  ne  manque  jamais  de  combattre,  d'ou  qu'elles 
viennent,  les  opinions  natives  et  les  interpretations  erronees,  comme  on 
pourra  s'en  rendre  compte  en  lisant  les  discussions  qui  se  trouvent, 
pp.  62,  74,  82,  et  104-108,  et  qui  ajoutent  un  attrait  de  plus  a  cette  con- 
tribution a  la  fois  si  precise,  si  cornplexe  et  si  suggestive. 

Louis  Brandin. 
London. 

Etudes  sur  la  Divine  Comedie.  La  composition  du  poeme  et  son  rayonne- 
ment.  Par  Henri  Hauvette.  Paris :  H.  Champion.  1922.  8vo. 
xv +  239  pp.    10  fr. 

In  this  volume,  the  latest  in  the  Bibliotheque  litteraire  de  la  Renais- 
sance, M.  Hauvette  has  brought  together  a  series  of  essays  for  the  most 
part  published  between  1899  and  1921,  some  of  them  here  in  great  part 
re- written.  The  first  three  chapters  deal  with  the  composition  of  the 
sacred  poem.  Then  follow  Realisme  et  fantasmagorie  dans  la  vision  de 
Dante ;  Dante  et  la  pensee  moderne,  an  admirable  sexcentenary  discourse 
including  a  critique  of  the  episode  of  Ulysses  regarded  as  'le  glorificateur 
de  l'energie  virile  et  de  l'esprit  de  sacrifice,  mis  au  service  de  la  science ' 
(p.  141);  Dante  dans  la  poesie  frangaise  de  la  Renaissance,  mainly  con- 
cerned with  the  influence  of  Dante  on  Marguerite  de  Navarre ;  Dante  et 
la  France.  In  two  appendices,  the  author  controverts  the  theory  of 
M.  Asin  Palacios  concerning  the  alleged  Mussulman  sources  of  the 
Commedia,  and  urges  the  identification  of  Dante's  'Era'  (Par.  vi,  59) 
with  the  Loire  rather  than  with  the  Saone. 

The  opening  essay  is  unquestionably  the  most  important.  Taking  as 
his  text  the  beginning  of  Inf.  Vlii,  'Io  dico  seguitando,'  M.  Hauvette 
offers  a  series  of  Notes  sur  la  composition  des  sept  premiers  chants  de 
I'Enfer.  He  accepts  the  theory  of  Parodi,  which,  based  mainly  upon  the 
political  doctrines  contained  in  the  three  parts  and  a  comparison  with 


Reviews  225 

the  minor  works,  maintains  that  the  Inferno  was  finished  before  1308, 
the  Purgatorio  before  1313,  while  the  composition  of  the  Paradiso 
occupied  the  last  seven  or  eight  years  of  the  poet's  life.  But  he  would 
go  back  further.  Regarding  Boccaccio's  story  of  the  recovery  of  the  first 
seven  cantos  as  a  historical  fact  (with  which,  though  with  considerable 
reservation,  we  are  prepared  to  agree),  he  argues  that  they  represent  a 
primitive  plan  of  the  poem  on  a  smaller  scale,  upon  which  Dante  was 
working  in  the  years  immediately  preceding  his  exile.  The  theory  is  by 
no  means  new ;  but  M.  Hauvette  develops  it  with  abundant  arguments, 
based,  not  merely  upon  the  more  obvious  aspect  of  the  apparent  altera- 
tion in  the  classification  of  sins,  but  also  upon  the  difference  of  propor- 
tion, the  lack  of  co-ordination,  the  comparative  vagueness  of  representa- 
tion and  relative  immaturity  of  these  earlier  cantos,  their  occasional 
inconsistences  with  what  is  to  follow.  For  instance,  Ciacco  in  Canto  vi 
is  apparently  not  subject  to  the  law  as  to  vision  of  the  immediate  future 
which  Farinata  enunciates  in  Canto  x.  We  may  add  that  Virgil's 
description  of  the  souls  in  Purgatory  {Inf.  I,  118-119)  : 

e  vederai  color  che  son  contenti 

nel  foco, 

might  seem  to  anticipate  a  far  simpler,  more  conventional  presentation 
of  the  second  realm  than  the  Purgatorio  was  ultimately  to  afford. 

While  admitting  the  force  of  much  of  what  M.  Hauvette  says,  we 
consider  that  he  presses  his  argument  too  far.  He  even  supposes  that 
the  prediction  uttered  by  Ciacco  (Inf.  vi,  64-72)  may  actually  have 
been  written  before  the  anticipated  victory  of  the  Neri  had  driven 
Dante  into  exile:  'Certes,  la  prevision  pouvait  etre  dementie  par  les 
faits ;  Dante  en  aurait  ete  quitte  pour  la  supprimer  par  la  suite, — mais 
elle  pouvait  aussi  se  trouver  justified,  et  il  suffisait  peut-etre  d'un  sens 
politique  a  peine  au-dessus  du  mediocre  pour  la  risquer'  (p.  50).  He 
seems  to  us  sometimes  to  overstate  the  artistic  inferiority  and  the 
inconsistences  of  these  cantos.  The  view  that  Dante  did  not  envisage 
the  subsequent  developments  of  the  poem  is  carried  to  excess  in  the  two 
following  essays,  united  as  A  travers  le  Purgatoire  et  le  Paradis.  In  the 
first,  discussing  why  the  poet  destined  certain  pagan  souls  to  beatitude 
while  excluding  Virgil,  M.  Hauvette  passes  somewhat  lightly  over  the 
special  reasons  (which  unquestionably  exist  and  can  be  clearly  shown  in 
each  case)  for  the  salvation  of  Cato,  Statius,  and  Rhipeus,  and  ventures 
upon  the  hypothesis  that  the  initial  conception,  set  forth  from  the  first 
cantos  of  the  Inferno,  placed  Virgil  without  hope  of  salvation  in  Limbo, 
and,  when  the  idea  of  calling  certain  chosen  pagans  to  eternal  bliss 
came  subsequently  to  Dante,  it  was  too  late  (p.  73).  Certainly,  when 
Dante  wrote  the  Monarchia  (n,  vii),  he  was  not  aware  of  the  solution, 
suggested  by  Aquinas,  of  the  problem  of  the  salvation  of  the  virtuous 
man  who  never  heard  'aliquid  de  Christo,'  a  solution  similar  to  that 
afterwards  adopted  in  the  Paradiso  (xix-xx);  but  it  is  difficult  to 
believe  that  the  position  of  Virgil,  as  one  who  saved  others  but  himself 
could  not  save,  had  not  been  in  his  mind  from  the  beginning  of  the 
poem.     Similarly,  in    the   second,  dealing   with   the   difficulty — more 


226  Reviews 

apparent  than  real — of  reconciling  the  references  to  'Principi/  'Troni,' 
and  'Serafini'  in  the  sphere  of  Venus  {Par.  vnr,  27,  34  ;  ix,  61,  78)  with 
the  arrangement  of  the  angelic  orders  and  their  correspondence  with  the 
heavens  as  enunciated  afterwards  in  Canto  xxviii,  M.  Hauvette  main- 
tains that  the  Dionysian  system  of  the  celestial  hierarchies  only  became 
known  to  Dante  while  writing  the  later  cantos  of  the  Paradiso  :  '  La  fin 
du  chant  xxviii  porte  clairement  la  trace  d'une  recente  lecture  sur  ce 
sujet'  (p.  82).  There  are,  on  the  contrary,  strong  arguments  for  the 
view  that  the  Dionysian  structure  is  fundamental  throughout  the  third 
cantica.  But,  though  disagreeing  with  the  author  on  this  and  other 
points,  we  welcome  his  studies  as  a  valuable  contribution  to  one  of 
the  more  difficult  problems  which  confront  the  student  of  the  Divina 
Commedia. 

Edmund  G.  Gardner. 
Manchester. 

La  Versification  irregidar  en  la  Poesia  castellana.  Por  Pedro  Henriquez 
Urena.  (Publicaciones  de  la  Revista  de  Filologia  espanola,  iv.) 
Madrid:  Rev.  de  Filologia  espanola.    1920.    8vo.    338  pp.    7  pes. 

Like  Mr  Saintsbury's  English  Prosody.,  this  may  be  taken  as  a  guide 
to  many  delightful  regions  of  poetry,  with  no  disparagement  of  its 
scientific  value.  It  is  full  of  quotations,  from  the  poem  of  the  Cid  to 
Ruben  Dario  ;  more  particularly,  it  illustrates,  in  different  centuries,  the 
fashions  of  popular  poetry. 

What  is  '  irregular  versification '  in  Spanish  poetry  ?  The  author 
marks  out  as  his  field  all  the  verse  which  does  not  keep  to  a  strict 
number  of  syllables :  '  las  manifestaciones  de  la  poesia  castellana  fuera 
de  los  moldes  del  isosilabismo.' 

But  what  is  '  isosilabismo  '  in  verse  ?  Does  not  the  name  concede  too 
much  to  a  doctrine  of  verse  which  ignores  both  rhythm  and  metre  ? 
which  makes  the  French  Alexandrine  simply  a  line  of  twelve  syllables, 
and  the  favourite  Spanish  measure  of  romance  and  redondilla  simply 
eight  ?  Taking  this  for  an  example,  and  comparing  '  Rio  verde,  rio 
verde '  with  '  Mafianas  de  Abril  y  Mayo/  we  might  ask,  first,  whether 
'  Rio  verde '  is  not  the  original  type  of  trochaic  metre,  and  whether  the 
rhythm  and  metre  of  the  second  quotation  can  be  treated  justly  under 
any  head  of '  isosilabismo.'  A  full  treatment  of  irregular  verse  requires 
a  study  of  variations  within  the  regular.  Possibly  this  may  be  more 
requisite  for  students  not  born  to  Spanish  speech ;  it  may  be  a  want 
less  felt  by  those  who  understand  through  natural  instinct  that  the  same 
rule  is  kept  in  the  two  lines 

No  consiste  en  otra  cosa 
Que  haber  6  no  haber  dinero. 

But  no  harm  would  be  done  by  explaining  that  both  lines  are  trochaic 
dimeter:  and  irregular  Spanish  verse  might  be  more  clearly  defined  if 
the  enquirer  started  with  the  fact  that 

Si  oir  lo  que  quieres  no  quiero 


Reviews  227 

is  regular,  octosyllabic,  trochaic,  equal  to  '  Rio  verde,  rio  verde '  or  '  Que 
tu  pundonor  padece.' 

Sr  Henriquez  Urena  does  not  deal  closely  with  the  problem  of  early 
epic  verse  in  Castilian  :  that  is  a  question  by  itself,  and  it  may  be  passed 
over  without  prejudice  to  the  history  of  lyrical  rhythms  from  the 
thirteenth  century  onward.  Or  perhaps  it  would  be  better  to  say  that 
a  full,  lively  discriminating  essay  like  the  present  may  be  used  with  the 
greatest  advantage  in  the  study  of  the  earlier  verse,  particularly  of  the 
Cid  :  the  earlier  verse  can  wait,  shall  we  say  ?  till  the  later  has  been 
comprehended. 

Between  regular  verse,  of  equal  number  of  syllables,  and  irregular, 
following  the  rhythm  of  a  dance,  freely,  there  comes  the  verse  of  arte 
mayor :  '  to  the  Greeks  foolishness,'  or,  rather,  to  the  patrons  of  exact 
syllables  a  monstrous  barbarous  device.  It  is  very  like  English  verse,  as 
I  showed  in  a  paper  for  the  Philological  Society  in  1898  {Analogies  of 
English  and  Spanish  verse :  arte  mayor)  which  appears  to  have  escaped 
the  attention  of  Spanish  scholars.  '  Isosyllabism  '  is  what  the  arte  mayor 
refuses  absolutely.  What  is  remarkable  in  this  affair  is  that  the  old 
Spanish  prosodists  of  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries,  from  Juan 
del  Encina  (1496)  to  Salinas  (1577)  and  Rengifo,  recognize,  understand 
and  explain  the  freedom :  which  to  English  readers  is  easy  enough ; 
dropping  a  syllable  without  any  risk. 

Cordova  madre  tu  hijo  perdona 
is  not  worse  measure  than 

Tus  casos  fallaces  Fortuna  cantamos. 
Equal  also  are  the  lines  : 

Pregunto  que"  fue  d'aquellos  que  fueron 
Sojudgadores  del  siglo  mundano. 

Verse  of  arte  mayor  is  familiar  in  English :  it  is  our  old  triple  cadence, 
to  the  tune  of  Packington's  Pound.  It  was  never  heroic  in  English  as  it 
was  in  Spain  (Lopez  Pinciano,  witness) ;  as  it  now  after  long  disqualifi- 
cation is  again  regarded  by  some  of  the  best  wits  of  that  country.  But 
the  English  measure,  though  hardly  treated  by  the  Elizabethans,  never 
died  out,  and  many  a  song,  as  well  as  Lochiel's  Warning  and  The  Destruc- 
tion of  Sennacherib,  makes  it  easier  for  English  than  for  French  ears 
(though  they  too  have  the  same  sort  of  musical  tunes)  to  understand 
the  Spanish  arte  mayor  and  its  varieties :  '  twelve  syllables,  or  their 
equivalence,'  as  Juan  del  Encina  puts  it.  He  uses  the  same  formula  for 
arte  real,  '  eight  syllables,  or  their  equivalence ' :  and  an  examination  of 
what  is  meant  by  '  equivalencia '  in  the  two  cases  would  be  a  good 
introduction  to  the  study  of  irregular  verse.  '  Equivalence '  in  the 
Spanish  octosyllable,  as  in  Italian  verse  generally,  produces  the  exact 
number  by  process  of  conventional  elision.  Equivalence  in  the  arte 
mayor  allows  a  blank  space  to  count  for  a  syllable  :  thus 

Cordova  madre  tu  hijo  perdona 
wants  a  syllable  at  the  beginning,  but  the  rule  makes  its  eleven  equal 
to  twelve  syllables.    Or  to  put  it  otherwise,  in  the  octosyllable  there  are 


228  .        Reviews 

often  (almost  always)  more  syllables  apparently  than  eight ;  in  the 
arte  mayor  there  are  often  fewer  than  twelve.  The  octosyllable  is 
regular  according  to  Italian  and  French  theories ;  the  arte  mayor 
irregular.  English  theory,  like  Spanish,  ought  to  be  able  to  endure  both, 
and  English  metricians  will  find  themselves,  not  indeed  comfortably  at 
home,  but  not  unhappily  adventurous,  in  following  the  present  story  of 
irregular  Spanish  verse. 

Galician,  Portuguese,  Castilian,  Catalan  poets  from  the  earliest  times 
have  been  in  favour  of  popular  verse.  Kings  have  been  nursing  fathers 
of  ballad  poetry.  What  is  more  curious  is  that  the  Spanish  writers  on 
prosody,  in  spite  of  all  temptations  to  look  down  on  their  fellow  creatures, 
show  the  greatest  liking  for  popular  songs  and  the  most  extensive 
knowledge  of  the  same  :  Cantilenae  vulgares  are  repeatedly  quoted  by 
Salinas  in  his  great  work  Be  Musicd. 

Tu  la  tienes  Pedro :  Juro  a  tal  no  tengo. 

Mai  aya  quien  a  vos  caso  La  de  Pedro  borreguero. 

Ante  me  beseys  que  me  destoqueys, 

Que  me  toco  mi  tia. 

Ay  amor  como  soys  puntoso  (la  darga  dandeta). 
There  appears  to  be  room  for  further  study  of  the  tunes  given  by 
Salinas  ;  and  also  of  the  tunes  published  in  Asenjo  Barbieri's  often 
quoted  Cancionero  musical.  One  general  proposition  is  suggested,  though 
not  explicitly  stated  by  our  author  (pp.  134  ff.),  viz.  that  sometimes  the 
musical  tune  is  followed  simply  with  no  straining  of  stress,  '  tampatantam, 
que  las  figas  son  verdas '  (Mila  y  Fontanals, Romancerillo  Catalan,  No. 45): 
sometimes,  on  the  other  hand,  the  tune  warps  the  natural  accent : 

El  naipe  y  el  dado  Es  mi  galera. 
Whereby  it  comes  about  that  sometimes  the  exact  rhythm  and  metre  of 
songs  may  be  misjudged,  if  the  music  happen  not  to  be  given  along  with 
the  words.  Obviously  the  line  just  quoted  will  not  be  rightly  scanned  if 
'  galera '  be  taken  with  its  natural  paroxytone,  and  (we  may  say,  in  spite 
of  some  Spanish  philologists)  its  natural  quantity,  galera.  It  is  not 
always  easy  to  distinguish  the  effect  of  the  tune.  The  '  triple  cadence ' 
in  English,  Spanish,  German,  Italian  verse  is  derived,  we  may  venture 
to  say,  from  dance  measures  in  triple  time,  originally.  The  common 
type  of  tune,  which  is  international,  without  words,  makes  a  common 
type  of  verse  in  languages  that  are  little  related.  No  Spanish  ancestry 
is  required  for  Dr  Watts :  '  But  Thomas,  and  William,  and  such  pretty 
names ' :  he  writes  versos  de  arte  mayor,  in  virtue  of  a  wordless  ancestor, 
a  dance.  But  when  verse  of  this  sort  is  established  it  may  be  turned  to 
different  tunes.    E.g.  Cancionero  musical,  No.  402,  So  ell  encina : 

Yo  me  iba,  mi  madre, 
A  la  romeria 
Por  ir  mas  devota 
Fui  sin  compaiiia 
So  ell  encina. 

The  rhythm  seems  obvious :  but  the  tune  makes  it  otherwise  :  romSria, 
mas  deVota.    What  is  a  poor  prosodist  to  do  ? 


Reviews  229 

Great  part  of  the  good  cheer  in  this  treatise  comes  to  English  readers 
from  the  echoes  of  familiar  verse.  May  we  scan  '  I  enter  thy  garden  of 
roses'  as  '  anfibraquico,  tres  clausulas  trisilabicas  con  acento  en  la 
segunda  silaba '  ? 

Al  alba  venid,  buen  amigo... 

Est'  es  el  camino  del  cielo... 

Aquella  morica  garrida.... 
Autre  guitar e: 

Cuando  tano  y  repico  al  alba 

no  repico  ni  tafio  al  albor 

sino  tano  y  repico 

a  que  saiga  mi  lindo  amor. 

The  old  Spanish  grammarians  and  the  new  have  no  scruples  about 
using  the  terms  dactyl  and  anapaest.   Here  are  dance  tunes : 

Valdivielso  introduce  el  curioso  metro  del  baile  de  Tdrraga  que  pertenece  a  la  misma 
familia,  en  el  auto  El  peregrino  : 

\  Tarraga,  por  aquf  van  a  Malaga  ! 

i  Tarraga,  por  aquf  van  alia  ! 

This  might  be  sung  to  an  Irish  melody.  The  family,  la  misma  familia, 
in  the  quotation  above  is  the  family  of  the  pipes  of  Galicia,  la  gaita 
gallega,  which  is  hard  to  distinguish,  in  verse,  from 

Pibroch  of  Donuil  Dhu,  pibroch  of  Donuil, 
or 

Down  by  the  Tummel  and  banks  of  the  Garry. 

Muinheira  is  another  name  for  it :  the  measure  is  indistinguishable,  in 
print,  from  that  variety  of  arte  mayor  which  drpps  the  first  syllable  and 
runs  dactylic ;  thus  (p.  50) 

Tanto  bailei  que  me  namoricara. 
If  this  Galician  pipe  tune  pleases  through  its  claiming  kindred  with 
songs  of  the  North,  on  the  other  hand  the  seguidilla,  the  short  lyric  of 
(normally)  7's  and  5's,  has  its  own  fascination,  recalling  only  in  a  vague 
way  the  tunes  of  English  poetry.  It  is  traced  here  in  the  works  of 
famous  poets,  Lope  and  Calderdn  and  others,  and  this  is  again  something 
gained  for  the  art  of  poetry.  The  references  here  will  not  be  too  soon 
exhausted  and  done  with.  The  book  may  be  read  over  and  over  again : 
it  will  be  kept  at  hand  by  every  lover  of  Spanish  verse. 

Like  so  much  of  Spanish  prosody,  it  comes  from  America ;  following 
Bello  and  Hanssen  the  author,  a  native,  as  he  tells  us,  of  Santo  Domingo, 
and  at  present,  as  we  learn  from  other  evidence,  Professor  in  Mexico,  has 
shown  how  much  may  be  gained  for  the  enjoyment  of  poetry  from  strict 
and  technical  study  of  syllables.  W.  P.  Ker. 

London. 

Antologia  Castellana.  Bloemlezing,  met  aanteekeningen,  uit  heden- 
daagsche  prozaisten  van  Spanje  en  Spaansch-Amerika.  Door  G.  J. 
Geers.  Deel  I.    Wassenaar  :  G.  Delwel.    1921.    8vo.    255  pp.    4  fl. 

Dr  Geers'  contributions  to  Hispanic  studies  in  Neophilologus  have 
already  introduced  him  to  Hispanic  scholars ;  in  the  present  Anthology 

m.l.r.  xvih.  15 


230  Reviews 

he  addresses  practical  teachers.  The  selections  are  from  living  Spanish 
and  Spanish-American  prose-writers,  together  with  a  few  extracts  of  a 
general  or  commercial  nature  from  contemporary  journalism,  and  are 
intended  to  illustrate  as  precisely  as  possible  reputable  spoken  Spanish  ; 
they  are  of  sufficient  length  to  justify  the  formation  of  tentative  judg- 
ments; and  the  full  bibliography  attached  to  the  name  of  each  author 
enables  the  reader  to  convert,  if  he  will,  his  tentative  opinions  into 
permanent  criticism.  A  few  of  the  more  difficult  expressions  are  trans- 
lated at  the  foot  of  each  page  into  Dutch.  The  author  is  to  be  congratu- 
lated on  the  scrupulous  fairness  of  his  collection:  which  he  has  achieved, 
on  the  one  hand,  by  the  objective  criterion  of  including  only  such 
authors  as  are  still  alive,  and  on  the  other,  by  showing  all  possible 
deference  to  native  opinion.  Unfortunately,  death  deprived  the  antho- 
logist, during  the  compilation  of  this  volume,  of  two  such  eminently 
'  living '  stylists  as  Galdos  and  Dona  Emilia  Pardo  Bazan.  Included  in 
this  selection  are  '  Azorin,'  Baroja,Ibanez,  Camba,  Jose  Frances,  Ghiraldo, 
Jimenez,  Miro,  Ortega  Gasset,  Palacio  Valdes,  Perez  de  Ayala,  Pedro  de 
R6pide,  Unamuno,  Valle  Inclan,  Vargas  Vila.  One  may  express  the 
hope  that  Dr  Geers  will  be  able  to  include  in  a  Second  Part  specimens 
of  types  of  prose  omitted  here :  prose  of  the  Theatre  (Benavente, 
Quinteros,  Linares  Rivas),  of  Politics  (D.  Antonio  Maura,  Romanones), 
of  Science  (Ramdn  y  Cajal),,  and  of  Criticism  (Menendez  Pidal,  Bonilla, 
Diez  Canedo,  and  others).  Of  the  first  name  in  the  last  group  perhaps 
a  foreigner  may  be  permitted  to  hazard  the  opinion  that  Sr  Menendez 
Pidal  seems  to  be  moulding  the  Castilian  tongue  to  a  precision  and 
subtlety  of  argument  and  exposition  that  are  hardly  of  its  tradition 
hitherto. 

Amid  the  scarcity  of  reliable  textbooks  and  the  difficulty  of  self- 
information  as  to  literary  tendencies  of  present-day  Spain,  the  Antho- 
logy of  Dr  Geers  is  a  boon  not  only  to  his  compatriots,  but  to  teachers 
of  Spanish  anywhere.  Let  us  hope  that  he  may  achieve  and  pass  his 
immediate  objective,  'dat  er  meer  en  beter  Spaansch  hier  te  lande 
gelezen  worde,  dan  dat  van  den  eeuwigen  Blasco  Ibafiez.' 

Manchester.  W.  J.  Entwistle. 

Altsdchsisches  Elementarbuch.  Von  F.  Holthausen.  Zweite  verbesserte 
Auflage.  (Germanische  Bibliothek,  I,  v.)  Heidelberg :  C.  Winter. 
1921.   8vo.    260  pp. 

Mittelniederdeutsches  Lesebuch.  Von  Wolfgang  Stammler.  Hamburg : 
F.  Hartung.    1921.    8vo.    148  pp. 

Das  Gothaer  mittelniederdeutsche  Arzneibuch  und  seine  Sippe.  Heraus- 
gegeben  von  Sven  Norrbom.  (Mittelniederdeutsche  Arzneibucher, 
I.)    Hamburg :  F.  Hartung.    1921.    8vo.    240  pp. 

The  fact  that  these  three  publications  have  all  appeared  within  the 
same  year  may  be  regarded  as  proof  of  intensive  and  methodical  research 
in  the  relatively  neglected  field  of  Low  German  language  and  literature. 


Reviews  231 

It  is  right  and  proper  that  the  German  Seminar  of  the  young  university 
of  Hamburg,  under  the  energetic  leadership  of  Professor  C.  Borchling, 
should  take  a  goodly  share  in  this  activity. 

In  Holthausen's  Altsdchsisches  Elementarbuch  we  meet  with  an  old 
friend  whose  good  counsel  and  help  many  a  student  of  the  Heliand  has 
sought  since  1899,  when  the  first  edition  appeared.  Externally  the  new 
edition  bears  the  imprint  of  the  present  hard  times;  the  paper  is 
inferior,  the  type  smaller  throughout,  so  that  the  former  distinction 
between  the  paragraphs  and  the  notes  has  disappeared  and  the  number 
of  pages  has  fallen  from  283  to  260.  But  the  old  arrangement  has 
remained,  viz.  Introduction  (Literaturangaben,  Stellung  und  Einteilung 
des  Altsachsischen,  Quellen  der  altsachsischen  Schrift),  Lautlehre  (where 
the  altered  notation  e  <  P.G.  e2 ;  e  <  ai ;  o  <  6 ;  6  <  au,  and  a  =  O.  Fris. 
a  <  P.G.  au  for  e,  e ;  6,  o ;  a  of  the  first  edition  is  to  be  noted),  For- 
menlehre,  Syntaktisches,  Lesestiicke  (increased  by  the  Trierer  Segen- 
spriiche,  2,  A  and  B,  and  the  Bruchstilcke  eines  Glaubensbekenntnisses,  6). 
The  Old  Saxon  glossary  at  the  end  (pp.  225-60)  has  been  enlarged  and, 
in  some  respects,  rearranged,  while  the  Fremdsprachliche  Index  has  been 
cut  out,  presumably  to  save  space.  The  numerous  monographs  and 
articles  on  Old  Saxon  since  the  appearance  of  the  first  edition  have 
swelled  the  Literaturangaben  to  more  than  double  the  original  size ; 
their  results,  criticisms  of  the  first  edition  (especially  that  by  M.  Jellinek 
in  the  Zeitschrift  filr  deutsche  Philologie,  xxxii,  pp.  520  ff.)  and  Holt- 
hausen's own  untiring  research  have  occasioned,  a  number  of  changes, 
particularly  in  the  chapters  on  Laut-  and  Formenlehre.  These  are  fewer 
iu  the  chapter  on  Syntax  (§§  480-560),  which  is  based,  for  the  most 
part,  on  O.  Behaghel's  Die  Syntax  des  Heliand,  Vienna,  1897.  This  work 
is  by  a  slip  omitted  in  the  Literaturangaben  under  Syntax. 

I  append  the  following  remarks.  In  §§  8,  10,  28,  29  Holthausen  has 
substituted  '  friesische  Stamme '  for  '  ingwaonische  Stamme.'  Why  ? 
§  86,  2  :  reference  might  have  been  made  to  Paul  und  Braunes  Beitrdge, 
xv,  pp.  304  f.  §  106  :  in  the  Berichtigungen,  p.  xiv,  the  form  sinu  ecce 
is  added  to  the  examples  given  in  this  paragraph  of  the  lengthening  of 
short  vowels  after  the  disappearance  of  h ;  but  cp.  Gothic  sai  and  the 
note  to  §97.  The  note  to  §197  lacks  scientific  precision;  reference 
should  also  have  been  made  to  §  257,  note  2,  Zeit.f.  deut.  Alt,  47,  p.  42  and 
Paul  und  Braunes  Beitr.,  xxxii,  pp.  544  ff.  §  291  :  the  form  gibodscip,  ace. 
(C,  1.  8)  should  be  added.  §  325,  note  5  :  middilgardun  I  take  to  be  a 
weak  dat.  sing.  fem.  §  364,  2 :  the  forms  mikilo  (M  4354)  and  berahto 
{Gen.  20)  should  be  noted.  §  373  :  V  shows  once  the  ending  u  (1317). 
§  381,  note  :  add  sehsi  (Hel.  2037)  before  sesse.  §  438,  note :  the  form 
gisprekan  (C  5568)  should  be  added,  and  to  §  450,  note,  perhaps  bikne- 
gan  (MC  1310) :  cp.  Schluter  in  F.  Dieter,  Laut-  und  Formenlehre  der 
altgerm.  Dialekte,  ii,  §  275,  note  1.  §  488,  note  1  :  for  wi&'arstandan, 
c.  ace.  there  is  hardly  sufficient  evidence ;  on  C  28  cp.  the  emendation 
in  Piper's  edition.  §512:  to  undar  2  (p.  188,  1.  4)  add:  thesun  folcu 
(V  1317).  §  516,  last  sentence  :  this  example,  where  M  as  well  as  C 
shows  the  verb  in  the  plural,  should  not  have  been  added,  for  it  is  not  to 

15—2 


232  Reviews 

the  same  point  as  the  others.  §  524  :  it  should  have  been  made  clear 
that  that  can  also  be  used  with  reference  to  a  masc.  noun.  Cp.  HeL,  5685, 
5008  and  perhaps  26.  Some  misprints  have  remained  uncorrected. 
§  14,  4  :  read  AfdA  for  ZfdA.  §  75a,  3  (first  words  of  p.  30):  als  o. 
§  162a,  4  and  5  :  X  for  *>-  §  323,  1.  2  :  D  for  P.  §  355,  p.  127,  1.  4  :  oder. 
§  461,  note,  p.  163,  1.  5  :  gebildet. 

The  Middle  Low  German  period  is  much  richer  in  literary  remains 
than  the  Old  Saxon,  although  there  is  nothing  to  rival  the  Heliand  in 
beauty.  There  has  been  hitherto  no  Reader  to  provide  students  with  an 
easy  introduction  to  Middle  Low  German  literature ;  thus  W.  Stammler's 
book,  which  fills  up  the  gap,  is  to  be  welcomed.  Stammler  is  also  the 
author  of  a  brief  but  sound  history  of  Low  German  Literature  (Aus 
Natur  und  Geisteswelt,  No.  815,  Leipzig,  1920),  which  his  Reader  now 
supplements  with  well-selected  specimens  down  to  the  seventeenth 
century.  The  book,  however,  is  mainly  intended  for  the  use  of  university 
teachers  in  their  Seminar  courses.  The  texts  consequently  follow  the 
MSS.  closely,  only  scribal  errors  being  corrected,  in  which  cases  the  MS. 
reading  is  given  at  the  foot  of  the  page ;  for  the  same  reason  explana- 
tions of  words  and  realien  in  the  notes  are  sparing  (pp.  132-147). 
While  agreeing  with  this  principle,  we  cannot  help  thinking  that  an 
ample  Glossary  should  have  been  provided  to  assist  students  in  their 
preparation.  They  can  hardly  be  expected  to  possess  a  Middle  Low 
German  dictionary,  and  without  such,  many  of  the  texts  will  remain 
more  or  less  unintelligible  to  them.  The  Lesebuch  comprises  75  pieces 
of  which  Nos.  1-44  are  in  prose.  These  may  be  subdivided  as  follows : 
Nos.  1-10,  law;  11-20,  chronicles,  travels  and  memoirs;  21-39,  religious 
prose  ;  40-41  didactic  and  commercial  writings ;  42-43,  private  letters ; 
44,  medical  prescriptions  from  about  1500.  Under  the  last  heading  an 
extract  might  have  been  given  from  one  of  the  large  medical  treatises ; 
also  a  few  charms  in  prose  and  verse,  for  the  folklore  element  does  not 
seem  to  be  represented  at  all.  Nos.  45-75  are  poetry,  45,  46  being 
historical,  47-51  religious,  52,  53  romantic  epic  poetry,  54-57  satire, 
58-71  religious  and  secular  lyrics  and  didactic  verse.  Along  with  Simon 
Dach's  repeatedly  reprinted  Anke  von  Tharaw,  his  dialect  cantilena 
rustica,  the  Grethken  Lied,  might  have  been  given,  or  perhaps  in  place 
of  it.    The  book  closes  with  four  specimens  of  dramatic  poetry  (72-75). 

Sven  Norrbom's  book  is  an  important  contribution  to  the  rich 
mediaeval  medical  literature  of  Low  Germany,  which,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  Utrechter  Arzneibuch,  published  by  J.  H.  Gallee  in  1889,  and 
some  occasional  extracts,  still  lies  buried  in  numerous  and  often  rather 
extensive  manuscripts.  These  treatises  are  of  considerable  interest,  not 
only  to  the  student  of  the  history  of  medicine,  but  also  of  language ; 
for  he  will  find  here  many  words  and  phrases  which  naturally  do  not 
occur  in  purely  literary  productions.  Norrbom  gives  us  a  complete  and 
critical  text  of  two  works  contained  in  the  so-called  Gothaer  Arzneibuch 
(Codex  Chart.  Goth.  980),  namely  the  Diidesche  Arstedie  (DA)  and  the 
Practica  Bartholomaei  (B),  which  latter  F.  von  Oefele  had  already  (1894) 
reprinted  from  the  same  MS.,  but  without  using  any  other;   of  the 


Reviews  233 

Diidesche  Arstedie  only  some  extracts  have  hitherto  been  printed. 
These  works  are  representative  of  two  different  kinds  of  medical  treatises, 
the  first  popular,  that  is  to  say,  containing  remedies,  but  few  descriptions 
of  the  diseases ;  the  other  learned,  including  such  descriptions,  often  in- 
troduced by  the  Latin  names  of  the  diseases,  as  well  as  remedies.  The 
Low  German  Bartholomaeus  is,  however,  only  a  free  and  enlarged 
adaptation  of  a  widespread  Middle  German  version1,  the  exact  Latin 
source  of  which  is  still  unknown.  The  Diidesche  Arstedie,  on  the  other 
hand,  Norrbom  characterises  as  a  composite  work,  a  compilation  from  at 
least  two  sources.  Chapters  1-181  are  a  collection  of  medical  prescrip- 
tions arranged  according  to  the  parts  of  the  body ;  while  chapters 
186-198  are  principally  astrological,  dealing  with  the  letter  of  the 
pseudo- Aristotle,  the  seasons,  months,  days  of  the  month,  the  signs  of 
the  zodiac  and  their  influence  on  men's  characters,  blood-letting. 
Besides  the  Gotha  MS.  (G),  Norrbom  knows  three  others,  two  at  Copen- 
hagen (Ka,  Kt),  and  one  at  Rostock  (R),  and  all,  except  the  last,  include 
the  Bartholomaeus  as  well.  A  detailed  description  of  these  MSS.  is  given 
in  chapter  I  (pp.  3-12)  of  the  Introduction,  while  chapter  n  (pp.  12-44)  is 
devoted  to  an  examination  of  their  relations,  the  original  form  and  scope 
of  the  Arstedie,  and  its  sources.  In  chapter  in  (pp.  44-46)  the  Bartho- 
lomaeus is  discussed,  and  in  an  appendix  (pp.  47-57)  smaller  medical 
treatises  contained  in  G  and  Ka.  Then  follows  the  text  of  the  two  works, 
rightly  based  on  G  (cp.  p.  32),  though  the  readings  of  Ka  and  R  have 
often  to  be  substituted,  where  either  the  '  Vorlage '  of  G  or  its  scribe 
is  at  fault.  Finally  the  editor  provides  a  most  serviceable  glossary  with 
careful  explanations  of  rare  pharmaceutical  terms. 

To  return  for  a  moment  to  the  question  of  the  sources  of  the  Arstedie 
(chapter  II,  pp.  34-44) :  after  referring  to  the  difficulty  of  discovering 
the  sources  of  such  medical  books,  Norrbom  points  out  some  corre- 
spondences in  the  purely  medical  part  of  the  Arstedie  with  the  High 
German  Bartholomaeus  and  some  more  important,  although  indirect 
relations  to  the  Utrechter  Arzneibuch,  and  to  the  so-called  Wolfenbuttler 
Arzneibuch  (cp.  K.  Regel,  Niederd.  Jahrbuch,  v,  1878,  pp.  5-26).  For  the 
astrological  part  he  draws  attention  to  similar  High  German  treatises, 
but  whether  the  author  of  the  Arstedie  used  them  directly  or  in  a  Low 
German  version,  remains  uncertain.  The  question  of  the  source  of  the 
Arstedie  may,  however,  be  brought  to  a  more  conclusive  stage.  In 
chapter  190  (p.  169,  1.  18)  the  compiler  introduces  a  'mester  Albracht' 
(G  ;  the  other  MSS.  have  '  Albrecht ')  who  relates  that  he  himself  saw  a 
man  die  suddenly,  without  any  apparent  disease,  on  the  seventh  day 
after  having  his  arm  cupped  when  the  moon  stood  in  the  sign  of  the 
twins.  Now  MS.  Sloane  3002  of  the  British  Museum2  is  a  medical- 
astrological  treatise  attributed  to  Meester  Albrecht  van  Bergumen  in 
Flanders  and  written  by  a  Low  German  scribe  of  the  fifteenth  century. 
Here  we  find  on  fol.  114r-ll5r  in  the  article  de  XII  tekene  VII  ere 

1  For  the  oldest  fragments  of  the  High  German  translation,  now  in  the  Bodleian,  see 
Modern  Language  Review,  xi,  pp.  321  ff. 

2  Cp.  R.  Priebsch,  Deutsche  Handschriften  in  England,  n,  Erlangen,  1901,  p.  31. 


234  Reviews 

crafften,  the  very  statement  referred  to  above.  What  is  still  more 
interesting  is  that  Albrecht's  treatise  shows  the  same  arrangement 
throughout  as  the  Diidesche  Arstedie — an  arrangement  regarded  by 
Norrbom  (p.  44)  as  a  particular  merit  of  the  compiler.  I  add  one  or  two 
examples,  taken  at  random,  which  show  the  critical  importance  of 
Albrecht's  work  for  the  text  of  the  Arstedie.  Chapter  140  (p.  133, 1. 16) 
G  reads :  '  Wedder  de  worme  nym  wintworpe ' ;  but  Kt  has  '  varne '  for 
'  worme/  and  Albrecht,  fol.  69r :  '  wedder  den  varnen,'  which  proves  the 
reading  of  G  to  be  wrong.  Norrbom  is  reasonably  astonished  (p.  19) 
that  among  the  prescriptions  for  the  eye  there  is  one  which  refers  to  a 
mole  on  the  eye  of  an  animal  (chapter  10,  p.  79,  1.  32  :  '  Heft  eyn  grot 
deer  eyn  mael  vp  den  ogen,'  etc.) ;  but  a  glance  into  Albrecht's  treatise 
puts  this  right,  fol.  34v :  '  De  en  groff  mall  heft  vppe  de  oghen,'  etc.  But 
this  is  not  the  place  to  enter  into  a  detailed  examination  of  the  relations 
between  Albrecht's  work  and  the  Diidesche  Arstedie.  Suffice  it  to  say 
that  we  regard  the  former  as  the  chief  source  for  the  construction  of  the 
Low  German  treatise,  although  there  is  rarely  verbal  agreement,  and  the 
Arstedie  has  a  number  of  additions,  e.g.  chapters  1,  7  (the  Latin  charm, 
p.  76,  11.  20  ff.),  8  (again  a  Latin  charm1),  9,  36  (letter  of  the  pseudo- 
Aristotle).  These  come,  no  doubt,  from  secondary  sources,  probably 
those  adduced  by  Norrbom),  or  from  the  particular  copy  of  Albrecht 
used  by  the  compiler.  Whether  he  is  known  to  the  history  of  medicine 
I  cannot  say ;  he  is  not  mentioned  in  A.  Hirsch,  Biographisches  Lexikon 
der  hervorragenden  Arzte  alter  Zeiten  und  V other,  1884-88.  In  any  case, 
his  work  and  his  influence  would  provide  scope  for  an  interesting  study. 

In  taking  leave  of  these  three  publications,  we  would  express  the 
hope  that  more  encouragement  will  be  given  to  the  study  of  Old  Saxon 
and  Middle  Low  German  at  British  universities.  The  Heliand  and 
Genesis  fragments  must  impress  every  serious  student  with  their  beauty 
and  their  echoes  of  the  old  heroic  poetry  (cp.  the  fine  appreciation  in 
W.  P.  Ker's  The  Dark  Ages,  pp.  246  ff.,  256  ff.).  Without  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  religious  epics  and  missionary  activity  these  poems  might  never 
have  come  into  existence,  and  when  we  turn  to  the  Anglo-Saxon  Genesis 
B  and  Heliand  C  (Cotton  Caligula  A  VII  of  the  British  Museum), 
which  was  certainly  written  by  an  Anglo-Saxon  scribe,  we  see  how  the 
debt  was  partly  repaid.  Considerable  interest  for  Old  Saxon  poetry 
must  have  existed  in  the  south  of  England  (Winchester,  Canterbury?); 
and  in  Middle  Low  German  poetry,  again,  one  often  discerns  a  note  akin 
to  that  of  Middle  English  poetry.  R.  Pmebsch. 

London. 

Ludwig  Tieck  und  das  alte  englische  Theater.  Ein  Beitrag  zur  Geschichte 
der  Romantik.  Von  H.  Ludeke.  {Deutsche  Forschungen,  vi.)  Frank- 
fort on  Main :  M.  Diesterweg.    1922.   8vo.   viii  +  373pp.   420  M. 

It  has  been  difficult  to  keep  pace  with  the  '  Beitrage  zur  Geschichte 
der  Romantik '  which  have  been  appearing  in  Germany  in  recent  years. 

1  On  the  other  hand,  there  are  two  charms  in  Low  German  verse  elsewhere  in  Albrecht's 
work,  which  do  not  appear  in  the  Arstedie. 


Reviews  235 

They  fall,  generally  speaking,  into  two  groups,  speculative  interpretations 
of  the  romantic  doctrine,  and  investigations  into  the  facts  of  literary 
history.  Amongst  the  latter  Dr  Liideke's  volume  takes  an  important 
place ;  he  has  chosen  a  field  which  has  hitherto  received .  inadequate 
treatment,  and  he  comes  to  his  task  with  a  remarkably  thorough  know- 
ledge of  the  English  drama. 

After  two  introductory  chapters  on  '  Tiecks  Vorlaufer  in  Deutschland ' 
— which  seems  to  me  to  err  occasionally  in  exaggerating  the  first-hand 
knowledge  of  the  English  drama  in  German  eighteenth-century  writers — 
and  on  '  Tiecks  Studien  im  Rahmen  seines  Lebens,'  Dr  Ludeke  divides 
Tieck's  Shakespeare  studies  into  three  periods, '  Die  Jugendkritik  (1789- 
95),'  'Die  romantische  Kritik  (1795-1820)'  and  'Die  spatere  Kritik 
(1820-40).'  Further  chapters  deal  with  '  Shakespeares  Zeitgenossen,' 
Tieck's  translations,  and  his  Shakespeare  novel,  Dichterleben.  The 
general  impression  which  Tieck's  studies  in  the  English  drama  leave 
upon  us  is  their  surprising  extent  and  thoroughness  and — their  futility. 
Tieck's  Buck  uber  Shakespeare,  which  Dr  Ludeke  recently  rescued  from 
the  oblivion  of  a  manuscript  existence  (reviewed  in  these  pages,  Vol. 
xvn,  p.  103),  has  not  dispelled  this  impression.  That  book  was,  as  Dr 
Ludeke  says, 'der  grosste  Entwurf,aber  auch  die  klaglichste  Enttauschung 
seiner  schriftstellerischen  Laufbahn.'  It  would  be  difficult,  indeed — 
even  making  all  allowance  for  the  state  of  Shakespeare  exegesis  at  the 
beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century — to  claim  importance  for  Tieck's 
intuitive  insight  or  critical  acumen.  The  fascination  which  Shakespeare's 
'  doubtful  plays '  had  for  his  mind  is  characteristic  of  his  whole  attitude 
to  our  English  poet ;  his  contribution  to  the  understanding  in  Germany 
of  the  Elizabethan  drama  outside  of  Shakespeare  was  his  greater 
merit. 

Particularly  suggestive  are  the  two  chapters  in  which  Dr  Ludeke 
traces  the  influence  of  the  English  drama  on  Tieck's  own  work.  This  is 
a  very  real  '  Beitrag  zur  Geschichte  der  Romantik.'  Occasionally  he 
seems  to  me  to  seek  suggestions  from  English  plays  unnecessarily;  but 
he  has  shown  convincingly  how  permeated  Tieck's  imagination  was 
by  the  older  English  drama.  He  reserves  his  chief  consideration  for 
Dichterleben,  and  gives  a  much  more  helpful  and  critical  estimate  of 
this  novel  in  its  relation  to  Tieck's  English  studies  than  the  study  by 
A.  Eichler  which  appeared  a  few  months  ago  in  Englische  Studien  (lvi, 
pp.  254  ff.).  '  Das  Dichterleben,'  Dr  Ludeke  says,  '  ist  der  Grabstein  des 
Shakespeare-Buches ' ;  in  a  sense  we  might  say  it  was  the  Shakespeare- 
Buch,  in  so  far  as  it  offered  Tieck  a  better  opportunity  for  his  romantic 
interpretation  of  Shakespeare  than  the  prosaic  business  of  literary 
criticism.  But  this  is  far  from  saying  that  Dichterleben  is  a  good  novel. 
After  reading  Dr  Liideke's  careful  analysis,  I  felt  that  I  had  possibly 
underestimated  the  book.  I  have  re-read  it,  but  still  think  that  there 
is  no  more  lifeless  novel  of  the  German  Romantic  movement  than 
this.  Its  fundamental  defect  is  the  lack  of — or  rather  its  entirely  false 
— atmosphere;  Shakespeare  lives  and  moves  here  in  a  purely  German- 
conceived  milieu,  when  it  is  not  merely  the  pasteboard  of  the  Romantic 


236  Reviews 

theatre.  All  the  antiquarian  lore  in  the  world  cannot  efface  this  flaw. 
Tieck's  only  visit  to  England  was  one  of  some  four  weeks,  most  of  which 
was  passed  in  the  British  Museum.  Consequently  he  knew  little  about 
England  or  the  English  temperament  except  what  he  distilled  from 
books ;  and  the  atmosphere  of  Dichterleben,  written  in  the  twenties,  is 
as  impossible  as  that  of  William  Lovell,  written  more  than  thirty  years 
earlier. 

Of  the  early  German  romanticists,  Tieck  is  in  these  days  in  the 
worst  case.  We  have  realized  that  Novalis  is  a  great  poet  who  still  can 
appeal  to  the  twentieth-century  mind  ;  we  have,  in  the  course  of  the 
last  twenty  years,  learned  to  see  in  Friedrich  Schlegel  a  master  of 
dialectic  and  a  spiritual  pioneer;  and  I  believe  the  day  will  come  when 
his  brother  August  Wilhelm  will  undergo  a  much  needed  rehabilitation. 
But  it  is  difficult  to  see  that  Tieck  can  ever  again  be  accepted  other  than 
as  a  writer  and  critic  of  a  very  secondary  order.  His  real  significance 
for  Romanticism  lay  in  the  sympathetic  friendship  and  encouragement 
he  extended  to  the  real  men  of  genius  of  the  movement,  Wackenroder 
and  Novalis. 

London.  J.  G.  ROBERTSON. 

MINOR  NOTICES. 

In  a  very  full  and  sympathetic  review  of  Professor  L.  L.  Schiicking's 
Charakterprobleme  bei  Shakespeare  {Modem  Language  Review,  Vol.  xvi, 
p.  78),  Mr  H.  V.  Routh  declared  that  the  work  was  the  first  manifesto 
of  a  new  movement  in  Shakespearean  criticism  and  was  indispensable 
to  any  scholar.  The  book  has  now  appeared  in  English  dress  as 
Character  Problems  in  Shakespeare's  Plays.  A  Guide  to  the  better 
Understanding  of  the  Dramatist  (London :  G.  G.  Harrap,  10s.  Qd.),  and 
Mr  Routh's  words  still  hold  good.  Professor  Schiicking,  like  Professor 
E.  E.  Stoll,  who  has  done  much  work  on  the  same  lines,  which  perhaps 
is  here  hardly  sufficiently  acknowledged1,  puts  the  reader  of  Shakespeare 
at  a  new  point  of  view,  sweeps  away  many  cobweb  theories  of  former 
critics,  and,  whether  or  not  we  entirely  accept  his  own  conclusions,  at 
least  stimulates  discussion  and  further  inquiry.  We  may  ask  when  the 
author  dismisses  the  theory  of  Ophelia's  suicide  (p.  86),  what  he  makes 
of  the  '  marred  rites,'  and  again,  in  reply  to  his  argument  that  Shake- 
speare need  not  have  known  Jews  in  order  to  draw  Shylock,  because  he 
had  Marlowe's  Barabas  before  him  (p.  92),  we  may  ask  did  Marlowe 
come  across  Jews  ?  And  if  he  did,  why  may  not  Shakespeare  have  done 
the  same  ?  We  may  disagree  with  the  characterization  of  Mercutio  as  a 
'  bully '  (p.  99),  and  the  favourable  view  taken  of  Laertes,  and  we  may 
ask  Professor  Schiicking  if,  when  the  Queen  says  that  Hamlet  '  weeps 
for  what  is  done,'  she  is  not  obeying  Hamlet's  direction  not  to  let  the 
king  know  that  he  is  not  essentially  mad  ?  But  the  importance  of  the 
work  is  not  lessened  by  such  queries.    The  translation  is  made  with 

1  Mr  W.  H.  Hudson's  Introduction  to  The  Merchant  of  Venice  {Elizabethan  Shake- 
speare) also  represents  the  same  attitude. 


Minor  Notices  237 

freedom  and  vigour  and  reads  as  good  English.  Occasionally  the  matter 
of  the  original  is  abbreviated ;  but  for  this,  though  we  are  not  informed 
of  it,  the  translator  probably  had  the  author's  approval.  On  p.  159 
'  with  veiled  lids '  should  surely  be  '  with  vailed  lids,'  and  on  p  239  '  the 
fabulous  happenings '  (in  the  Sea  Venture)  implies  rather  more  than 
'die  fabelhaften  Erlebnisse.'  At  this  point  Professor  Schlicking's  pre- 
sentation has  been  largely  recast. 

G.  C.  M.  S. 

Dr  Walther  Fischer's  monograph,  Die  Briefe  Richard  Monckton 
Milnes'  an  Varnhagen  von  Ense  (1844-54)  (Anglistische  Forschungen,  lvii. 
Heidelberg:  C.  Winter,  1922)  is  a  valuable  contribution  to  our  know- 
ledge both  of  Lord  Houghton  and  of  the  relations  of  England  and 
Prussia  in  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century.  The  first  part  consists 
of  a  dissertation  on  Milnes'  life,  especially  in  connexion  with  his  interest 
in  Germans  and  Germany ;  in  the  second  the  author  publishes  for  the 
first  time  twenty-three  letters  addressed  by  him  to  Varnhagen,  and 
appends  very  illuminating  notes  on  the  allusions  contained  in  them. 
The  work  is  so  thorough  and  so  scholarly  and  so  objective  that  it  might 
be  considered  an  almost  perfect  piece  of  editing,  were  it  not  for  a  certain 
number  of  little  slips  natural  enough  in  even  a  learned  foreigner.  The 
name  Pontefract  appears  invariably  as  '  Pontrefact '  (pp.  1,  3,  136,  153), 
the  famous  Lord  John  is  often  '  Russell,'  but  perhaps  oftener  '  Russel.' 
He  appears  once  prematurely  as  '  Lord  Russell '  and  his  rival  as '  Viscount 
of  Palmerston.'  The  author  thinks  himself  free  to  insert  a  Christian 
name  before  a  title,  and  gives  us  '  Lady  Sidney  Morgan,'  '  Lady  Harriet 
Galway,'  '  Lord  Bulwer-Lytton,'  '  Lord  Henry  Grey.'  He  speaks  of  Chief 
Justice  Lord  Denman  in  1845  as '  Sir  Thomas  Denman,'  but  as  being  at 
the  same  time  a  peer  (p.  137).  The  use  of  '  M.'  for  '  Mr'  seems  to  be  a 
peculiarity  of  Milnes  himself.  Here  and  there  one  has  doubts  if  the 
sense  of  the  letters  has  not  suffered  from  misreading.  Thus,  p.  115: 
'  Miss  Wynn  is  at  Bath,  the  most  desolate  of  Spas — she  has  however  her 
mind  [?  maid]  to  keep  company  with ' ;  p.  122 :  '  I  suppose  that  the 
Prince  of  Leiningen,  like  the  monkey  who  lost  his  tart  [?  tail],  is  anxious 
that  other  Princes  should  be  mediatised  like  himself';  p.  126:  'the 
governments  have  taken  the  heart  of  [?  out  of]  the  German  movement.' 
Occasionally  the  sense  is  misunderstood.  When  Milnes  writes  (p.  108) 
that  Carlyle's  Cromwell  '  from  the  excessive  severity  of  its  democracy 
is  '  almost  worthy  of  "  the  great  Incorruptible," '  he  clearly  means  '  of 
Robespierre,'  and  he  has  Carlyle's  French  Revolution  in  mind.  The  editor 
refers  one  to  Tacitus.  In  a  note  (p.  171)  the  editor  remarks:  '  Bei 
Emerson,  English  Traits,  Kap.  3,  erscheint  "  shopkeeping  nation  "  bereits 
als  "  shop-word." '  Emerson's  words  (on  the  fortunate  geographical 
situation  of  London)  are :  '  The  shopkeeping  nation,  to  use  a  shop  word, 
has  a  good  stand.'  It  is  the  italicised  phrase  '  good  stand  '  which  is  the 
'  shop  word.'  Pius  IX  did  not  make  Cardinal  Wiseman  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury  (p.  167),  but  Archbishop  of  Westminster. 

G.  C.  M.  S. 


238  Minor  Notices 

Without  doubt,  A  Dictionary  of  English  Phrases  by  A.  M.  Hyamson 
(London:  G.  Routledge,  1922,  12s.  Qd.)  will  be  a  useful  book  of  refer- 
ence. It  is  easy,  of  course,  to  mention  phrases  which  one  misses  here, 
e.g.,  'conscientious  objector';  on  the  other  hand,  one  finds  hundreds 
that  one  never  heard  of,  American  usage  being  represented  as  well  as 
English.  An  interesting  feature  of  the  book  is  the  frequent  addition  of 
the  date  of  an  early  use  of  the  phrase.  The  explanations  leave  little  to 
desire.  Under  'Pam.'  Lord  Palmerston's  name  is  misspelt;  it  is  odd  to 
hear  that  Anacreon  wrote  in  the  style  of  Tom  Moore  ;  the  date  of  the 
vogue  of  the  'Grecian  Bend'  should  perhaps  be  put  rather  'c.  1869' 
than  'c.  1875.'    But  these  are  trifling  flaws  in  a  book  of  14,000  entries. 

G.  C.  M.  S. 

In  his  little  book,  Pickpocket,  Turnkey,  Wrap-rascal,  and  similar 
Formations  in  English  (Stockholm  :  M.  Bergvall,  n.d.),  Dr  W.  Uhrstrom 
has  grouped  these  formations  under  their  application  to  persons,  animals, 
plants,  etc.  The  material  has  been  taken  chiefly  from  the  N.E.D.,  and 
one  wonders  if  the  work  was  worth  the  trouble.  On  p.  19  the  name  of 
the  mass-priest  was  presumably  not  'John  O.  Glosseter,'  but  'John 
o'Glosseter.'  G.  C.  M.  S. 

We  have  received  from  the  Clarendon  Press  two  additions  to  the 
Oxford  series  of  Italian  texts :  Renato  Serra,  Esame  di  coscienza  di  un 
letterato,  edited  by  Piero  Rebora  (2s.  6c?.),  and  Ardengo  Soffici,  Sei  saggi 
di  critica  d'arte,  edited  by  E.  R.  Vincent  (3s.).  Serra  ranks  in  some 
respects  as  the  Rupert  Brooke  of  Italy,  and  his  brilliant  piece  of  psy- 
chological analysis,  written  in  March  1915,  is  one  of  the  most  significant 
Italian  literary  products  of  the  war.  Soffici,  as  his  editor  suggests, 
invites  comparison  with  Bernard  Shaw.  His  somewhat  revolutionary 
essays  in  art-criticism  belong  to  that  contemporary  literary  movement 
among  Italians  of  which  Papini  is  the  representative  best  known  to 
English  readers.  These  two  little  volumes  are  very  welcome.  From  the 
same  publishers  come  two  Annual  Italian  Lectures  of  the  British 
Academy:  Dante,  the  Poet,  by  Cesare  Foligno,  and  Some  Aspects  of  the 
Genius  of  Giovanni  Boccaccio,  by  Edward  Hutton  (Is.  6d.  each).  Professor 
Foligno  considers  Dante's  own  attitude  towards  the  art  of  poetry, 
elucidating  the  function  assigned  by  him  to  poets  and  poetry  in  theory 
and  in  practice,  tracing  the  development  of  his  artistic  creed,  showing 
how  far  the  writer  of  the  Divina  Commedia  transcended  both  the 
doctrines  of  his  times  and  the  limits  of  his  own  aesthetic  theories.  He 
acutely  remarks :  '  The  De  Vulgari  Eloquentia  itself  is  an  attempt  to 
bring  the  classical  spirit  to  bear  upon  the  formalist  teaching  of  the 
Middle  Ages.'  The  somewhat  stiff  medievalism  of  Canto  IV  of  the 
Inferno  is  shown  to  be  humanised  and  completed  by  the  scenes  between 
Virgil  and  Statius  in  the  Purgatorio.  The  whole  discourse  is  fresh  and 
stimulating.  Mr  Hutton  writes  with  his  wonted  enthusiasm  upon  a 
theme  that  he  has  made  his  own,  skilfully  indicating  the  essential 
elements  in  the  personality  as  well  as  in  the  work  of  his  hero.  Particu- 
larly charming  are  the  pages  devoted  to  the  latter  years  of  Boccaccio's 


Minor  Notices  239 

life,  when,  if  the  creative  artist  seems  to  have  finished  his  task,  the  man 
himself  makes  so  irresistible  and  pathetic  an  appeal  to  our  sympathies. 
There  are  points  here  and  there  on  which  we  do  not  agree  with 
Mr  Hutton,  but  the  lecture  as  a  whole  is  an  ideal  one  of  its  kind. 

E.  G.  G. 

Dr  Foster  Watson  has  added  to  his  many  works  on  education  a 
monograph  in  the  series  of  the  Hispanic  Society  of  America,  on  Luis 
Vives  (London  :  H.  Milford,  1922,  *7s.  (id.).  The  plan  of  the  series  is  by 
now  familiar,  in  spite  of  the  short  time  that  has  elapsed  since  its  incep- 
tion, and  it  is  needless  to  say  that  the  biography  is  a  sound  and  con- 
scientious piece  of  work,  and  at  the  same  time  an  eminently  readable 
one.  To  the  elegant  format  of  the  Notes  and  Monographs  this  volume 
adds  the  further  attraction  of  several  excellent  illustrations.  A  par- 
ticularly good  one  is  that  of  the  seats  of  the  Tribunal  de  Aguas  in 
Valencia,  and  the  suggestive  connexion  of  the  tribunal  with  Vives' 
ideas  is  a  striking  commentary  on  the  usefulness  of  photographs  in  such 
a  book.  E.  A.  P. 

Professor  Albert  Koster  sets  out  in  Die  Meistersingerhuhne  des  sech- 
zehnten  Jahrhunderts  (Halle  :  M.  Niemeyer,  1921)  to  prove  the  instability 
of  Hermann's  reconstruction  of  the  Hans  Sachs  stage :  by  sifting  the 
available  evidence,  mainly  stage-directions,  he  succeeds  in  giving  us  a 
most  acute,  critical  analysis  which  no  student  of  sixteenth-century  drama 
can  neglect.  He  works  out  the  dimensions  of  the  stage,  the  position  of 
the  three  doors,  the  two  flights  of  steps,  the  curtains  and  trap-door — 
there  was  no  gallery  or  tower — which  were  necessitated  by  the  longer 
plays  of  the  Meistersinger  in  Nuremberg,  and  which  point,  on  the  whole, 
to  a  more  advanced  dramatic  technique  than  is  generally  recognized. 
What  the  guilds  lacked,  when  the  city  fathers  relaxed  their  antagonism, 
was  dramatic  poetry.  L.  A.  T. 

The  title  of  Dr  J.  A.  Kelly's  book,  England  and  the  Englishman  in 
German  Literature  of  the  Eighteenth  Century  (New  York:  Columbia 
University  Press,  1921,  1  dol.  25),  is  somewhat  misleading.  What  the 
author  actually  offers  is  a  series  of  excerpts,  nearly  all  taken  from 
German  travellers'  descriptions  of  England  and  from  descriptive  articles 
in  German  periodicals.  These  are  loosely  connected  by  passing  com- 
ments and  grouped  in  chapters  under  the  headings :  Physical  Charac- 
teristics of  England,  Politics  and  Religion,  Economic  Conditions,  English 
Culture,  Customs  and  Manners,  the  British  Character,  Individual  British 
Types.  Imaginative  literature  is  represented  only  by  a  summary  of  the 
influence  of  English  writers  on  German  letters  (pp.  39-47),  and  about  a 
score  of  quotations  illustrating  the  appearance  in  imaginative  literature 
of  some  of  the  current  conceptions  noticed.  A  short  Introduction  and 
Conclusion  round  off  the  whole,  to  which  is  appended  a  bibliography  of 
fifty  of  the  sources  most  frequently  drawn  upon.  The  material  collected 
is  not  without  general  interest  and  might  be  of  value  to  the  social 
historian.   For  the  student  of  German  literature  its  usefulness  is  limited 


240  Minor  Notices 

to  facilitating  any  investigation  into  the  reasons  for  the  colours  in  which 
British  life  and  characters  are  depicted  in  German  poetry,  fiction  and 
drama.  F.  E.  S. 

Mr  Basil  Willey's  Tendencies  in  Renaissance  Literary  Theory  (Cam- 
bridge :  Bowes  and  Bowes,  2s.  6d.)  is  more  substantial,  if  less  well 
written,  than  the  examiners  for  the  Le  Bas  Prize  could  have  expected. 
With  engaging  modesty,  Mr  Willey  realizes  how  much  he  is  hampered 
by  ignorance  of  Italian  and  by  dealing  largely  with  secondary  sources. 
He  nevertheless  shows  a  sense  of  the  proportion  of  the  various  problems 
involved,  which  promises  well  for  any  deeper  study  of  the  subject  he 
may  embark  on.  H.  B.  C. 

The  pleasant  custom  of  offering  a  distinguished  scholar  a  'Festschrift' 
consisting  of  contributions  to  learning  by  his  disciples  and  friends,  has 
spread  from  Germany  to  France,  Italy  and  America,  and  is  not  unknown 
among  ourselves.  But  it  results  in  the  production  of  volumes  which  are 
the  despair  of  bibliographers  as  well  as  of  reviewers.  In  the  course  of 
the  past  year  we  have  received  several  such  publications.  The  Univer- 
sity of  California  Press  has  issued  The  Charles  Mills  Gayley  Anniversary 
Papers  (University  of  California  Publications  in  Modern  Philology, 
Vol.  xi,  Berkeley,  Cal.  292  pp.  $3.00).  The  eightieth  birthday  of 
Hugo  Schuchardt  has  been  celebrated  by  a.  Hugo  S chuchardt- Brevier : 
Ein  Vademekum  der  allgemeinen  Sprachwissenschaft,  edited  by  Leo 
Spitzer  (Halle :  M.  Niemeyer.  375  pp.).  This  volume,  which  has  been 
published  with  the  help  of  a  number  of  Swiss  philologists,  takes  the 
form  not  of  contributions  by  friends,  but  of  an  anthology  of  Schuchardt's 
own  work  in  linguistic  science.  Two  '  Festschriften,'  one  dedicated 
to  Philipp  August  Becker  (Hauptfragen  der  Romanistik,  322  pp., 
Grundpreis,  11  M.),  the  other  to  Karl  Vossler  (Idealistische  Neuphilologie. 
Edited  by  V.  Klemperer  and  E.  Lerch.  288  pp.  10  M.),  are  published  by 
Carl  Winter  in  Heidelberg  in  the  series  Sammlung  romanischer  Ele- 
tnentar-  und  Handbilcher  (v,  4  and  5).  Each  of  the  four  volumes  gives 
a  list  of  the  publications  of  the  scholar  to  whom  it  is  dedicated. 

J.  G.  R. 

Mr  Foster  E.  Guyer  writes  to  us  from  Dartmouth  College,  Hanover, 
N.H.,  U.S.A.: 

Professor  Orr,  in  reviewing  my  study,  The  Influence  of  Ovid  on 
Crestien  de  Troyes,  in  Modern  Language  Review  for  October,  1922,  states 
that  some  of  the  verbal  comparisons  are  strained  or  incorrect. 

In  support  of  his  claim  Professor  Orr  makes  three  incomplete  cita- 
tions from  my  work.  All  three  of  these  citations  are  unintelligible,  as 
Professor  Orr  uses  them,  because  they  fail  to  give  an  accurate  impression 
of  the  way  in  which  they  are  used  in  my  study.  I  shall  take  up  these 
citations  in  order.    (1)  Professor  Orr  cites  Ovid  : 

Verbera  plura  ferunt,  quam  quos  juvat  usus  aratri, 
Detractant  pressi  dum  juga  prima  boves  ; 


Minor  Notices  241 

and  Cliges,  1032 :  'Or  an  sai  plus  que  bues  d'arer.'  He  states  that 
Ovid  uses  the  figure  of  the  ox  as  '  an  argument  for  not  struggling 
against  love '  and  that  Soredamors  who  is  in  love  uses  the  figure  of  an 
ox  '  in  speaking  of  love.'  He  implies  that  such  a  coincidence  is  of  no 
importance  although  my  study  makes  it  clear  that  Crestien  used  the 
second  elegy  of  Ovid's  Amoves  over  and  over  again  as  a  source  of 
inspiration.  I  state  {Romanic  Review,  xn,  p.  222)  that  Crestien  is  fond 
of  turning  his  source  about  and  often  has  his  characters  act  or  speak  in 
a  manner  exactly  contrary  to  that  in  the  source :  Soredamors  resisting 
love  instead  of  yielding,  as  did  Ovid  in  Amoves  I,  2  and  thereby  incurring 
the  punishment  that  Ovid  escapes.  Now  if  a  reader  is  to  judge  these 
passages  as  verbal  parallels,  he  should  have  at  least  all  the  lines  that 
I  cite.  It  would  be  better  to  have  the  text  of  Cliges  and  Ovid's  text 
before  him ;  and  the  critic  should  read  the  whole  of  Soredamors'  two 
monologues  (444-529  and  873-1046)  and  all  of  Ovid's  elegy.  He  would 
then  see  that  Ovid  furnishes  the  plot  for  these  two  monologues  and  also 
that  both  Ovid  and  Crestien  use  the  figure  of  the  ox  that  is  taught  to 
plough  with  the  goad ;  and  both  connect  this  figure  with  a  lover  who 
has  been  taught  or  might  have  been  taught  to  yield  to  love  as  the  ox  is 
painfully  taught  to  obey  his  master.  Ovid  implies  that  a  lover  who 
resists  would  be  thus  taught  and  Soredamors  gives  us  to  understand 
that  she  has  been  through  the  painful  training.  To  be  sure,  the  picture 
of  the  suffering  of  the  ox  before  he  has  learned  to  plough  is  not  given 
by  Crestien.  This  fact  is  of  no  consequence.  The  interesting  point  is 
that  the  figure  of  the  ox  has  been  retained  (though  the  expression  is 
different)  along  with  so  many  other  points  of  similarity. 
(2)   Professor  Orr  cites  Cliges  488-9 : 

Que  iauz  ne  voit,  ne  cuers  ne  diaut ; 
Se  je  nel  voi,  riens  m'an  iert, 

and  Met.  Ill,  430-1 : 

Quid  videat,  nescit  ;  sed  quod  videt,  uritur  illo, 
Atque  oculos  idem,  qui  decipit,  incitat  error. 

Soredamors  says  that  her  pain  comes  to  her  through  her  eyes  and  that 
she  has  only  to  turn  them  away  to  avoid  the  pain  of  love.  Ovid  says 
the  same  of  Narcissus  who  is  mentioned  in  Cliges  (2767  ff.),  where  the 
story  of  his  death  is  summarized  (add  to  Professor  Orr's  citation  line  433 : 
'...Quod  amas,  avertere,  perdes!').  The  lines  cited  by  Professor  Orr 
explain  the  rest  of  my  quotation,  which  includes  Met.  ill,  440  '  Perque 
oculos  perit  ipse  suos,'  in  which  Ovid  says  that  Narcissus'  eyes  are  the 
cause  of  his  ruin.  I  also  cite  lines  474-5  of  Cliges  along  with  those 
cited  by  Professor  Orr  : 

Ses  iauz  de  traison  ancuse 

Et  dit :  '  Oel !  vos  m'avez  tra'ie  ! ' 

which  state  that  Soredamors'  eyes  have  betrayed  her.  Alixandre  takes 
up  the  line  of  thought  and  says  of  his  eyes,  759:  '...de  moi  sont,  et  si 
m'oc'ient?'  (see  Romanic  Review,  XII,  pp.  222-3). 

The  two  lines  which  Professor  Orr  cites  from  Cliges  explain  the  two 


242  Minor  Notices 

essential  lines  (omitted  by  Professor  Orr)  of  my  citation  just  as  in  the 
case  of  the  mutilated  citation  from  Ovid. 

(3)  Professor  Orr's  third  and  last  citation  has  to  do  with  one  of 
eleven  elements  taken  from  monologues  in  Ovid,  Met.  vii  and  Gliges. 
Professor  Orr  cites  a  portion  of  the  lines  included  under  the  element  B. 
I  explain  B  as  including  the  lines  that  show  that  Soredamors  (or  Medea) 
refuses  to  be  influenced  by  the  beauty  of  Alixandre  (or  Jason).  The 
lines  in  question  are  Gliges  991 : 

Et  de  sa  biaute  moi  que  chaut  ? 
Sa  biautez  avuec  lui  s'an  aut !  etc. 

and  Met.  vii,  23  : 

Haec  quoque  terra  potest,  quod  ames,  dare,  vivat  an  ille 
Occidat  in  dis  est,  etc. 

The  lines  that  follow  show  that  Medea  is  attracted  by  the  beauty  of 
Jason. 

I  am  trying  to  show  that  the  monologue  in  Gliges  was  imitated  from 
Medea's  monologue  and  I  include  the  passages  in  question  under  the 
heading  '  Passages  that  show  direct  borrowing  by  similarity  of  ideas  and 
language.'  The  lines  which  Professor  Orr  has  cited  do  not  show  similarity 
of  language,  but  of  idea.  There  are  some  verbal  similarities  in  the  two 
monologues,  however,  of  which  the  lines  cited  by  Professor  Orr  form 
parts. 

[My  review  of  Mr  Guyer's  dissertation  stated  that  he  had  made 
Chretien's  familiarity  with  Ovid  abundantly  clear,  and  urged  him  to 
continue  his  researches.  This  praise  was  tempered  by  a  little  criticism. 
But  Mr  Guyer  will  have  nothing  but  undiluted  praise. 

(1)  Mr  Guyer  has  misquoted  me.  I  did  not  'state  that  Soredamors, 
who  is  in  love,  uses  the  figure  of  an  ox  in  speaking  of  love.'  For  my 
whole  point  is  that  when  Soredamors  says :  '  I  now  know  more  about 
love  than  an  ox  about  ploughing,'  it  is  'strained'  and  even  'incorrect'  to 
assert,  as  Mr  Guyer  does,  that  Chretien  has 'taken  over'  Ovid's  elaborate 
figure  of  the  'ox  compared  to  a  lover  who  has  struggled  against  the 
yoke  of  love  at  first,  but  later  has  learnt  to  like  it.'  This  is  what  I  called, 
and  still  call  'weakening  an  argument  intrinsically  unassailable.'  To 
represent  the  facts  accurately,  Mr  Guyer's  last  sentence  should  read  : 
'The  interesting  point  is  that  the  word  "ox"  has  been  retained'! 

(2)  Mr  Guyer  misquotes  Chretien.  Soredamors  does  not  say,  with 
Ovidian  subtlety,  that  'her  pain  comes  to  her  through  her  eyes.'  She 
says  in  mediaeval  language  :  '  What  the  eye  does  not  see,  the  heart  does 
not  yearn  for.'  Literally,  the  line  means,  as  the  variants  (cui,  qui  for  que) 
show :  'To  whom  the  eye  sees  not,  the  heart  aches  not.'  If  Mr  Guyer 
does  not  appreciate  the  difference  between  this  proverbial  expression 
and  the  quite  irrelevant  subtleties  of  the  distich  he  places  parallel  to  it, 
there  is  no  insisting  further. 

(3)  I  make  bold  to  think  that  here  also  I  shall  not  be  alone  in  fail- 
ing to  appreciate  the  'similarity  of  idea.' 

J.  Orr.] 
Manchester. 


NEW  PUBLICATIONS. 

December,  1922-February,  1923. 

.    GENERAL. 

Birrell,  A.,  Collected  Essays  and  Addresses.   London,  Dent.   3  vols.   31s.  6d. 
Haas,  J.,  Uber  sprachwissenschaftliche  Erklarung.   Ein  methodischer  Beitrag. 

Halle,  M.  Niemeyer. 
Hirt,  E.,  Das  Formgesetz  der  epischen,  dramatischen  und  lyrischen  Dichtung. 

Leipzig,  B.  G.  Teubner.    2  M.  70  K 
Ker,  W.  P.,  L'idee  de  la  Comedie  (Rev.  litt.  comp.,  iii,  1,  Mar.). 
Kuehne,  0.  R.,  A  Study  of  the  Thais  Legend,  with  special  reference  to  Hroths- 

vitha's  '  Paphnutius.'   Thesis.    Philadelphia,  Univ.  of  Pennsylvania. 
Lane,  Cooper,  Two  Views  of  Education.    With  other  Papers  chiefly  on  the 

Study  of  Literature.    New  Haven,  Yale  Univ.  Press;  London,  H.  Milford. 

12s.  6d. 
Lehmann,  P.,  Die  Parodie  im  Mittelalter.    Munich,  Drei  Masken.   6  M. 
Shanks,  E.,  First  Essays  in  Literature.    London,  Collins.    12s.  6d. 
Vedel,  V.,  Rensessancens  Frembrud.    Et  Stykke  Aandshistorie.    Copenhagen, 

Gyldendal.    10  kr.  50. 

ROMANCE  LANGUAGES. 

Bertoni,  G.,  Programma  di  filologia  romanza  come  scienza  idealistica.  Florence, 

Olschki.    L.  25. 
Lerch,  E.,  Das  Imperfektum  als  Ausdruck  der  lebhaften  Vorstellung,  ii 

(Zeitschr.  mm.  Phil.,  xlii,  4,  Dec). 
Mignon,  M.,  Les  affinites  intellectuelles  de  l'ltalie  et  de  la  France.    Paris, 

Hachette.    12  fr. 

Italian. 

Antologia  della  Lirica  italiana.   A  cura  di  A.  Ottolini.    Milan,  Caddeo.   L.  12. 

Bianchi,  A.  G.,  G.  Pascoli  nei  ricordi  di  un  amico.  Milan,  La  Modernissima. 
L.  7. 

Biasini,  V.,  Un  carducciano  di  Romagna  :  G.  R.  Signorini.  Bologna,  Cappelli. 
L.  7. 

Bottini,  G,  Breve  prologo  e  postille  alia  Divina  Commedia.   Florence,  Perrella. 

Cassuto,  U.,  Dante  e  Manoello.   Florence,  Soc.  tip.  ed  Israel.    L.  7. 

Cesareo,  G.  A.,  II  poeta  dell'  uraana  tragedia.  Scritti  inediti  su  1'  opera  di. 
Rac.  de  G.  A.  Peritore.    Girgenti,  L'  Ansia.    L.  18. 

Costa,  A.,  II  '  soldo '  d'  un  poeta  (P.  Metastasio).   Genoa,  G.  Derelitti.   L.  7. 

Dante  Alighieri,  The  Divine  Comedy.  Translated  by  M.  B.  Anderson.  Lon- 
don, G.  G.  Harrap.    10s.  6d. 

Marino,  G.  B.,  L'  Adone.  A  cura  di  G.  Balsamo  Crivelli.   Turin,  Paravia.  L.  24. 

Page,  T.  N.,  Dante  and  his  Influence.    London,  Chapman  and  Hall.   7s.  6d. 

Pera,  V.,  L'  anima  ne  la  poesia  di  G.  Pascoli.    Potenza,  R.  Marchesiello.    L.  5. 

1  The  prices  of  German  books  are  now  mostly  stated  in  gold  marks. 


244  New  Publications 

Santini,  E.,  Firenze  e  i  suoi  'oratori'  nel  quattrocento.   Palermo,  Sandron. 
L.  12. 

Vossler,  K.,  Leopardi.   Munich,  Musarion  Verlag.   6  M.  50. 
Weczerzik-Planheim,  K.,   Die   Scholastik  in  Dantes  Weltsystem.    Vienna, 
Mayer  und  Co.    3  M.  50. 

White,  N.  I.,  An  Italian  ' imitation '  of  Shelley's  'The  Cenci'  (G.  B.  Nic- 
colini)  (Publ.  M.L.  A.  Amer.,  xxxvii,  4,  Dec). 
Whiting,  M.  B.,  Dante  the  Man  and  the  Poet.   Cambridge,  Heffer.   9s. 
Spanish  and  Portuguese. 

Bell,  A.  F.  G.,  Benito  Arias  Montana.    (Hispanic  Notes  and   Monographs.) 

London,  H.  Milford.    5s. 
Bell,  A.  F.  G.,  Portuguese  Bibliography.  (Hispanic  Notes  and  Monographs.) 

London,  H.  Milford.    10s.  6d. 
Crawford,  J.  P.  W.,  Spanish  Drama  before  Lope  de  Vega.   (Publ.  of  the  Uni- 
versity  of   Pennsylvania.    Romanic   Languages   and   Literatures,   vii.) 
Philadelphia,  Univ.  of  Pennsylvania.    2  dol. 
Libro  de  Apolonio.   An  Old  Spanish  Poem.   Ed.  by  C.  Carroll  Marden.    Part  n. 
Grammar,  Notes  and  Vocabulary.  (Elliott  Monographs,  xi,  xii.)  2  dol.  25. 
Men^ndez  Pidal,  R.,  Poesfa  popular  y  Poesfa  tradicional  en  la  Literatura 
espanola.   Conferencia.    Oxford,  Clarendon  Press.   2s. 
Morel-Fatio,  A.,  Les  allemands  en  Espagne  du  15e  au  18e  siecle  (Rev. 

Jil.  esp.,  ix,  3). 
Morley,  S.  G.,  El  romance  del  'Palmero'  (Rev.  Jil.  esp.,  ix,  3). 
Morley,  S.  G.,  Notes  on  the  Bibliography  of  Lope  de  Vega's  Comedias 

(Mod.  Phil.,  xx,  2,  Nov.). 
Wagner,  M.  L.,  Los  elementos  espanol  y  Catalan  en  los  dialectos  sardos 
(Rev.  Jil.  esp.,  ix,  3). 
French. 

(a)  General  (incl.  Linguistic). 

Anglade,  J.,  Pour  etudier  les  patois  meridionaux.    Notice  bibliographique. 

Paris,  Boccard. 
Clarke,  C.  G,  Concerning  French  Verse.    New   Haven,  Yale  Univ.  Press ; 

London,  H.  Milford.    17s.  6d. 
Flers,  R.  de,  La  langue  frangaise  et  la  guerre.    Paris,  Perrin.    2  fr. 
Gilli^ron,  J.,  Les  etymologies  des  etymologistes  et  celles  du  peuple.    Paris, 

H.  Champion. 
Gilli^ron,  J.,  Menagiana  du  20e  siecle.    Paris,  H.  Champion. 
Legrand,  E.,  Stylistique  frangaise.   Paris,  De  Gigord.   8  fr.  75. 
Vincent,  A.,   L'Escaut.    Etude  toponymique.    Brussels,   Impr.  medicale  et 

scientifique. 
Z^liqzon,  L.,  Dictionnaire  des  Patois  romans  de  la  Moselle.   I.   A-E.    (Publ. 

de  la  Faculte"  des  Lettres  de  PUniversite  de  Strasbourg,  x.)   Strasbourg, 

Libr.  Istra;  London,  H.  Milford.    5s. 

(b)  Old  French  and  Anglo-Norman. 

Appel,  C,  Zur  Changun  de  Willelme  (Zeitschr.  rom.  Phil.,  xlii,  4,  Dec). 
Armstrong,  E.  C,  The  French  Metrical  Versions  of  Barlaam  and  Josaphat, 
with  special  reference  to  the  termination  in  Gui  de  Cambrai.   (Elliott 
Monographs,  x.)   Princeton,  N.  J.,  Princeton  Univ.  Press.    2  dol.  25. 
B£dier,  J.,  Le  roman  de  Lancelot  du  Lac  (Rev.  de  France,  Nov.  1). 
Boissonnade,  P.,  Du  nouveau  sur  la  Chanson  de  Roland.   Paris,  H.  Champion. 
25  fr. 


New  Publications  245 

Guibert  d'Andrenas.     Chanson   de  geste.     Publiee  par  J.  Melander.    Paris, 

H.  Champion.    15  fr. 
Kjellman,  H.,  La  deuxieme  collection  anglo-normande  des  Miracles  de  la  Sainte 

Vierge  et  son  original  latin.   Paris,  H.  Champion.    40  fr. 
Moxtreuil,  G.  Dj3,  La  continuation  de  Perceval,  6d.  par  Mary  Williams.  Tome  I. 

(Classiques  franc,  in  moyen  &ge,  xxviii.)   Paris,  H.  Champion.   8  fr. 
Rohan,  Cardinal  de,  Die  Liederhandschrift  des.    Herausg.  von  M.  Lbpelmann. 

(Gesellschaft  fiir  romanische  Literatur,  xliv.)  Halle,  M.  Niemeyer.  20  M. 
Scheludko,  D.,  Zur  Entstehungsgeschichte  von  'Aucassin  et  Nicolete' 

{Zeitschr.  rom.  Phil.,  xlii,  4,  Dec). 
Tanquerey,  F.  J.,  Le  Roman  des  romans  et  le  Sermon  en  vers.   Deux  poemes 

moraux  en  anglo-frangais.    Paris,  H.  Champion.    10  fr. 
Vising,  J.,  Anglo-Norman  Language  and  Literature.  London,  H.  Milford.  2s.  6d. 

(c)  Modem  French. 

Balzac,  H.  de,  La  Come'die  humaine.    xxni.    Paris,  Conard.    18  fr. 

Balzac,  H.  de,  et  Carraud,  Correspondance  inddite  (1830-50)  (Rev.  d.  d. 
Mondes,,  Dec.  15). 

Barres,  M.,  Taine  et  Renan.    Paris,  Bossard.   5  fr.  40. 

Bernard,  J.  M.,  Un  'grotesque'  oublie  par  Gautier,  Christophle  de  Gamin 

(Merc,  de  France,  Oct.  15). 
Besse,  A.,  Le  Pari  de  Blaise  Pascal.    Paris,  Beauchesne.    2  fr.  50. 
Borel,  P.,  OZuvres  completes.    Le  Lycanthrope,  avec  preface  et  notes  par 

A.  Marie.   2  vols.    Paris,  Dumoulin. 
Bossuet,  OZuvres  oratoires,  ed.  de  J.  Lebarq,  rev.  par  C.  Urbain  et  E.  Levesque. 

v.    Paris,  Hachette.    12  fr. 

Bouillier,  V.,  La  fortune  de  Chamfort  en  Allemagne  (Rev.  litt.  comp.,  iii, 

I,  Mar.). 

Bouillier,  V.,  La  fortune  de   Montaigne  en  Italie  et  en  Espagne.     Paris, 

II.  Champion.    4  fr. 

Bouteron,  M.,  Une  amitie  de  Balzac  (Rev.  d.  d.  Mondes,  Dec.  15). 

Bouvier,  B.,  Le  Journal  d'Amiel  (Rev.  de  Paris,  Jan.  1). 

Bowen,  R.  P.,  An  Analysis  of  the  Priest  genre  in  the  Modern  French  Novel 

(Publ.  M.  L.  A.  Amer.,  xxxvii,  4,  Dec). 
Bremond,  H.,  Histoire  litteraire  de  sentiment  religieux  en  France,    vi.    La 

Conquete  mystique.    Paris,  Bloud.    20  fr. 

Bremond,  H.,  La  vie  mystique  de  Desmarets  de  Saint-Sorlin.   n.   (Rev.  de 
France,  Nov.  15.) 

Chevalier,  J.,  Les  mattres  de  la  pensee  francaise  :  Pascal.   Paris,  Plon-Nourrit. 
6fr. 

Cordier-Delaporterie,  Etude  me'dico-psychologique  sur  Paul  Verlaine.   Paris, 
H.  Champion.    15  fr. 

Deffand,  Mad.  du,  Lettres  a  Voltaire.    Introduction  et  Notes  de  J.  Trabucco. 
Paris,  Bossard.    12  fr. 

Degodmois,  L.,  L'Algerie  d'Alphonse  Daudet.    Paris,  Soc  anon,  des  Editions 
Sonor.   20  fr. 

Diderot,  D.,  Paradoxe  sur  le  Comedien.   Cambridge,  Univ.  Press.   (Cambridge 

Plain  Texts.)    Is.  3d. 
Dondo,   M.,    Vers  libre.   A  Logical   Development   of  French  Verse.     Paris, 

H.  Champion.   6  fr. 
Draper,  F.  W.  M.,  The  Rise  and  Fall  of  the  French  Romantic  Drama.    London, 

Constable.    15s. 

m.l.r,xviii.  16 


246  New  Publications 

Dujardin,  E.,  Les  premiers  poetes  du  vers  libre.    Paris,  Mercure  de  France. 

2fr. 
Esteve,  E.,  Leconte  de  Lisle  :  l'homme  et  l'oeuvre.    Paris,  Boivin.   7  fr. 
Fledret,  F.,  et  L.  Perceau,  Satires  francaises  du  16e  siecle.   2  vols.   Paris, 

Gamier.   Each  5  fr. 
Flottes,  P.,  Baudelaire  :  l'homme  et  le  poete.   Paris,  Perrin.   7  fr. 
Gros,  J.,  A.  Dumas  fils  et  Marie  Duplessis.   Paris,  Conard.    12  fr. 
Heugel,  J.,  Essai  sur  la  philosophic  de  V.  Hugo  au  point  de  vue  gnostique. 

Paris,  Calmann-Levy.   3  fr.  50. 
Hugo,  V.,  et  G.  Sand,  Correspondance  inedite  {Rev.  de  France,  Dec.  1). 
La  Bo&riE,  E.  de,    Discours  de   la  servitude  volontaire,  suivi  du  Memoire 

touchant  l'edit  de  Janvier  1562.   Introd.  et  notes  de  P.  Bonnefon.    Paris, 

Boccard.    12  fr. 
Lachevre,  F.,  Les  recueils   collectifs   de  poesies  libres  et  satiriques  publies 

depuis  1600  jusqu'a  la  mort  de  Theophile  (1626).    Paris,  H.  Champion. 

20  fr. 

Lachevre,  F.,  Les  successeurs  de  Cyrano  de  Bergerac.    Paris,  H.  Champion. 

30  fr. 
Laforgue,  J.,  QEuvres  completes.    Poesies.   2  vols.   Paris,  Mercure  de  France. 

12  fr. 
Lalou,  R.,  Histoire  de  la  litterature  francaise  contemporaine  (1870  a  nos  jours). 

Paris,  Cres.    10  fr. 
Lebreton,  A.,  Le  theatre  romantique.    Paris,  Boivin.    7  fr. 

Lenormant,  G,  Mad.  Becamier  et  l'Abbaye-au-Bois.   Journal.  (Rev.  d.  d. 

Mondes,  Dec.  1.) 
Levaillant,  M.,  Splendeurs  et  miseres  de  M.  de  Chateaubriand.  Paris,  Gllen- 

dorff.    12  fr. 
Lyonnet,  H.,  Les  premieres  de  P.  Corneille.    Paris,  Delagrave.   7  fr. 

Maynial,  E.,  Flaubert  orientaliste  et  le  '  Livre  posthume'  de  M.  Du  Camp 

(Rev.  I'M.  comp.,  iii,  1,  Mar.). 
Monglond,  H.,  Mad.  de  Stael  et  la  Suisse  (Rev.  bleue,  Dec.  16). 

Mongr^dien,  G.,  Etude  sur  la  vie  et  l'oeuvre  de  N.  Vauquelin,  et  ses  oeuvres 
completes  publiees  et  annotees.   2  vols.    Paris,  Picard.   25  fr. 

Musset,  A.  de,  CEuvres  completes.   I.    Paris,  Conard.    15  fr. 

Peers,  E.  A.,  The  Fortunes  of  Lamartine  in  Spain  (Mod.  Lang.  Notes, 
xxxvii,  8,  Dec). 

Poirier,  J.  E.,  E.  PreVost  et  la  poesie  de  la  tendresse.   Paris,  Jouve.   2  fr. 

Proust,   L'GSuvre  de  M.     Souvenirs,  Bibliographie  generale  (Nouv.  Rev. 
franc.,  Jan.  1). 
Rabelais,  F.,  QSuvres.    Tomes  in  et  iv.    Pantagruel.    Paris,  H.  Champion. 

Each  5  fr. 
Raynaud,  E.,  La  melee  symboliste.   3e  Serie.    1900-1910.    Paris,  Renaissance 
du  livre.   4  fr. 
R^belliau,  A.,  La  prehistoire  de  Bossuet  (Rev.  d.  d.  Mondes,  Nov.  15). 
Renan,    E.,   et   Prince    Napoleon,   Correspondance  inedite.    Publ.   par 
E.  Masson  (Rev.  d.  d.  Mondes,  Nov.  1,  15). 
Rimbaud,  A.,  Podsies.    Paris,  Mercure  de  France.   6  fr.  50. 
Saint-Simon,  L.  de,  Memoires.   xxm.   Ed.  par  Lecestre  et  de  Boislisle.    (Coll. 
des  grands  dcriv.  de  la  France.)   Paris,  Hachette.   30  fr. 
Schinz,  A.,  Le  mouvement  Rousseauiste  du  dernier  quart  de  siecle  (Mod. 
Phil,  xx,  2,  Nov.). 


New  Publications  247 

Seilliere,  E.,  Emile  Zola.    Paris,  Grasset.   7  fr.  50. 

Tilley,  A.,  Studies  in  the  French  Renaissance.    Cambridge,  Univ.  Press.    21s. 

Trahard,  P.,  P.  Merimee  et  l'art  de  la  nouvelle.    Paris,  Presses  universitaires. 
3fr. 

Yiatte,  A.,  Le  catholicisme  chez  les  Romantiques.    Paris,  Boccard.    6  fr.  75. 

GERMANIC   LANGUAGES. 
Scandinavian. 

Aarestrup,  E.,  Samlede  Skrifter.    Udg.  af  H.  Brix  og  P.  Raunkjser.    2  vols. 

Copenhagen,  Koppel.   40  kr. 
Andersson,  N.,  Svenska  latar.    Dalarna,  I.    Stockholm,  Norstedt.    20  kr. 
Bertelsen,  H.,  Danske  Grammatikere  fra  Midten  af  den  17.  til  Midten  af  den 

18.  Aarh.    v.    Copenhagen,  Gyldendal.    6  kr. 
Bj0rnson,  Bj0rn,  Mit  livs  historier.    Christiania,  H.  Aschehoug.   7  kr.  25. 
Blanck,  A.,  A.  M.  Lenngren.   Poet  och  pennskaft.   Jamte  andra  studier.  Stock- 
holm, H.  Geber.    5  kr.  50. 
Ehrensvard,  C.  A.,  Skrifter.    Utg.  av  G.  Bergh.   i.   Stockholm,  A.  Bonnier. 

12  kr. 
Geijer,  E.  G.,  Brev  till  hans  hustru,  1808-46.    Stockholm,  Norstedt.    10  kr. 
Gering,  H.,  Glossar  zu  den  Liedern  der  Edda.   5.  Aufl.  Paderborn,  F.  Schbningh. 

7M. 
GuSmundsson,  V.,  Islandsk  Grammatik  (Nutidssprog).   Copenhagen,  Hagerup. 

7  kr.  50. 
Havamal,  The.    With  Selections  from  other  Poems  of  the  Edda.    Edited  by 

D.  E.  Martin  Clarke.    Cambridge,  Univ.  Press.    10s.  Qd. 
Hellquist,  E.,  Svensk  etymologisk  ordbok.    Hsefte  14.  Lund,  C.  W.  K.  Gleerup. 

3  kr.  75. 
Herrmann,   P.,  Erlauterungen  zu  den  ersten  neun  Biichern  der  danischen 

Geschichte  des  Saxo  Grammaticus.   u.   Kommentar.    Leipzig,  W.  Engel- 

mann.    13  M. 
Holberg  Aarbog,  1922.   Redaktion  :  F.  Bull  og  C.  S.  Petersen.    Copenhagen, 

Gyldendal.   9  kr. 
Islandske   iEttesagaer.    Utgit  efter  tiltak  av  Riksvnaalsvernet.     Njaals  saga. 

Oversat  av  F.  Paasche.  Christiania,  H.  Aschehoug.  7  kr.  50. 
Iversen,  R.,  N0rr0n  grammatik.  Christiania,  H.  Aschehoug.  10  kr. 
Kellgren,  J.  H.,  Samlade  skrifter.   Utg.  av  S.  Ek  och  O.  Sylwan.    vr.    Brev.  i. 

Stockholm,  A.  Bonnier.    15  kr. 
Kuylenstierna,  O.,  Bellman  och  hans  samtida.    Stockholm,   L.    Hbkerberg. 

7  kr.  50. 
Lenngren,  A.  M.,  Samlade  skrifter.   Utg.  af  T.  Helmqvist  och  K.  Warburg. 

vii.    Stockholm,  A.  Bonnier.    10  kr. 
Lewenhaupt,  A.,  C.  G.  Lewenhaupt,    1663-1703.     Biografiska   anteckningar. 

Stockholm,  Wahlstrom  och  Widstrand.    4  kr.  75. 
Lidner,  B.,  Valda  skrifter.    Utg.  av  F.  Vetterlund.    Stockholm,  A.  Bonnier. 

7  kr.  50. 

Lucidor,  Samlade  skrifter.    Utg.  av  F.  Sandwall.    in.   Stockholm,  A.  Bonnier. 
10  kr. 

Neiiendam,  R.,  Det  kongelige  Teaters  Historie.   II.    1875-78.  Copenhagen,  Pio. 
10  kr.  50. 

Njal,  Die  Geschichte  vom  weisen.    Ubertragen  von  A.  Heusler.    Jena,  E.  Die- 

derichs.    7  M. 
Ko.mmkrfelt,  V.,  S.  Kierkegaard.    Utgit  efter  forfatterens  d0d  av  noge  venner. 

Christiania,  Cammermeyer.   4  kr.  75. 


248  New  Publications 

Thomsen,  V.,  Samlede  Afhandlinger.   in.   Copenhagen,  Gyldendal.   28  kr. 
Ullman,  G.,  Valda  dikter.    Stockholm,  A.  Bonnier.   4  kr.  50. 
Walsh,  A.,  Scandinavian  Relations  with  Ireland  during  the  Viking  Period. 
London,  T.  Fisher  Unwin.    3s.  6d. 

Wergeland,  H.,  Samlede  Skrifter.   II,  6.    Utg.  av  H.  Ja;ger.    Christiania,  Steen. 

45  kr. 
Dutch. 

Berger,  L.,  Les  femmes  poetes  de  la  Hollande.    Paris,  Perrin.   8  fr. 

Praag,  J.  A.  van,  La  comedie  espagnole  aux  Pays-Bas  au  17e  et  au  18e  siecle. 

Amsterdam,  J.  H.  de  Bussy.   4  fl.  50. 
Vissink,  H.,  Scott  and  his  Influence  on  Dutch  Literature.     Zwolle,  W.  J. 

Berends. 

Winkel,  J.  te,  De  ontwikkelingsgang  der  Nederlandsche  letterkunde.  i.   2  vols. 
Haarlem,  F.  Bohn.    20  fl. 

English. 

(a)  General  (incl.  Linguistic). 

Essays  and  Studies  by  Members  of  the  English  Association,   vin.    Collected  by 
G.  C.  Moore  Smith.    Oxford,  Clarendon  Press.    7s.  6d. 
Learned,  H.  D.,  The  Accentuation  of  Old  French  Loanwords  in  English 
(Publ.  M.  L.  A.  Amer.,  xxxvii,  4,  Dec). 

Year's  Work  in  English  Studies,  The.   n  (1920).   Ed.  for  the  English  Association 
by  Sir  S.  Lee  and  F.  S.  Boas.    London,  H.  Milford.    7s.  6d. 

(b)  Old  and  Middle  English. 

Arithmetics  in  English,  The  Earliest.  Ed.  by  R.  Steele.    (Early  Engl.  Text  Soc, 

Extra  Series,  cxviii.)    London,  H.  Milford.    15s. 
Beowulf  and  the  Fight  at  Finnsburg.   Ed.  by  F.  Klaeber.    London,  D.  C.  Heath. 

15s. 
Hali  Meidenhad,   An  Alliterative  Homily  of  the  13th  Century.   Ed.  by  the  late 

F.  J.  Furnivall.    Revised  by  0.  Cockayne.    (Early  Engl.  Text  Soc,  Orig. 

Series,  xviii.)    London,  H.  Milford.    12s. 
Klaeber,  F.,  Zu  Konig  Alfreds  Vorrede  zu  seiner  Ubersetzung  der  Cura 

Pastoralis  (Anglia,  xlvii,  1,  Jan.). 
Schucking,  L.  L.,  Die  Beowulfdatierung.    Eine  Replik.  {Beitr.  Gesch.  d. 

deut.  Spr.  u.  Lit.,  xlvii,  2,  Jan.) 
Straub,  F.,  Lautlehre  der  altenglischen  Ubersetzung  des  Pseudo-Alkuin- 

schen  Liber  de  Virtutibus  et  Vitiis  {Anglia,  xlvii,  1,  Jan.). 
Viglione,  F.,  Studio  critico-filologico  su  1'  Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle.   Con  saggi  di 

traduzioni.    Pavia,  Fusi.    L.  20. 

(c)  Modern  English. 

Acheson,  A,  Shakespeare's  Sonnet  Story,  1592-98.   London,  B.  Quaritch.   30s. 
Allen,  B.  S..  W.  Goodwin's  Influence  upon  J.  Thelwall  (Publ.  M.  L.  A. 
Amer.,  xxxvii,  4,  Dec). 
Bradley,  J.  F.  and  J.  Q.  Adams,  The  Jonson  Allusion-Book.   A  Collection  of 
Allusions  to  Ben  Jonson  from  1597  to  1700.    New  Haven,  Yale  Univ. 
Press  ;  London,  H.  Milford.    25s. 
Brooke,  Tucker,  Marlowe's  Versification  and  Style  (Nth  Carolina  Stud. 
Phil.,  xix,  2). 
Browne,  Sir  T.,  Hydriotaphia.    Ed.  by  W.  Murison.   Cambridge,  Univ.  Press. 
3s.  6d. 
Brunner,  K.,  C.  Kingsley  als  christlich-sozialer  Dichter  (Schluss)  (Ang?i<<, 
xlvii,  1,  Jan.). 


New  Publications  249 

Cawley,  R.  R.,  Warner  and  the  Voyagers  {Mod.  Phil.,  xx,  2,  Nov.). 
Cerf,  B.,  Wordsworth's  Gospel  of  Nature  (Publ.  M.  L.  A.  Amer.,  xxxvii,  4, 

Dec.). 
Chevrillon,  A.,  Three  Studies  in  English  Literature  :    Kipling,  Galsworthy, 

Shakespeare.    Transl.  by  F.  Simmonds.    London,  Heinemann.    3s.  6d. 
Cooper,  J.  Fenimore,   Correspondence.   Ed.  by  J.  Fenimore  Cooper.    2  vols. 

New  Haven,  Yale  Univ.  Press ;  London,  H.  Milford.    37s.  6d. 
Crane,  R.  S.  and  J.  H.  Warner,  Goldsmith  and  Voltaire's  '  Essai  sur  les 

Moeurs '  (Mod.  Lang.  Notes,  xxxviii,  2,  Feb.). 
Crawford,  A.  W.,  Keats's  'Ode  to  the  Nightingale'  (Mod.  Lang.  Notes, 

xxxvii,  8,  Dec). 
Croce,  B.,  Walter  Scott  (Critica,  xxi,  1,  Jan.). 
English  Anthology  of  Prose  and  Poetry  (14th  cent.-19th  cent.).   Compiled  by 

Sir  H.  Newbolt.    II.    Notes  and  Indices.    London,  E.  Dent.    2s. 
English  Critical  Essays  (16th-18th  cent).   Ed.  by  E.  D.  Jones.   (World's  Clas- 
sics.)   London,  IL  Milford.    2s. 
Enterlude  of  Welth  and  Helth,  An.    Eine  englische  Moralitat  des  xv.  Jahrh. 

Herausg.  von  F.  Holthausen.    2te  Aufl.    (Engl.  Textbibliothek,  xvii.) 

Heidelberg,  C.  Winter. 
Fausset,  H.  FA.,  Keats  :  a  Study  in  Development.   London,  M.  Seeker.   6s. 
Franzinetti-Guastalla,  A.,  John  Keats.    Rome,  A.  F.  Formiggini.    L.  2.70. 
Furness,  H.  H.,  The  Letters  of.    2  vols.    Boston,  Mass.,  Houghton  Mifflin  ; 

London,  Constable.    40s. 
Georgian  Poetry,  1920-22.    London,  Poetry  Bookshop.    6s. 

Gilbert,  A.  M.,  Milton  and  Galileo  (Nth  Carolina  Stud.  Phil.,  xix,  2,  April). 
Glachant,  V.,  Etude  sur  Rudyard  Kipling.   Paris,  Libr.  de  France.   4  fr.  50. 
Goll,  A.,  Romeo  og  Julie  og  andre  Shakespearestudier.     Copenhagen,  Pio. 

7  kr.  50. 
Green,  R.,  A  Notable  Discovery  of  Coosnage,  1591 ;  The  Second  Part  of  Conny- 

Catching,  1592.    Ed.  by  G.  B.  Harrison.    London,  J.  Lane.    3s. 
Hall,  E.  J.,  The  Satirical  Element  in  the  American  Novel.    Thesis.    Phila- 
delphia, Univ.  of  Pennsylvania.  * 
Harman,  E.  G.,  G.  Harvey  and  Thomas  Nashe.   London,  Ouseley.    12s.  6d. 

Harvey,  G,  Fovre  Letters  and  Certeine  Sonnets,  especially  touching  Robert 
Greene.    Ed.  by  G.  B.  Harrison.    London,  J.  Lane.    3s. 
Hood,  T.  L.,  Browning's  Ancient   Classical  Sources  (Harv.  Stud.  Class. 
Phil.,  xxxiii). 
Hopkins,  R.  T.,  George  Borrow  :   Lord  of  the  Open  Road.   London,  Jarrolds. 

12«.  6d. 
Hopkins,  R.  T.,  H.  G.  Wells.    Personality,  Character  and  Topography.   London, 
Christophers.    10s.  6d. 
Kaufman,  P.,  J.  Foster's  Pioneer  Interpretation  of  the  Romantic  (Mod. 

Lang.  Notes,  xxxviii,  1,  Jan.). 
Lehman,  B.  H,  The  Doctrine.of  Leadership  in  the  greater  Romantic  Poets 

(Publ.  M.  L.  A.  Amer.,  xxxvii,  4,  Dec). 
McCutcheon,  R.  P.,  The  Beginnings  of  Book- Reviewing  in  English  Periodi- 
cals (Publ.  M.  L.  A.  Amer.,  xxxvii,  4,  Dec). 
Maxwell,  B.,  'Wily  Beguiled'  (Nth  Carolina  Stud.  Phil,  xix,  2). 
Meissner,  P.,  Der  Bauer  in  der  englischen  Literatur.    (Bonner  Stud,  zur  engl. 

Phil.,  xv.)   Bonn,  P.  Hanstein.    1  M.  25. 
Morsbach,    L.,    Der  Weg   zu   Shakespeare    und    das    Hamlet-Drama.     Halle, 
M.  Niemeyer. 


250  New  Publications 

Pound,  L.,  American  Ballads  and  Songs.    New  York,  Scribners. 
Quiller-Couch,  Sir  A.,  Shakespeare's  Workmanship.    London,  T.  Fisher  Un- 
win.    18s. 

Rand,  E.  K.,  Milton  in  Rustication  (Nth  Carolina  Stud.  Phil.,  xix,  2). 
Robinson,  H.  C,  Blake,  Coleridge,  Wordsworth,  Lamb  etc.,  being  selections 
from  the  Remains  of.    Ed.  by  E.  J.  Morley.    Manchester,  Univ.  Press. 
7s.  6d. 
Saurat,  D.,  Milton  and  the  '  Zohar'  (Nth  Carolina  Stud.  Phil.,  xix,  2). 
Schoell,  F.  L.,  Les  emprunts  de  G.  Chapman  a  Marsile  Ficin  (Rev.  litt. 
comp.,  iii,  1,  Mar.). 
Schoffler,  H.,  Protestantismus  und  Literatur.    Neue  Wege  zur  englischen 
Literatur  des  18.  Jahrh.    Leipzig,  B.  Tauchnitz.    (Englische  Bibliothek, 
ii.)    7  M.  50. 
Shelley,  Mary,  Proserpine  and  Midas.   Two  unpublished  mythological  dramas. 

Ed.  by  A.  Koszul.    London,  H.  Milford.   3s.  6d. 
Sir  John  van  Olden  Barnavelt,  The  Tragedy  of.    Ed.  from  the  MS.  with  Intro- 
duction and  Notes  by  W.  S.  Frijlinck.    Amsterdam,  H.  G.  van  Dorssen  ; 
London,  H.  Milford.    7s.  6d. 
Snyder,  A.  D.,  A  Note  on  Coleridge's  Shakespeare  Criticism  (Mod.  Lang. 
Notes,  xxxviii,  1,  Jan.). 
Strachan,  R.  H.,  The  Soul  of  Modern  Poetry.   London,  Hodder  and  Stoughton. 

7s.  6d. 
Symonds,  J.  A.,  Letters  and  Papers  of.    Collected  and  ed.  by  H.  F.  Brown. 
London,  J.  Murray.    12s. 
Tolman,  A.  H.,  The  Structure  of  Shakespeare's  Tragedies,  with  special 
reference  to  'Coriolanus'  (Mod.  Lang.  Notes,  xxxvii,  8,  Dec). 
Wright,  A.  and  W.  L.  Schlater,  Sterne's  Eliza.   Some  Account  of  her  Life  in 
India  and  her  Letters  written  between  1757  and  1774.    London,  Heine- 
mann.    10s.  6d. 
German. 

(a)  General  (incl.  Linguistic). 

Fassbinder,  F.,  A.  Kahle,  F.  Kortz,  Die  deutsche  Dichtung  in  ihren  kultu- 
rellen  Zusammenhangen.    3  vols.    Freiburg,  Herder.    17  M.  50. 

Fischer,  H.,  Schwabisches  Worterbuch.   68.  Lieferung.    Tubingen,  H.  Laupp. 
3M. 

Friedrich,  L.,  Die  Geographie  der  altesten  deutschen  Personen-Namen.    (Gies- 
sener  Beitr.  zur  deut.  Phil.,  vii.)   Giessen,  Munchow.    675  M. 

Grimm,  J.  und  W.,  Deutsches  Worterbuch.  iv,  i,  6,  3.  Leipzig,  S.  Hirzel.  1  M.  20. 

Khull-Kholwald,  F.,  Geschichte  der  deutschen  Dichtung  bis  zur  Neugriin- 
dung  des  deutschen  Kaiserreiches.    Graz,  L.  Stocker.   4  M. 
Naumann,  H.,  Versuch  einer  Geschichte  der  deutschen  Sprache  als  Ge- 
schichte des  deutschen  Geistes  (Deutsche  Vierteljahrsschrift,  i,  1). 

Weise,  O.,  Blicke  in  das  Leben  und  das  Wesen  unserer  deutschen  Sprache. 
Jena,  Frommann.   3  M.  60. 

(b)  Old  and  Middle  High  German. 

Burck,  E.,  Sprachgebrauch  und  Reim  in  Hartmanns  Iwein.   (Miinchener  Texte. 
Erganzungsreihe,  ii.)    Munich,  M.  G.  D.  W.  Callwey.    1  M.  60. 

Heusler,  A.,  Nibelungensage  und  Nibelungenlied.   2.  umgearb.  Ausg.   Dort- 
mund, F.  W.  Ruhfus.   4  M. 
Kowalski-Fahrun,  H.,  Alkuin  und  der  althochdeutsche  Isidor  (Beitr. 
Gesch.  d.  deut.  Spr.  und  Lit.,  xlvii,  2,  Jan.). 


New  Publications  251 

Madrer,  F.,  Beitrage  zur  Sprache  Oswalds  von  Wolkenstein.   (Giessener  Beitr. 
zur  deut.  Phil.,  iii.)    Giessen,  Miinchow.    675  M. 
Muller,  G.,  Studien  zum  Formproblein  des  Minnesangs  (Deut.    Viertel- 

jahrsschrift,  i,  1). 
Schirokauer,  A.,  Studien  zur  mittelhochdeutschen  Reimgrammatik  (Beitr. 

Oesch.  d.  deut.  Spr.  wad  Lit.,  xlvii,  1). 
Schneider,  H.,  Eine  mittelhochdeutsche  Liedersammlung  als  Kunstwerk 
(Beitr.  Oesch.  d.  deut.  Spr.  und  Lit.,  xlvii,  2,  Jan.). 
Stammler,  W.,  Die  Totentanze  des  Mittelalters.    Miinchen,  H.  Stobbe.    3  M.  50. 
Steinmeyer,  E.  von  und  E.  Sievers,  Die  althochdeutschen  Glossen.   v.   Berlin, 
Weidmann.    15  M. 
Wallner,  A.,  Reinhart  Fuchs.    Lesungen  und  Deutungen  (Beitr.  Oesch.  d. 
deut.  Spr.  und  Lit.,  xlvii,  2,  Jan.). 
Wessobrunner  Gebets,  Die  Handschrift  des.   Faks.  Ausgabe  von  A.  von  Eckardt. 
Munich,  K.  Wolff.    120,000  M. 

(c)  Modern  German. 

Andler,  C,  Nietzsche,  sa  vie  et  sa  pensee.   v.    Paris,  Bossard.    18  fr. 
Anzengruber,  L.,  Samtliche  Werke.   Kritische  Ausgabe.   i,  n,  xv,  1-3.  Vienna, 

A.  Schroll.   Each  6  M. 
Bab,  J.,  Die  Chronik  des  deutschen  Dramas,   i-iv.   Berlin,  Oesterheld.   Each 

2  M.  50. 
Bach,  A.,  Goethes  Rheinreise  mit  Lavater  und  Basedow  im   Sommer  1774. 

Zurich,  K.  Honn.    9  M. 
Blankenagel,  J.  C,  Evaluations  of  Life  in  H.  von  Kleist's  Letters  (Mod. 

Lang.  Notes,  xxxviii,  2,  Feb.). 
Bode,  W.,  Goethes  Leben.   vi  (1786-87).    Berlin,  E.  S.  Mittler.    7  M.  20. 
Brun,  L.,  Hebbel  mit  besonderer  Beriicksichtigung  seiner  Personlichkeit  und 

seiner  Lyrik.    Leipzig,  H.  Haessel.    4000  M. 
Burdach,  K.,  Faust  und  die  Sorge  (Deut.  Vierteljahrsschr.,  i,  1). 
Dilthey,  W.,  Leben   Schleiermachers.    Herausg.  von  H.  Mulert.    I.    Berlin, 

Ver.  wissenschaftl.  Verleger.    17  M. 
Feilchenfeld,  W.,  Der  Einfluss  J.  Bohmes  auf  Xovalis.   (German.  Stud.,  xxii.) 

Berlin,  E.  Ebering.   300  M. 
Floring,  K.,  Die  historischen  Elemente  in  A.  Stifters  'Witiko.'    (Giessener 

Beitr.  zur  deut.  Phil.,  v.)   Giessen,  Miinchow.    900  M. 
Gochhausen,  L.  von,  Briefe  einer  Hofdame  aus  dem  klassischen  Weimar. 

Herausg.  von  W.  Deetjen.    Berlin,  E.  S.  Mittler.    3  M.  80. 
Goethe,  J.  W.  von,  und  Christiane  von  Goethe,  Briefe.   Herausg.  von  H.  G. 

Graf.    Frankfort,  Riitten  und  Loening.    3000  M. 
Gottsched,  J.  C,  Briefwechsel  mit  M.  F.  Ledermiiller.    Leipzig,  K.  Scholtze. 

9M. 
Graf,  E.,  Die  Pfarrergestalt  in  der  deutschen  Erzahlungsliteratur  des  19.  Jahr. 

Courtance,  Reuss  and  Itta.   3  M. 
Gundolf,  F.,  H.  von  Kleist.   Berlin,  G.  Bondi.   500  M. 
Hadffen,  A.,  J.  Fischart.   u.    Berlin,  Ver.  wissenschaftl.  Verleger.    11  M. 
Hauptmann,  Mit.    Erinnerungen  und  Bekenntnisse  aus  seinem  Freundeskreise. 

Herausg.  von  W.  Heynen.    Berlin,  G.  Stilke.   6  M. 
Jahrbuch  der  Kleist-Gesellschaft.   i  (1921).   Berlin,  Weidmann.   4  M. 
Krammer,  M.,  T.  Fontane.   Berlin,  Holten.   3000  M. 

Linden,  W.,  C.  F.  Meyer.     Entwicklung  und  Gestalt.    Munich,  C.  H.  Beck. 
5  M.  50. 


252  New  Publications 

Loewenthal,  E.,  Studien  zu  Heines  '  Reisebildern.'   (Palaestra,  cxxxviii.)   Ber- 
lin, Mayer  und  Miiller.    2  M.  50. 
Morgan,  B.  Q.,  A  Bibliography  of  German  Literature  in  English  Translation. 

Madison,  Wis.,  Uuiv.  of  Wisconsin.    2  dol. 
Obenauer,  K.  J.,  Der  faustische  Mensch.   Jena,  E.  Diederichs.   6  M. 
Rutz,  W.,  F.  Hebbel  und  Elise  Lensing.    Munich,  C.  H.  Beck.    9  M. 
Schaukal,  R.  von,  E.  T.  A.  Hoffmann.   Zurich,  Amalthea-Verlag.   40,000  M. 
Schiller,  F.,  Die  Rauber :  ein  Trauerspiel.   Ed.  by  L.  A.  Willoughby.    London, 

H.  Milford.   4s.  Gd. 
Schlegel,  A.  W.,  Briefwechsel  mit  seinen  Heidelberger  Verlegern.    Herausg. 

von  E.  Jenisch.    Heidelberg,  C.  Winter.    8  M. 
Schmitt-Soeder,  R.,  Die  Anschauungen  G.  Kellers  vom  Wesen  und  der  Aufgabe 

des  Kiinstlers.   (Giessener  Beitr.  zur  deut.  Phil.,  viii.)  Giessen,  Miinchow. 

675  M. 
Stefansky,  G.,  Das  Wesen  der  deutschen  Romantik.   Stuttgart,  J.  B.  Metzler. 

9  M.  50. 
Teudelopf,  F.,  Beitrage  zur  Ubersetzungstechnik  der  ersten  deutschen  Bibel. 

(Germ.  Stud.,  xxi.)    Berlin,  E.  Ebering.    1440  M. 
Tieck,  L.,  Straussfedern.    2  vols.    Herausg.  von  G.  von  Maassen.    Munich, 

G.  Midler.   5600  M. 
Unger,  R.,  Herder,  Novalis  und  Kleist.    Studien  iiber  die  Entwicklung  des 

Todesproblems.    (Deutsche  Forschungen,  ix.)  Frankfort,  M.  Diesterweg. 

1600  M. 
Vorlander,  K.,  Die  Philosophie  unserer  Klassiker,  Lessing,  Herder,  Schiller, 

Goethe.    Berlin,  J.  H.  W.  Dietz.    3  M.  50. 
Walder,  H,  Morikes  Weltanschauung.    Zurich,  Rascher.    3  M. 
Wichmann,  I.,  D.  von  Liliencrons  lyrische  Anfange.    (German.  Stud.,  xxiii.) 

Berlin,  E.  Ebering.   840  M. 
Will,  H.,  Die  asthetischen  Elemente  in  der  Beschreibung  bei  Zesen.  (Giessener 

Beitr.  zur  deut.  Phil.,  vi.)    Giessen,  Miinchow.    900  M. 
Wolff,  M.  J.,  H.  Heine.   Munich,  C.  H.  Beck.    12  M.  50. 
Zilchert,  R.,  Goethe  als  Erzieher.    Leipzig,  J.  C.  Hinrichs.    2  M.  20. 

SLAVONIC  LANGUAGES. 

Baranowski,  A.,  Litauische  Mundarten.   n.   Leipzig,  K.  F.  Koehler.   8  M. 

Chdzeville,  J.,  Dmitri  Merejkowski.  L'ame  russe  et  nous.  Paris,  Bossard.  3  fr. 

Endzelin,  I.  M.,  Lettische  Grammatik.  (Indogermanische  Bibliothek,  v,  i,  1.) 
Heidelberg,  C.  Winter.    12  M.  50. 

Kaus,  O.,  Dostojewski  und  sein  Schicksal.   Berlin,  E.  Laub.    5  M. 

Lunacharski,  A.  V.,  Vasilisa  the  Wise.  A  Dramatic  Fairy  Tale.  Transl.  by 
L.  Magnus.    London,  Kegan  Paul.    3s.  6d. 

Meter,  K.  H.,  Historische  Grammatik  der  russischen  Sprache.  i.  Bonn, 
F.  Cohen.   7  M. 

Mosvid,  M.,  Die  altesten  litauischen  Sprachdenkmaler  bis  zum  Jahr  1570. 
Herausg.  von  G.  Gerullis.  (Indogermanische  Bibliothek,  v,  2.)  Heidel- 
berg, C.  Winter.    10  M. 


BULLETIN  OF  THE 

^Modern  Humanities  "Research  ^Association 

April  1923  Number  18 


€J  The  annual  subscription  for  1922-3  (with  Modern  Lan- 
guage Review,  22s.  6c?.,  separately  7s.  6c?.)  became  due  on 
October  1st,  1922,  and  should  be  sent  to  the  Hon.  Treasurer 
without  delay. 

The  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Association  will  be  held  at  Columbia  University, 
New  York  City,  U.S.A.,  next  June,  as  one  of  the  meetings  in  the  Conference 
of  British  and  American  Professors  of  English.  The  President,  Professor  John 
Matthews  Manly,  will  deliver  his  address  at  that  meeting  and  it  will  afterwards 
be«  circulated  to  members.  As  the  Hon.  Secretary  is  unable  to  be  present, 
Mr  A.  W.  Reed,  of  King's  College,  London,  W.C.,  has  been  nominated  as 
the  official  representative  of  the  Association  at  the  Conference. 


The  Modern  Language  Review  for  January  appears  in  a  greatly  enlarged 
form,  consisting  of  one  hundred  and  thirty-two  pages  in  addition  to  its  supple- 
ment, the  Bulletin.  This  is  partly  due  to  the  assistance  of  the  Tiarks  Fund 
for  the  publication  of  research  work  in  German,  and  partly  to  the  fact  that 
the  Review  is  steadily  increasing  its  circulation,  and  becoming,  in  fact  as  well 
as  in  name,  the  journal  of  the  Modern  Humanities  Research  Association.  Nor 
is  this  surprising,  for  there  are  few  societies  which  supply  to  their  members 
journals  of  the  quality  and  standing  of  the  Review  at  the  rate  of  fifteen  shillings 
for  a  volume  of  some  four  hundred  and  fifty  to  five  hundred  pages.  We  urge 
all  members  to  contribute  to  the  further  success  of  the  Review  by  sending  in 
their  order  at  once. 


Capital  Fund.  We  have  to  acknowledge  with  many  thanks  the  receipt  of 
the  undermentioned  contributions  to  this  fund,  established  to  enable  us  to 
carry  into  effect  some  of  our  more  ambitious  schemes: 

H.  F.  Eggeling,  Esq.,  12s.  6d.\  Miss  G.  D.  Willcock,  12s.  6d.;  A.  C. 
Dunstan,  Esq.,  ys.  6d.;  Miss  H.  A.  C  Green,  55.;  W.  S.  Vines,  Esq.,  45.  yd. 
Other  small  sums  amount  to  £1.  45.  yd.  Grand  total,  £3.  6s.  lod. 


New  members  frequently  order  complete  sets  of  the  Bulletin  from  the 
foundation  of  the  Modern  Humanities  Research  Association  in  1918.  At 
present  we  have  very  few  of  these,  and  are  in  particular  need  of  copies  of 


2  MODERN  HUMANITIES  RESEARCH  ASSOCIATION 

Numbers  2,  7  and  12.  May  we  ask  any  members  who  would  present  or  sell 
their  copies  of  these  or  other  early  numbers  to  the  Association  to  send  them 
to  the  Hon.  Secretary. 

# 

Professor  Allison  Peers  will  be  abroad  during  the  month  of  April,  but 
letters  will  be  dealt  with  in  his  absence  if  they  are  addressed  to  'the  Hon. 
Secretary'  and  not  to  him  by  name.  He  hopes  to  meet  members  in  Paris, 
Madrid  and  Lisbon,  and  would  be  glad  to  hear  from  any  such  as  early  as 
possible. 


We  hope  shortly  to  make  an  interesting  announcement  regarding  the 
further  development  of  the  Association's  work  in  the  coming  session. 


Students  of  Browning  will,  no  doubt,  be  pleased  to  learn  that  the 
Browning  Concordance,  to  the  manuscript  of  which  attention  was  called 
some  time  ago  in  these  columns,  and  which  has  been  edited  and  prepared 
by  Professors  L.  N.  Broughton  of  Cornell  University  and  B.  F.  Stelter  of 
Occidental  College,  is  now  in  the  process  of  publication  by  G.  E.  Stechert 
&  Co.  of  New  York. 


BRANCH  COMMUNICATIONS 

The  French  sub-secretary  sends  the  following  list  of  manuscript  theses 
(Diplomes  d'lZtudes  Superieures)  submitted  to  provincial  French  Universities 
in  1922.  A  large  list  of  such  theses  submitted  to  the  Sorbonne  appeared  in 
our  January  issue : 

A  LIST  OF  MANUSCRIPT  THESES  (DIPLdMES  D'fiTUDES 
SUPERIEURES)  DEFENDED  BEFORE  FRENCH 
PROVINCIAL  UNIVERSITIES  IN  1922 

University  of  Bordeaux 
1 .  English  Literature 

M.  Bardet:  Kingsley  romancier. 

M.  Ducere:  La  societe  anglaise  d'apres  les  romans  de  Fielding. 

Melle  Aumeunier:  Platonism  in  the  English  Renaissance. 

Melle  Mieille:  George  Gissing:  a  study  in  temperament. 

M.  Chamaillard:  Quelques  Utopies  anglaises:  More,  Morris,  Wells. 

Mclle  Joubert:  Borrow  and  the  Gipsies. 

2.  German  Literature 

M.  Bonneric:  Les  relations  de  H.  Heine  et  de  L.  Borne. 
M.  Gaillard:  Jean-Jacques  Rousseau  et  le  jeune  Goethe. 
M.  Macquaire:  L'humour  de  Heine. 

3.  Spanish  Literature 

Melle  Banizette:  Le  paysan  dans  Lope  de  Vega. 
MeUe  Salembien:  Le  style  de  Lope  de  Vega. 


MODERN  HUMANITIES  RESEARCH  ASSOCIATION  3 

University  of  Lille 

1.  English  Literature 

M.  Boulan:  Kingsley's  religious  feeling. 
M.  Poulet:  Stevenson  as  a  word  artist. 

2.  German  Literature 

M.  Moret:  Les  idees  politiques  de  Heine. 

M.  Dupont:  Les  femmes  dans  l'oeuvre  de  Gottfried  Keller. 

M.  Leclercq:  Les  caracteres  dans  la  nouvelle  Le  Saint  de  C.  F.  Meyer. 

University  of  Grenoble 

1 .  English  Literature 

Mf'llp  Feutrier:  L Alaska  et  les  conquistadors  de  l'Eldorado  moderne  d'apres 

les  romans  de  Jack  London. 
M.  Tourret:  L'education  anglaise,  ses  tendances  actuelles  d'apres  le  roman  et 

la  critique  contemporaines. 
M'11,  Martinet:  La  morale  de  Fielding  dans  Tom  Jones. 

2.  Italian  Literature 

M.   Charreton:   La  part  de  l'influence  francaise  dans   le   theatre  de  Paolo 
Ferrari. 

University  of  Lyon 

1 .  English  Literature 

Les  Chansons  de  la  Princesse  et  des  Idylles  du  Roi. 

A  new  form  of  dramatic  poetry  (Remarks  on  Browning's  Dramatis  Personae). 

2.  German  Literature 

Borne  et  Heine :  leur  querelle. 
Klopstock  et  l'antiquite  germanique. 

3.  Russian  Literature 
Rousseau  et  Tolstoi". 

University  of  Rennes 

English  Literature 
Mf"''  Rosier:  L'imagination  poetique  de  Coleridge. 

University  of  Strasbourg 

1 .  English  Literature 

M.  Bresch:  L'Inspiration  religieuse  dans  le  "Crist"  de  Cynewulf. 

2.  German  Literature 

Mpllc  Crussaire:  Le  sentiment  de  la  Nature  dans  les  poesies  de  Heine  et  de 

Lenau. 
M.  Meyer:  Les  satires  de  Liscow. 

M.  Martz  :  Un  drame  du  Sturm  und  Drang :  "  Die  falschen  Spieler"  de  Klinger. 
M.  Beaufils:  Plutarque  et  son  influence  sur  le  Sturm  und  Drang  et  le  jeune 

Schiller. 
MelIe  Kiffer:  La  vie  et  l'oeuvre  de  Ludwig  Pfau. 
M.  Cornil:  La  querelle  Borne-Heine. 
M.  Ricci  :  Etude  du  Vase  d'Or  de  E.  T.  A.  Hoffmann. 
M.  Delobel:   Les  aspects  du  verbe  dans  le  poeme  moyen  haut-allemand  de 

Kudrun. 
M.  Weiss:  La  Thesmophagia  de  S^bastien  Brant. 


MODERN  HUMANITIES  RESEARCH  ASSOCIATION 


CORRESPONDENTS 

Correspondents  have  been  appointed  at  the  following  centres.  Their  names 
and  addresses  are  given  below : 

Bordeaux:  Professor  V.  Saurat,  56  rue  Elisee-Reclus,  Talence  (Gironde), 
France. 

Lyon:  Mclle  Villard,  Faculte  des  Lettres,  Lyon,  France. 

Besanfon:  M.  Pierre  Legouis,  92  Boulevard  de  Beiges,  Lyon,  France. 

South  Africa:  Professor  H.  C.  Notcutt,  University  of  Stellenbosch, 
Stellenbosch,  S.  Africa. 

Sweden:  F.  J.  Fielden,  Esq.,  M.A.,  Bytaregatan  19,  Lund,  Sweden. 

GROUP  NOTES 

EARLY  ENGLISH  SUBJECT  GROUP 
(Organiser:  Miss  A.  C.  Paues,  Ph.D.,  Newnham  College,  Cambridge.) 

It  may  interest  members  to  learn  that  the  1921  Bibliography  of  English 
Language  and  Literature  has  been  well  noticed  in  the  Press  and  is  getting 
widely  known  and  used.  But  unable  as  we  are  to  advertise,  we  are  still  depen- 
dent for  its  sale  on  the  support  of  individual  members  and  beg  them  not  to 
relax  their  efforts  in  this  direction.  For  libraries  as  well  as  for  individual 
researchers  it  may  be  looked  upon  as  indispensable  as  it  is  the  only  existing 
English  Bibliography  aiming  at  completeness.  We  hope  to  publish  the  1922 
volume  in  the  spring  and  if  funds  permit  add  an  'Authors'  Index'  and  a  'List 
of  Periodicals  Searched.' 

It  is  a  pleasure  to  report  that  several  members  of  the  Early  English  Group 
have  volunteered  their  services  as  record-searchers  for  the  Survey  of  English 
Place-names.  This  has  especially  been  the  case  in  Cambridge,  and  we  hope 
that  Oxford  will  soon  follow  suit.  Workers  skilled  in  the  reading  of  mediaeval 
records,  whether  English,  Latin  or  Anglo-French,  are  particularly  wanted, 
more  especially  for  dealing  with  the  vast  material  in  the  Record  Office  and  in 
the  Libraries  of  the  two  older  Universities.  Others  may  give  valuable  help 
by  collecting  forms  from  reliable  printed  editions  of  early  documents.  Much 
can  be  accomplished  in  odd  half-hours.  Anyone  willing  to  help  should  com- 
municate with  the  Organiser. 

The  following  information  has  come  to  hand  about  members'  work: 
Professor  W.  A.  Craigie  of  Oxford  has  written  a  paper  on  "Omissions  and 
Interpolations  in  Anglo-Saxon  Poetical  Texts,"  soon  to  be  published  by 
the  Philological  Society.  He  has  also  nearly  finished  the  first  volume  of 
the  Asloan  MS.  for  the  Early  Scottish  Text  Society.  Much  progress  has 
also  been  made  in  collecting  material  for  his  projected  Dictionary  of  Older 
Scottish. 

Professor  O.  F.  Emerson  has  published  lately  several  papers  on  Middle 
English  subjects:  "Imperfect  Lines  in  Pearl  and  the  Rimed  Parts  of  Sir 
Gawain  and  the  Green  Knight,"  Modern  Philology,  xix.  131-41,  1921 ;  "Some 
Notes  on  the  Pearl,"  Publ.  Mod.  Lang.  Assn.  Am.  xxxvu.  52-93,  1922; 
"Chaucer  and  Medieval  Hunting,"  Romanic  Review,  xm.  115-50,  1922; 
"Notes  on  Sir  Gawain  and  the  Green  Knight,"  Journ.  E.  Germ.  Phil.  xxi. 
363-410,  1922;  further  an  article  on  "Beguiling  Words,"  in  Dialect  Notes 


MODERN  HUMANITIES  RESEARCH  ASSOCIATION  5 

(America),  v.  93-6,  and  some  notes  on  "  Milton's  Comus  93-4,"  in  Mod.  Lang. 
Notes,  xxxvii.  118-20,  1922. 

Mrs  Chadwick  (Nora  Kershaw)  has  written  the  second  part  of  the  article 
on  "Teutonic  Religion,"  in  the  volume  of  Hastings'  Encyclopaedia  of  Religion 
and  Ethics,  published  some  time  last  year. 

Members  are  asked  to  keep  the  Organiser  informed  of  work  in  hand,  as 
it  frequently  prevents  overlapping  and  duplication  of  effort. 

Literary  Tendencies  in  the  Later  Eighteenth  Century.  Shortly  after 
our  January  number  went  to  press  we  received  the  second  Bulletin  of  this 
interesting  American  Group,  with  details  of  a  meeting  to  be  held  in  December, 
1922,  and  some  notes  on  work  in  progress.  We  learn  that  Professor  Hans 
Hecht  (formerly  of  Basel,  now  of  Gottingen),  whose  recent  studies  of  Burns 
and  of  Daniel  Webb  are  well  known  to  our  members,  is  preparing  a  general 
history  of  English  romanticism;  and  Professor  J.  L.  Lowes  (Harvard) 
is  at  work  on  a  volume,  now  nearing  completion,  which  he  describes  as 
"a  study,  based  on  a  mass  of  new  materials  bearing  on  the  genesis  of 
The  Ancient  Mariner  and  Kubla  Khan,  of  the  ways  of  the  creative 
imagination." 

Of  studies  of  a  more  limited  scope,  either  in  preparation  or  recently  com- 
pleted, the  following  have  come  to  the  notice  of  the  editor  since  the  first 
Bulletin  was  issued : 

L.  Cazamian  (Sorbonne) :  Mrs  Radcliffe's  influence  on  the  English  Romantic 
poets.  J.  Champenois  (New  York):  Literary  criticism  in  the  periodicals  of  the 
XVIIIth  century.  Willis  L.  Fisher  (Ph.D.,  Princeton,  1922):  The  unfortunate 
female:  a  study  of  the  penitent  prostitute  in  English  Literature  of  the  third  quarter 
of  the  XVIIIth  century.  Garland  Greever  (Agricultural  College  of  Utah): 
William  Lisle  Bowles.  R.  D.  Jameson  (Chicago):  English  versification,  1660- 
1800,  with  special  reference  to  the  morphology  of  the  English  stanza,  theories 
of  free  verse,  higher  rhythm  in  the  heroic  couplet,  the  "  revolt  against  rhyme  " 
before  1800,  and  theories  of  the  relations  between  poetry,  music,  and  painting 
in  the  XVIIIth  century.  Helen  M.  Scurr  (Ph.D.,  Minnesota,  1922):  Henry 
Brooke.  A.  Lytton  Sells  (Cambridge,  England) :  A  Bibliography  of  Goldsmith. 
H.  O.  White  (Sheffield,  England):  William  Collins.  A.  S.  P.  Woodhouse 
(Harvard):  William  Collins:  biography;  literary  antecedents  and  relations  to 
contemporaries;  reputation  and  influence;  bibliography.  Paul  Yvon  (Rennes, 
France) :  Horace  Walpole. 

The  Secretary  of  this  Group  is  Professor  J.  W.  Draper,  University  of 
Maine,  Orono,  U.S.A. 

Summer  School  of  Greek.  It  is  believed  that  many  who  have  not  studied 
classics,  some  who  are  Latin  scholars  but  know  no  Greek,  and  others  who  have 
little  opportunity  of  keeping  alive  their  knowledge  of  Greek  would  welcome 
an  opportunity  of  renewing  their  acquaintance  with  Greek  Literature  and 
Language  and  extending  their  knowledge  of  Greek  thought,  or  of  starting 
the  study  of  Greek  for  the  first  time  under  expert  guidance.  To  meet  these 
varying  needs  a  Summer  School  of  Greek,  open  to  both  men  and  women, 
has  been  arranged  by  Westfield  College  in  consultation  with  the  Classical 
Association  to  be  held  at  Westfield  College,  London,  N.W.,  from  August  1st 
to  15th.  Applications  should  be  sent,  as  soon  as  possible,  to  Miss  C.  Parker, 
Westfield  College,  Kidderpore  Avenue,  London,  N.W.  3,  who  will  also  give 
further  information. 


6  MODERN  HUMANITIES  RESEARCH  ASSOCIATION 

CORRESPONDENCE 

A  LOST  DIALECT  TREATISE 

Sir, 

Some  little  time  before  the  war  a  young  Upsala  graduate,  Dr  Sigurd 
Ransen,  was  engaged  on  an  investigation  of  a  certain  Norfolk  dialect  when 
death  interrupted  his  labours.  The  treatise  was  completed  by  the  well-known 
English  scholar,  Professor  Erik  Bjorkman  of  Upsala  who  sent  it  to  England 
to  be  printed.  In  19 19  Professor  Bjorkman  also  passed  away,  and  his  literary 
executors  are  now  unable  to  find  any  information  as  to  the  person  or  place 
to  whom  the  manuscript  was  sent.  It  is  known  that  it  must  have  reached  this 
country  some  time  between  19 10  and  191 5. 

As  the  treatise  is  of  considerable  merit,  and  its  recovery  a  matter  of 
importance  both  to  English  and  Swedish  scholarship,  we  appeal  to  members 
of  the  Modern  Humanities  Research  Association  for  assistance  in  our  search. 

Any  information  will  be  gratefully  received  by 

A.  C.  Paues, 

Newnham  College, 
Cambridge. 
26  Jan.  1923. 


PUBLICATIONS  OF  THE  M.H.R.A. 

Bibliography  of  English  Language  and  Literature.  This  Bibliography 
appeared  for  the  first  time  in  1921.  The  current  issue  may  be  ordered 
through  any  bookseller,  or  from  the  publishers,  Messrs  Bowes  and  Bowes, 
Trinity  Street,  Cambridge  (4s.  6d.  net).  Members,  by  ordering  through  the 
Hon.  Treasurer,  may  obtain  copies  at  3s.  The  1921  Bibliography  may  still 
be  obtained  (Members  is.  6d.,  non-members  3s.).  It  contains  a  select  list  of 
over  one  thousand  titles  of  books  and  articles  published  in  eighteen  different 
countries  during  1920. 

Pamphlets.  The  following  pamphlets  may  be  ordered  from  the  publishers, 
or  through  any  bookseller,  at  is.  per  copy,  postage  extra : 

1.  Inaugural  Address,  by  Sir  Sidney  Lee  (President,  1918-19). 

2.  The  Promotion  of  Modern  Language  Research  among  Teachers,  by 

Professor  F.  S.  Boas. 

3.  Un  point  de  vue  francais  sur  le  hut  de  la  M.H.R.A.,  by  Professor 

Gustave  Lanson  (President,  1919-20). 

4.  Our  Title  and  its  Import,  by  Professor  Otto  Jespersen  (President, 

1 920-1). 

5.  Joseph  Ritson,  by  Professor  W.  P.  Ker  (President,  192 1-2). 


CAMBRIDGE:  PRINTED  BY  THE  SYNDICS  OF  THE  PRESS  AT  THE  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 


Volume  XVIII  JULY,  1923  Number  3 


AN  OLD  ENGLISH  TRANSLATION  OF  A  LETTER 
FROM  WYNFRITH  TO  EADBURGA  (a.d.  716-7} 
IN  COTTON  MS.  OTHO  C.  1. 

In  the  April  1922  number  of  this  review,  p.  166,  Professor  Toller  quotes 
three  words  excerpted  by  Cockayne  from  an  Old  English  tract  named 
Wynfrith,  and  refers  to  Wanley's  Catalogue  (1705)  p.  212,  where  the 
opening  and  closing  sentences  are  quoted  from  the  Cotton  MS.  Otho  C.  1. 

This  MS.  suffered  in  the  fire  of  1731,  especially  at  the  beginning, 
which  was  most  exposed  because  the  book  stood  first  on  its  shelf.  The 
bulk  of  the  text  is  fairly  well  preserved,  although  towards  the  end  the 
leaves  are  increasingly  shrivelled,  split,  or  holed.  All  that  survive  are 
skilfully  mounted  on  card-board  frames,  and  bound  up  in  two  volumes. 

The  first  volume  of  110  folios  contains  a  copy  of  the  West-Saxon 
Gospels,  written  in  one  bold,  rough  hand  which  may  be  dated  about  the 
middle  of  the  eleventh  century.  At  the  end  of  the  Gospel  of  St  John  the 
scribe  gives  his  name: — Wulfwi1  me  wrdt  (f.  110a).  The  folios  con- 
taining the  text  up  to  Matthew  xxvii,  6  were  lost  when  Wanley  saw  the 

1  The  identification  of  this  Wulfwi  with  Wulfwinus,  the  scribe  of  the  Paris  Psalter 
(Bibl.  Nat.  MS.  Lat.  8824),  by  Bruce  (Publ.  Mod.  Lang.  Assoc,  of  America,  ix,  pp.  47-50), 
Hummer  {Life  and  Times  of  Alfred  the  Great,  p.  150),  Bright  (Gospel  of  St  John,  Boston 
1904,  p.  xix  n.)  and,  on  their  authority,  by  Wildhagen  (Festschrift  fiir  Lorenz  Morsbach, 
Halle  1913,  p.  471),  shows  how  the  survival  of  error  is  favoured  by  indirect  methods.  Wulfwi 
can  hardly  be  miswritten  for  Widfioi=Wulficine,  as  Wildhagen  suggests,  because  the  contrac- 
tion mark  in  O.E.  represents  -ne  only  in  words  like  pon  =  J?onne  :  it  is  not  added  directly 
to  a  vowel.  And  although  the  Latinised  forms  of  Wulfwi(g)  and  Wulfwine  occasionally 
cross  in  late  texts,  the  names  are  usually  well  distinguished ;  and  both  are  so  common  that 
there  is  no  prima  facie  case  for  connecting  two  MSS.  because  one  is  signed  Widfxoi  and  one 
Wulfwinus.  Bright  finds  corroboration  of  the  identity  in  the  likeness  of  the  scribal  errors, 
in  both  texts,  but  he  quotes  no  examples,  and  they  are  not  obvious.  The  real  test,  which 
none  of  these  writers  appears  to  have  made,  is  a  comparison  of  the  hands,  and  it  would  be 
hard  to  find  two  more  unlike  in  the  first  half  of  the  eleventh  century  :  that  of  Wulfwi  is 
large  and  rough,  with  the  tops  of  the  high  letters  deeply  cloven ;  that  of  the  Paris  Psalter 
is  earlier  in  style,  and  is  as  smooth  and  regular  as  can  be  found  in  the  records  of  Old  English 
penmanship.  The  direct  test  should  be  decisive ;  but  even  against  this  emergency  Plummer 
(loc.  cit.)  has  prepared  a  life-line  for  the  hypothesis  by  reviving  the  suggestion  that  the 
colophon  of  the  Paris  Psalter  may  be  a  copy — that  Wulfwinus  may  be  the  scribe  not  of  the 
book  itself  but  of  its  archetype.  This  suggestion  was  advanced  by  Thorpe  (Libri  Psalmorum, 
etc. ,  Oxford  1835,  p.  vi  n.)  who  was  misled  into  thinking  that  the  Paris  MS.  was  a  copy  made 
by  a  French  monk ;  and  fortunately  it  can  be  disposed  of.  For,  as  if  anticipating  the 
modern  taste  for  identifications,  a  contemporary  hand  has  added  above  Wulfwinus  in 
different  ink  his  distinguishing  name— cognomento  Cada.  I  have  little  doubt  that  Wulfwine 
himself  wrote  these  words, — cognomento  in  his  Latin,  Cada  in  his  English  script ;  but  in 
any  event,  here  is  clear  evidence  that  Wulfwine  was  a  known  person  when  the  entry  was 
made  in  the  Paris  MS. ;  and  the  ascription  of  such  a  book  as  the  Psalter  to  a  known  and 
obscure,  copyist  who  did  not  actually  write  it,  is  a  piece  of  motiveless  falsification  that 
should  not  be  assumed.  The  identification  fails,  and  with  it  must  go  any  support  it  affords, 
to  the  Malmesbury  provenance  of  both  books. 

M.L.E.  XVIII.  17 


254  Wy  n frith' s  Letter  in  MS.  Otho  C.  1 

book ;  and  since  then  fire  has  completely  destroyed  another  25  leaves,  as 
far  as  Mark  vii,  22,  and  reduced  those  that  immediately  follow  to  charred 
fragments1.  This  volume  is  free  from  glosses  or  other  extraneous  matter, 
save  for  an  Old  English  rendering  of  a  letter  from  Pope  Sergius  to 
St  Aldhelm,  which  is  added  at  the  end  of  St  Luke's  Gospel  (ff.  68  a  1.  5 
to  69  b  foot)  in  a  smaller  and  smoother  hand,  nearly  contemporary  with 
Wulfwi's2.  As  the  letter  gives  privileges  to  Malmesbury,  it  has  been 
inferred  that  this  copy  of  the  Gospels  belonged  to  Malmesbury  Abbey 
in  the  eleventh  century. 

The  second  volume  appears  to  be  a  single  manuscript  of  distinct 
origin,  which  was  fortuitously  bound  up  with  the  Gospel  MS.  in  Cotton's 
time.  Scattered  through  it  are  many  Latin  and  a  few  English  glosses 
by  hands  of  the  end  of  the  twelfth  or  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth 
century ;  and  as  the  method  of  glossing  agrees  in  some  minute  points 
with  that  found  in  manuscripts  which  certainly  come  from  Worcester3,  it 
may  be  taken  that  the  whole  of  our  second  volume  belonged  to  Worcester 
about  the  year  1200.  It  consists  of  155  mounted  leaves,  containing  as 
principal  text  (ff.  1-137  a)  WaerferS's  Old  English  version  of  Gregory's 
Dialogues*,  which  for  some  reason  was  left  incomplete. 

I.    The  First  and  Second  Books  (ff.  1-61  b)  are  written  in  a  hand  that 

preserves  many  features  of  the  old  national  script,  and  may  be  dated — 

if  normal  conditions  be  assumed — in  the  first  quarter  of  the  eleventh 

Century.    They  are  preceded  in  the  same  hand  by  a  metrical  preface 

which  is  preserved  only  in  this  MS.,  and  contains  the  puzzling  lines : — 

Me  awritan  het  ■  Wulfstan  bisceop, 

peow  ond  ]?earfa  •  ]>ses  pe  alne  ]>rjm  a<h>of... 

Bide/y  pe  se  bisceop,  ■  se  pe  d~as  hoc  begeat 

pe  pu  on  pinum  handnm  nu  ■  hufast  ond  sceawast, 

paet  jm  him  to  t>eossum  halgiim  •  helpe  bidde 

J)e  heora  gemynd  her  on  ■  gemearcude  siendon ; 

Ond  >aet  him  God  sellmihtig  •  forgyue  J>a  gyltas 

pe  he  geworhte, 

Ond  eac  resfte  mid  him  •  se  8e  ah  ealles  rices  geweald ; 

Ond  eac  swa  his  beahgifan,  ■  pe  him  &as  bysene  forgeaf, 

poet  is  se  selestSa  ■  sinces  brytta, 

JElfryd  mid  Englum,  •  ealra  cyninga 

para  )>e  he  sis  oSSe  ser  ■  foresecgan  hyrde, 

0$Se  he  hiorScyninga6  ser-  senigne  gefrugne. 

1  See  the  description  in  The  Holy  Gospels  in  Anglo-Saxon,  etc.  ed.  Skeat  (Cambridge 
1871-87),  Preface  to  Luke,  pp.  viii  ff." 

2  Printed  by  Birch,  Cartularium  Saxonicum,  No.  106  (vol.  i,  pp.  154  ff.),  and  by  Hamilton, 
Willelmi  Malmesbiriensis  de  Gestis  Pontificum  (Eolls  Series,  1870),  pp.  370  ff.  footnote. 

3  I  have  not  relied  on  identification  of  the  Worcester  gloss-hands,  because  the  point 
deserves  a  lengthy  and  difficult  palaeographical  study. 

4  See  Hecht's  edition,  Bibliothek  der  ags.  Prosa  vol.  v,  especially  Pt.  i  (Leipzig  1900), 
pp.  vii  f . 

5  z^iorS-,  eorff-cyninga. 


K.  SIS  AM  255 

Since  Krebs1  first  printed  the  passage  in  1880,  the  association  of  the 
names  of  Bishop  Wulfstan  and  King  Alfred  has  been  much  debated,  with 
the  result  that  later  critics  are  at  one  with  Keller2  in  the  conclusion  that 
the  preface  is  by  the  translator,  Bishop  WserferS ;  that  bysen  means  the 
King's  '  command '  or  '  commission  '  to  translate  the  Dialogues  ;  and  that 
the  copyist  of  MS.  Otho  C.  1  has  substituted  for  W&rferft  of  the  original 
preface  the  name  of  Wulfstan,  which  was  more  famous  at  Worcester  in 
the  eleventh  century.  Yet  the  manuscript  itself  discloses  a  much  more 
interesting  scrap  of  literary  history.  In  Wulfstan,  the  last  three  letters 
-tan  stand  on  an  erasure,  and  are,  I  should  think,  not  earlier  than  the 
time  of  the  second  Wulfstan,  who  was  bishop  of  Worcester  from  1062  till 
his  death  in  1095 3.  It  is  pretty  clear  that  the  name  Wulfsig  stood  here 
originally,  and  any  doubt  is  removed  by  the  trace  of  the  erasing  tool 
below  the  line,  where  the  tail  of  3  would  fall.  The  preface  then  is  by  a 
Bishop  Wulfsig ;  and  who  can  doubt  that  this  was  King  Alfred's  friend, 
Wulfsig,  bishop  of  Sherborne4  ?  To  him  Alfred  sent  a  copy  of  his  trans- 
lation of  Gregory's  Cura  Pastoralis,  which  was  the  archetype  of  two 
extant  MSS.  at  Cambridge — MS.  I  i.  11. 4  (1737)  in  the  University  Library, 
MS.  R.  5.  22  (717)  at  Trinity  College5;  and  evidently  the  King  dis- 
tributed copies  of  Gregory's  Dialogues  among  his  bishops  in  the  same 
way.  On  the  model  (bysen)s  of  this  gift-book,  Wulfsig  ordered  another 
copy  to  be  made,  and  wrote  for  the  occasion  the  rhythmical  Preface, 
which  is  the  only  surviving  piece  of  his  composition.  Perhaps  because 
their  own  good  texts  had  been  lost  or  depraved,  the  Worcester  com- 
munity subsequently  obtained  a  transcript  of  the  copy  that  had  been 
made  by  Wulfsig's  instructions,  and  with  it  his  preface  reached  Worcester. 

1  Anglia  in,  pp.  70  ff.   He  used  Cockayne's  transcript. 

2  Die  literarischen  Bestrebungen  von  Worcester  in  ags.  Zeit  (Strassburg  1900),  pp.  6ff. ; 
and  also  Holthausen,  Archiv  cv  (1900),  pp.  367 f.;  Cook,  Mod.  Lang.  Notes  xvn  (1902), 
coll.  14ff.;  Hecht  in  his  edition,  Pt.  ii  (1907),  p.  36,  etc.;  Brandl,  Geschichte  der  alten- 
glischen  Literatur  (Strassburg  1908),  pp.  1063  f. 

3  The  substitution  was  probably  made  during  the  bishopric  of  Wulfstan  11,  for  the  prayer 
would  be  more  appropriate  in  his  lifetime.  Keller  (p.  66)  apparently  assumes  that  the  first 
scribe  of  MS.  Otho  C.  1  wrote  during  his  bishopric,  which  is  untenable.  Hecht  (Pt.  ii, 
p.  27)  and  Cook  accept  Keller's  view;  but  it  is  hard  to  see  how  they  square  it  with  the 
date  1025-1050  which  they  assign  to  the  MS.  Cook's  further  suggestion  that  the  scribe  was 
Wulfgeat  (loc.  cit.  col.  18)  is  far  astray. 

4  The  dates  of  his  consecration  and  death  are  unknown ;  cp.  Asser's  Life  of  King 
Alfred,  ed.  W.  H.  Stevenson  (Oxford  1904),  p.  lxvi.  In  fact  his  memory  is  preserved  chiefly 
by  doubtful  or  spurious  charters,  and  by  the  inscriptions  in  books. 

5  See  Wanley's  Catalogue,  pp.  153,  169 ;  he  concludes  that  the  Trinity  MS.  was  the  one 
sent  by  Bishop  Jewell  to  Parker  from  the  Salisbury  Library,  where  one  would  expect  to 
find  Sherborne  books.   The  same  history  is  claimed  for  the  University  Library  copy. 

6  Wulker's  objection  to  this  interpretation  (Grundriss  zur  Geschichte  der  ags.  Litteratur, 
p.  439,  n.  2)  is  invalid ;  cp.  iElfric's  preface  to  the  second  series  of  his  Catholic  Homilies : 
'  Nu  bidde  ic.gif  hwa  ffas  boc  awritan  wille,  fimt  he  hi  geornlice  gerihte  be  Ssere  bysne, 
etc'  (ed.  Thorpe  ii,  p.  2) ;  and  particularly  the  metrical  preface  to  Pastoral  Care,  11. 11-16. 

17—2 


256  Wynfrittis  Letter  in  MS.  Otho  C.  1 

Later  still,  some  reader  to  whom  the  name  of  Wulfsig  was  meaningless 
substituted  the  great  Worcester  name  of  Wulfstan  in  our  MS.  To  broach 
all  the  questions  of  textual  history  that  arise  would  lead  me  too  far  from 
my  present  purpose.  But  here  at  least  is  the  reason  why  the  rhythmical 
preface  is  absent  from  MS.  C.C.C.C.  322  of  the  Dialogues,  which  belongs 
to  a  tradition  independent  of  Wulfsig's  copy.  And  the  Mercian  forms  of 
Books  I  and  II  of  MS.  Otho  C.  1  may  be  traced  back  to  WaerferS's  original 
with  more  certainty  now  that  it  is  established  that  this  manuscript  does 
not  represent  the  continuous  tradition  of  Worcester  or  any  other  Mercian 
centre. 

II.  With  the  Third  Book  (f.  62  a)  begins  a  hand  formed  in  the  tra- 
dition of  the  Carolingian  minuscule,  and  distinctly  later  in  appearance 
than  the  first.  It  is  not  uncommon  to  find  two  hands  of  the  same  date 
differing  in  the  stage  of  script  development  attained  :  but  in  this  instance 
I  am  not  satisfied  that  the  second  hand  is  strictly  contemporary  with  the 
first.  The  ruling  is  for  30  lines  as  compared  with  27  lines  of  the  first 
part ;  the  colouring  of  sentence  initials  is  not  carried  into  Books  III  and 
IV ;  and  it  may  well  be  that  the  original  MS.  was  divided  for  practical 
use  into  two  halves  each  containing  two  books  (a  division  which  would 
be  easy  because  Book  II  ends  with  a  quire) ;  and  that  the  second  scribe 
was  employed  a  generation  or  two  later  than  the  first  to  supply  Books  III 
and  IV,  which  had  become  defective,  or  had  gone  astray  in  the  meantime1. 
Leaving  the  Dialogues  incomplete  at  the  end  of  1.  10  on  f.  137  a,  this 
scribe  goes  on  to  fill  ff.  137  b  to  139  b,  1.  4,  with  two  Lives  translated 
from  the  Vitae  Patrum2,  Bk.  V. 

III.  On  f.  139  b,  1.  5,  Malchus,  which  has  the  same  source  (Bk.  I), 
begins  in  a  new  hand,  weaker  at  times,  and  later  in  appearance  than  the 
preceding,  yet  perhaps  not  very  much  later  in  fact.  This  hand  runs  to 
f.  148  b  and  so  includes  the  text  called  Wynfrith  (ff.  143  b,  1.  7  to  146  a, 
1.  21).  Ff.  146  a,  1.  22  to  148  b  are  very  much  damaged,  and  contain  a 
sermon  on  the  text  Domine,  libera  animam  meam  a  labiis  iniquis  et  a 
lingua  dolosa3,  which  I  shall  call  Evil  Tongues.  It  has  not  been  printed, 
and  there  seems  to  be  no  other  copy. 

1  The  first  scribe  clearly  did  not  intend  that  the  copy  should  end  with  Book  II,  for  on 
f.  61  b  he  writes :  ond  after  Jrisse  ongynneff  seo  pridde  [sc.  hoc],  etc.  There  is  some  confir- 
mation for  the  division  into  sets  of  two  books  in  the  other  Worcester  MS.  of  the  Dialogues, 
now  Bodleian  MS.  Hatton  76  (circa  1075),  which  contains  only  the  first  two  books  of  the 
late  revision  of  WserferS's  text. 

2  Migne,  Patrologia  Latina,vol.  73.  The  Old  English  renderings  are  printed,  v/ith  Malchus, 
by  B.  Assmann,  Bibliothek  der  ags.  Prosa,  vol.  m  (Kassel  1889),  pp.  195  ff.  Malchus  was 
first  edited  by  Cockayne,  The  Shrine  (London  1864-9),  pp.  35  ff . ;  and  Cockayne's  notes  of 
words  from  the  following  tract,  which  came  into  Professor  Toller's  possession,  were  pre- 
sumably made  when  he  was  preparing  his  text.   He  also  transcribed  the  Dialogues  in  1863. 

3  Ps.  cxix,  2. 


K.  SISAM  257 

IV.  Then  follows  a  group  of  seven  leaves,  before  and  after  which 
there  were  lacunae  already  in  Wanley's  time.  The  first  page  (149  a)  is 
very  much  blackened,  and  at  a  glance  appears  to  contain  twelfth  century 
writing ;  but  closer  examination  shows  that  many  letters  had  been  un- 
skilfully freshened  up  before  the  fire  of  1731 1,  and  probably  the  text  was 
originally  in  the  same  clear  hand  of  the  second  half  of  the  eleventh  cen- 
tury that  appears  on  the  verso  of  f.  149  and  on  the  following  leaves  to 
the  end.  It  is  not  probable  that  these  leaves  were  originally  written  to 
form  part  of  the  volume.  They  are  ruled  for  32  lines  as  against  30  lines 
of  the  two  preceding  hands;  the  name  of  each  sermon  is  entered  in 
capitals  as  a  running  title  at  the  head  of  the  pages  it  occupies — an  un- 
usual feature ;  and  though  the  Worcester  style  of  glossing  is  continued, 
a  twelfth-century  English  reader,  whose  hand  appears  nowhere  else  in 
the  volume,  has  made  several  corrections  in  this  part.  Ff.  153  and  154 
have  been  transposed  by  the  binder,  and  in  detailing  the  component 
pieces  I  shall  therefore  use  f.  153*  =  the  present  f.  154  and  f.  154*  =  the 
present  f.  153  : — 

Ff.  149  a-151  b,  1.  27  contain  a  sermon  De  Creator e  et  Creatura,  im- 
perfect at  the  beginning.  Very  little  of  the  first  page  (149  a)  is  legible. 
From  the  top  of  f.  149  b  the  text  is  made  up  chiefly  of  passages  from 
iElfric's  Hexameron2,  viz.  11.  73-80  +  ;  85b-95f  +  ;  103-106  +  ;  306- 
319 +  ;  324  a;  325-326  a +;  344-355  +  ;  360-375 +  ;  376-404;  413- 
542  (end).  The  addition  of  the  sign  +  indicates  that  the  passage  is 
followed  by  a  few  lines  of  matter  not  in  the  Hexameron,  or  by  a  junction 
in  which  matter  suggested  by  the  Hexameron  is  differently  expressed. 
If  now  we  turn  back  to  the  difficult  page  149  a,  we  shall  find  no  legible 
word  from  the  Hexameron,  though  the  subject  is  clearly  the  nature  of 
the  Creator.  Apparently  then,  the  second  part  of  the  sermon  (de  Creatura) 
was  formed  by  excerpting  the  framework  passages  of  the  Hexameron ; 
and  the  first  part  (de  Creatore)  was  newly  composed,  or  drawn  from  some 
other  source  which  I  have  not  identified.  The  existence  of  this  MS.  for 
nearly  half  of  the  text  seems  to  have  escaped  the  notice  of  editors  and 
critics  of  the  Hexameron. 

Ff.  151  b,  1.  29  to  153*  b,  1.  14  contain  a  sermon  De  sex  etatibus  huius 
seculi ;  as  far  as  I  know  it  is  the  only  copy  extant,  and  is  unprinted. 

1  The  letter  3  is  usually  changed  to  g.  At  the  foot  of  this  page  a  hand  of  saec.  xii-xiii 
has  entered  a  list  of  books  which  is  now  imperfect  owing  to  crumbling  of  the  burnt 
margins:—  Liber  dialogorum  Gre<gori> ...  Vitas  Patrum.  Item  Beda  de  gestis  Anglorum 

anglice.    Item  Vita Item  Synonima  Ysydori.  Item  Beda...De  consola < ticme >  ...(i.e. 

Boethius). 

2  The  line  numbers  quoted  are  those  in  S.  J.  Crawford's  edition :  Bibliothek  der  ags. 
Prosa,  Hamburg  1921. 

/ 


258  Wynfrith' s  Letter  in  MS.  Otho  C.  1 

Ff.  153*  b,  1. 16  to  155  b  contain  the  sermon  Depopulo  Israhel  (quando 
volueris),  wanting  the  end1 :  but  the  whole  text  occurs  at  ff.  101  b  ff.  of 
Bodleian  MS.  Hatton  115  (olim  Junius  23),  a  contemporary  Worcester 
MS.   It  also  appears  to  be  unprinted. 

From  Wanley's  report  of  the  closing  words,  it  is  plain  that  Wynfrith 
is  a  misnomer  for  the  piece  beginning  on  f.  143  b,  which  is  a  version  of 
the  extant  Latin  letter  written  by  Boniface  (Wynfrith)  to  Eadburga 
about  the  year  717.  For  the  historian  of  Old  English  literature  this 
version  has  interest  as  an  early  vernacular  example  of  a  vision  of  the 
other  world2 ;  and  it  would  be  more  important  still  if  it  could  be  claimed 
as  witness  to  a  late  appreciation  of  the  familiar  letters  of  eighth-century 
Englishmen,  or  as  a  tribute  to  the  memory  of  the  greatest  of  English 
missionaries.  But  there  is  little  doubt  that  the  letter  was  translated  and 
preserved  chiefly  for  the  sake  of  its  theme.  Perhaps  because  his  great 
work  was  done  abroad,  and  no  influential  religious  house  at  home  was 
interested  in  the  glory  of  his  name  by  reason  of  local  associations  or  the 
possession  of  relics,  Boniface  was  not  ranked  among  the  chief  saints  of 
England  in  the  tenth  and  eleventh  centuries :  his  feast  on  June  5th 
is  never  of  the  highest  grade ;  he  is  commemorated  neither  in  the  Old 
English  Martyrology  nor  in  the  poetical  Menology ;  no  other  letter  of  his 
circle  is  extant  in  an  Old  English  rendering ;  and  little  would  be  known 
of  his  Latin  correspondence  had  we  to  depend  on  the  surviving  copies 
from  English  scriptoria3. 

So  by  curtailing  the  beginning  and  the  end,  the  translator  has 
removed  the  personal  touches  and  the  exact  notes  of  time  and  place  that 
are  proper  to  the  letter  form.    He  omits  even  the  paragraph  on  Ceolred 

1  The  last  words  on  f.  155  b  and  peer  set<eowde>  correspond  to  f.  105b,  1.  18  of  MS. 
Hatton  115.  The  two  texts  are  closely  related,  but  the  Cotton  MS.  sometimes  has  the 
better  reading,  e.g.  mid  anrsedum  mode,  where  the  Hatton  MS.  (f.  102*  1.  22)  has  mid 
rsedum  mode;  and  to  his  geferum,  where  the  Hatton  MS.  (f.  105a  1.  12)  has  gerefum. 

2  From  the  reference  to  Ceolred  in  the  Latin  text  (§  15),  the  vision  itself  must  be  dated 
just  before  that  king's  death  in  716.  Tbe  slightly  earlier  vision  of  Drihthelm  comes  into 
Old  English  in  the  translation  of  Bede's  History  (Bk.  V,  c.  xii),  and  in  jElfric's  sermon 
(ed.  Thorpe  ii,  345).  The  vision  of  Fursey  is  also  the  subject  of  a  sermon  by  iElfric  (ed. 
Thorpe  ii,  348). 

3  The  translation  gives  slight  indications  that  the  lost  MS.  from  which  it  was  made 
was  independent  of  the  four  Continental  MSS.  used  by  the  Monumenta  editors  to 
establish  the  text  of  this  letter.  At  §  10,  1.  7  usque  ad  medium  is  M.  Tangl's  emendation 
for  usque  ad  genua  medium  (-a)  of  the  MSS.;  and  the  O.E.  off  ffone  middel  reflects  an 
uncorrupted  text.  At  1.  12  only  one  of  the  three  best  Latin  MSS.  has  the  accepted  reading 
castigatione  (variants  correctione,  cogitatione),  which  the  O.E.  clsensunge  fortifies.  In  §  16, 
1.  7,  Begga  of  the  Latin  MSS.  seems  to  be  unexampled  among  Anglo-Saxon  men's  names, 
but  the  O.E.  Bogia  =  Boia  is  well  established.  From  the  errors  made  by  the  late  glossators, 
e.g.  videndo  for  1.  43  heapiende  (confused  with  hawiende)  ;  muscas  for  1.  92fleogan  v. ;  and 
persecutus  es  for  1.  61  eahtodest  (confused  with  ehtan),  it  may  be  inferred  that  about  the  year 
1200  these  diligent  readers  did  not  know  where  to  find  a  Latin  text  of  Boniface's  letter  in 
the  rich  library  of  Worcester. 


K.  SISAM  259 

(f  716),  whether  because  it  had  no  longer  a  living  interest,  or  because 
it  was  felt  that  there  was  some  indelicacy  in  recalling  the  misdeeds  of 
that  scandalous  king  of  the  Mercian  line1.  He  concentrates  attention  on 
the  vision,  and  the  name  of  Wynfrith  is  hardly  more  important  for  his 
purpose  than  the  name  of  Bogia,  which  is  also  preserved  by  a  casual 
reference.  For  the  rest  the  rendering  is  close  : — the  omission  of  the  last 
of  the  Vices  after  1.  64  unnytnys  (itself  a  strange  rendering  of  iter  otiosum), 
and  of  the  first  of  the  Virtues  at  the  middle  of  1.  80,  must  be  accidental ; 
and  the  only  noteworthy  addition — the  bracketed  words  at  1.  61 — is  of 
the  nature  of  a  gloss.  Barbarisms  are  not  infrequent,  e.g.  1.  16  under 
dure  gesih&e  =  sub  uno  aspectu ;  constructions  of  the  Latin  are  often  con- 
fused, as  at  11.  8-13  ;  46-9  ;  65-8  ;  86-7  ;  the  words  et  diversorum. .  .com- 
morantium  at  the  beginning  of  §  13  have  been  wrongly  joined  to  the  end 
of  §  12  ;  and  there  are  several  verbal  faults  : — for  instance  at  1. 15  lichaman 
gesihfie  seems  to  arise  from  construing  carnis  with  conspectum  instead  of 
velamine ;  1.  33  pmre  beorhtan  gesih&e  an  engel  =  splendidae  visionis  an- 
gelus  could  hardly  have  been  written  if  the  translator  saw  that  splendidae 
visionis  =  splendidus  aspectu;  1.  109  sweg  =  fraglantia  (i.e.  fragrantia)  is 
due  to  a  rather  common  confusion  with  fragor ;  1.119  fotes  deopnesse 
may  follow  from  misreading  of  pene  as  pede;  and  at  1.  120  helan  trans-^ 
lates  ascellas  '  armpits.' 

That  the  extant  copy  is  not  the  translator's  original  is  clear  from  the 
scribal  errors  mentioned  in  the  footnotes ;  and  consequently  the  linguistic 
forms  cannot  be  relied  on  to  prove  the  place  of  composition,  There  are 
well  marked  deviations  from  standard  Late  West-Saxon  : — tealode  76, 
with  w-umlaut,  for  normal  talode,  and  nio&eran  90,  100,  103  are  strictly 
Anglian.  So  are  p.  p.  gesegen  12,  40, 136  and  pa.  t.  subj.  3  sg.  gesege  125, 
173  beside  geseage  90,  167,  though  such  forms  of  (ge)seon  seem  to  occur 
in  the  South  in  very  late  Old  English.  The  same  remark  applies  to 
Anglian  (or  Kentish)  nedbade  (normal  nyd-)  7  ;  ungehersumnes  58  beside 
normal  ungehyrsum  58 ;  stemende  (normal  stym-)  74 ;  leg  (normal  tig) 
25,  30,  35,  92, 105 ;  cegan  49,  74,  85  ;  and  awerged  39, 144  beside  normal 
awyr(i)gd-  41.  Next  comes  a  group  of  forms  that  are  usually  associated 
with  South-Eastern  dialects  : — (a)  common  io  for  Bo  as  in  the  pronouns 
hiom  103  etc.,  sio  73  etc. ;  with  siocum  83;  friode  176;  feorpiode  186; 
hiofigende  93,  101;  triowe  'tree'  118;  ungetriowan  180;  diofol  197; 
and (be)jiollan  96, 118  ;  niorxnawang  111 ;  biorht-  121, 126.    (6)  occasional 

1  That  such  visions  could  be  turned  into  instruments  of  scandal  is  shown  by  a  slightly 
later  English  example  in  Mon.  Germ.  Hist.  :  Epist.  vol.  in,  pp.  404-5.  It  seems  to  have 
been  suggested  by  Boniface's  letter. 


260  Wynfrith's  Letter  in -MS.  Otho  C.  1 

ia  for  ea,  ea  in  hiaf  148,  hiardran  196.  (c)  rare  io  for  ea  in  gesioh 
(pa.  t.  sg.)  168. 

It  is  often  assumed  that  the  provenance  of  an  eleventh  century  copy 
can  be  determined  from  its  linguistic  forms;  and  since  in  our  second 
volume  we  have  specimens  of  the  work  of  four  scribes,  of  whom  the  first 
three  at  least  were  pretty  certainly  engaged  in  one  place  (probably  Wor- 
cester) and  on  a  single  book,  it  is  worth  following  these  abnormalities 
through  the  volume  : — 

Hand  I  (ff.  1-61  b  =  Dialogues,  Bks.  I  and  II)  has  common  gesege, 
gesegen ;  common  ned  etc.  for  normal  nled,  riyd  etc. ;  frequent  io  for  eo. 

Hand  II  (ff.  62  a-1 37  a  =  Dialogues  Bk.  Ill-)  has  common  gesege 
(-seage)  etc. ;  common  ned  etc. ;  but  not  io  for  eo.  When  however  the 
same  scribe  comes  to  copy  the  first  two  Lives  (ff.  137  b-139  b)  he  writes 
regularly  gesege  (-seage) ;  no  ned  etc. ;  no  io  for  eo ;  and  these  two  Lives 
have  usually  se  for  umlaut  #  before  a  covered  nasal  (e.g.  lotwrmncas), 
though  the  number  of  such  forms  in  the  Dialogues  is  inconsiderable. 

Hand  III  (ff.  139  b-148  a  =  Malchus,  Wynfrifts  Letter,  Evil  Tongues) 
is  in  language  fairly  uniform ;  for  instance  Malchus  has  frequent  io  for 
£0 ;  occasional  ia  for  ea  in  hiafde1,  and  probably  once  io  for  8a  in  nior- 
wedon2;  but  no  significant  use  of  se,  for  £  +  covered  nasal3. 

Hand  IV  (ff.  149  a-155  b  =  Hexameron  etc.)  has  none  of  the  abnor- 
malities of  Wynfriffs  Letter. 

It  seems  that  the  applied  theory  of  eleventh  century  English  dialects 
is  much  simpler  than  the  reality : — there  is  no  necessary  uniformity  of 
language  in  the  copies  produced  by  a  single  scriptorium  ;  and  in  the  MS. 
before  us,  the  forms  gesege  (geseage)*,  gesegen  are  the  only  abnormalities 
that  run  through  the  three  hands,  and  so  may  fairly  be  used  as  evidence 
for  the  provenance  of  the  MS.  Even  here  there  is  a  difficulty :  for  since 
our  volume  was  at  Worcester  about  the  year  1200,  and  almost  certainly 
at  Worcester  a  century  earlier  in  Bishop  Wulfstan's  day5,  there  is  good 
reason  for  believing  that  it  was  produced  at  Worcester;   and  yet  its 

1  For  Evil  Tongues,  cp.  f.  147b  ...gif  us  abelgap  ure  efenhiafden. 

2  Presumably  for  nearwedon  rather  than  for  early  nierwedon  :  cp.  nioroglice  as  variant 
to  nearidice  in  Dialogues  (ed.  Hecht),  p.  29,  1.  21. 

3  Mmnnen,  1.  177,  is  the  only  example  in  Wynfriff's  Letter. 

4  The  forms  geseage,  -seagon  are  perhaps  to  be  explained  as  mere  spellings  for  gesege, 
-segon,  reflecting  the  reduction  of  historical  -lag-  to  -eg-.  It  is  true  the  late  glossator  by  super- 
scription converts  gesege  i.  140  a  into  iseje,  and  geseage  f .  139  a  into  iseawe  =  isawe  ;  but  this 
is  not  good  evidence  that  the  vowel  in  geseage  differed  from  that  in  gesege. 

6  It  is  tempting  but  hardly  safe  to  identify  MSS.  Otho  C.  1  and  Hatton  76  with  the 
•  II  Englissce  Diatogus  '  mentioned  in  the  brief  catalogue  at  f.  101b  of  the  Worcester  book 
C.C.C.C.  MS.  367  (late  11th  century) ;  see  James,  Sources  of  Archbishop  Parker's  Collection 
of  MSS.  and  Hecht's  edition,  Pt.  ii,  p.  29. 


K.  SIS  AM  261 

characteristic  forms  gesege,  gesegen  are  by  no  means  typical  of  the  many 
Worcester  books  that  have  come  down  from  the  second  half  of  the  eleventh 
century.  I  shall  not  attempt  to  unravel  these  perplexities,  which  might 
be  fewer  if  we  knew  more  about  the  literary  language  of  Worcester  in 
the  time  of  Oswald  (f  992).  But  it  is  possible  to  reach  some  conclusions 
on  the  history  of  the  texts.  It  may  be  inferred  that  forms  like  tied  in 
the  Dialogues  from  Bk.  Ill  onward  are  not  due  to  the  latest  scribe,  since 
they  are  absent  from  the  two  Lives  in  his  handwriting ;  that  in  previous 
textual  history  these  two  Lives  are  dissociated  from  the  Dialogues,  and 
that  their  characteristic  se  for  £  +  covered  nasal  is  also  not  due  to  the 
latest  scribe.  Again,  while  at  first  sight  Malchus  (M)  must  be  associated 
closely  with  the  two  Lives  that  immediately  precede  it,  because  they 
have  the  same  source,  on  its  linguistic  forms  it  must  be  grouped  with 
Wyn/riffs  Letter  (  W)  and  Evil  Tongues  (E.  T.) :  either  then  these  charac- 
teristic forms  are  due  to  the  latest  scribe,  or  the  three  pieces  have  an 
earlier  history  in  common  distinct  from  that  of  the  other  Lives  from  the 
Vitae  Patrum. 

The  vocabulary  supports  the  second  alternative.  Jordan1  has  listed 
a  number  of  words  that  are  rarely  found  in  Late  West  Saxon  texts,  and 
though  it  would  not  be  safe  to  rely  on  any  single  example,  in  texts  so 
short  the  cumulative  weight  of  the  following  is  considerable  : — Pure  Late 
West  Saxon  has  clipian  '  cry  out '  where  early  texts,  or  late  texts  with  an 
Anglian  colouring,  have  cegan  {clgan)  :  the  two  Lives  have  only  cleopian ; 
M,  W  have  only  cegan  {clgan),  and  so  has  E.  T.,  e.g.  f.  146  a  ponne  ic  cige 
ane  si&e,  ponne  gehyretS  he  me  se/ter  psere  gecigednesse.  Semninga  '  sud- 
denly' in  pure  Late  West  Saxon  is  replaced  by /seringa  etc.,  but  it  occurs 
in  W  8,  10,  165;  M  218.  Of  midnes  =  L&t.  medium,  Toller  has  only  four 
examples,  all  from  M;  but  there  are  two  more  in  W  52,  157.  Another 
word  uncommon  in  pure  West  Saxon  texts  is  (ge)fir(e)nian :  there  are 
three  examples  in  W  55,  57,  157  and  it  occurs  more  than  once  in  E.  T., 
e.g.  in  a  passage  on  f.  146  b  that  gives  three  examples  of  y/elsian,  another 
Anglian  symptom  : — and  pset  is  ponne  swi&e  micel  y/el  pset  se  man  onsace 
Drihtne  hselendum  Criste,  and  hine  y/elsige,  and  his  halgum  teonan  do... 
Hwset  bi&  mare  synn  ponne  man  y/elsige  his  Drihten  ?  Forpan  se  y/elsa<5 
his  Drihten  se  pe  his  gescea/te  tsvletS  oft&e  his  gescea/te  wyrge<5,  peah  hine 
hwa  abelige ;  and,  purh  pyllicu  ping  gefirenaft  seo  tunge  o/t.  The  word 
godwrecnis  '  crime  '  pretty  certainly  lies  behind  godwyrcnis  at  1.  45 ;  the 
only  other  recorded  example  is  from  the  translation  of  Bede's  History,  a 

1  Eigentiimlichkeiten  des  anglischen  Wortschatzes,  Heidelberg  1906.     See  also  Klaeber, 
Zur  altenglisehen  Bedaiibersetzung,  Anglia  xxvand  xxvur;  Hecht,  loc.  cit.,  Pt.  ii,  pp.  134 ft'. 


262  Wynfrith's  Letter  in  MS.  Otho  C.  1 

text  with  well  marked  Anglian  features,  and  the  substantive  godwreca, 
which  is  also  uncommon,  occurs  in  M  389  gangatS  ut,  ge  godwrecan.  It 
is  a  fair  inference  that  the  three  texts — Malchus,  Wynfri&'s  Letter  and 
Evil  Tongues — were  composed  in  territory  once  Mercian ;  and  when  the 
opening  words — M  :  Saga&  her  on  pissum  bocum,  W :  Her  sagaft  on  pis- 
sum  bocum — are  added  to  the  list  of  similarities,  it  seems  likely  that  the 
translator  of  Malchus  was  also  the  translator  of  Wynfri&'s  Letter.  The 
vocabulary  does  not  warrant  the  conclusion  that  Evil  Tongues,  which  is 
probably  based  on  Latin  materials,  is  also  the  work  of  this  translator ; 
but  it  is  possible ;  and  the  possibility  is  strengthened  if  the  exceptional 
phonological  forms  that  the  sermon  shares  with  M  and  W  go  back  to  the 
translator's  draft.  If  common  authorship  could  be  established,  we  should 
have  a  useful  clue  to  the  date  of  the  translations ;  for  the  sermon  con- 
tains many  references  to  the  monastic  life :  e.g.  f.  146  b  And  forpan  ne 
tsden  pa  munucas1  sefre,  ne  ne  cwe&an  '  We  wzeron  nu  prdge  on  mynstre 
and  we  on  pamftece  micclum  ne  gefirnodan  ;  forpan  hig  lioga&  gif  hig 
twlaff,  forpan  Mora  tunga  gefirenad1  d&ghwamlice  ;  or  f.  147  b  ...and  gif 
we  hit  gewrecan  ne  magon, p<o>nne  biotia&we  to  him :  '  Hwtet,  we  syndon 
munucas  gecweden,'  peh  we  pone  munuchad  rihte  ne  <he>aldon.  We  us 
sceolon  gebiddan  to  Drihtne,  gif  we  pone  munuchad  rihte  healden  wil- 
la<&,  on>  eerne  morgen  and  on  underne,  and  on  midne  d&g,  and  on  pa 
nontid,  and  on  sefenne,  and  set  <n>iht,  and  set  honan  sange,  etc.  Such  a 
sermon  is  not  likely  to  have  been  composed  in  English,  or  translated 
for  English  use,  before  the  Benedictine  reform  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
tenth  century. 

Wynf riffs  Letter  contains  other  matter  of  lexicographical  interest. 
There  are  two  examples  of  the  unrecorded  verb  oftlengan  (to)  =  pertinere 
(ad)  11.  49,  68.  One  clear  instance  of  the  simplex  blmstan  =  '  anhelare,' 
'  erumpere '  (of  fire)  occurs  at  1.  28  ;  another  at  1.  91,  which  is  better  not 
taken  as  a  compound  with  up ;  and  a  third  at  1.  25  favouring  the  com- 
pound forpblsestan,  which  is  probably  to  be  assumed  for  Toller's  first 
example  of  blsestan  (Suppl.  p.  96).  Feorpiod  = '  longinqua  regio,'  1.  186, 
and  scea&dignes  = ' laesio'  1.  35,  are  also  new.  Lihtian,  1.  44,  in  the  literal 
sense  '  to  reduce  the  weight  of  is  not  elsewhere  recorded  for  Old  English  ; 
nor  does  Toller  give  examples  of  ormMlic  adj.,  11.  148,  170,  though  the 
adverb  is  not  uncommon.  The  sense  of  nydbdd  in  purh  nedbdde  at  1.  7 
is  not  easy  to  determine;  while pund  =  pondus,  1.  43,  and  geswege  =  con- 

1  Note  pa  munucas  here,  and  yet  the  preacher  identifies  himself  with  the  monks  in  the 
next  passage.  If  the  original  wording  has  been  correctly  preserved,  it  would  indicate  that 
the  preacher  of  the  English  sermon  was  placed  in  charge  of  monks,  as  bishop  or  abbot. 


K.  SISAM  263 

sonantes,  1.  68  (cp.  1.  20),  owe  their  unusual  meanings  to  bad  translation. 
Other  words  of  interest  because  they  are  comparatively  rare  are : — 
dreceleasian  66;  domne  1;  forstynted  32,  132;  gegltsian  53;  gemdnes 
(from  gemah)  57;  gylpllce  54 ;  Utopian  43,  76 ;  lorh  168 ;  picen  adj.  122  ; 
unar&fnedlice  adv.  30 ;  and  the  contexts  are  now  available  for  bewrigen- 
nys  10,  13,  drupung  59,  ciuealrnlic  149,  which  Toller  has  already  quoted 
from  Cockayne's  notes.  Perhaps  none  of  these  is  so  interesting  as  a  sen- 
tence from  Evil  Tongues  that  the  fire  has  spared,  f.  147a: — Ac  he 
ymbgwft  hus  and  sse,g<5  oJ?rum  men  ofbres  synne,  and  cwi&  '  Ic  eomfyren- 
full  7  pes  man  is  fyrenfuW  'Ac  hwset  belangatS  pees  /bonne  to  eowV 
cwteft  se  Godes  lareow.  The  verb  belong  is  not  recorded  in  the  Oxford 
Dictionary  till  the  fourteenth  century,  and  here  it  has  exactly  the  sense 
{quid  interest)  that  one  would  expect  in  an  Old  English  example. 

The  print  of  the  Latin  original,  which  I  am  able  to  reproduce  from 
the  Monumenta  Germaniae  Historical  by  the  courtesy  of  the  directing 
authority,  will  provide  what  more  is  necessary  to  explain  the  text.  Con- 
siderable passages  or  phrases  which  are  not  represented  in  the  translation 
are  italicised.  In  the  Old  English,  contractions  are  expanded  without 
notice ;  and  to  avoid  descriptive  footnotes,  any  letter  of  which  an 
identifiable  trace  remains  is  treated  as  if  it  were  preserved  intact. 
Letters  of  which  no  identifiable  traces  remain  are  printed  in  italics 
within  brackets  <  >.  Where  the  Latin  source,  the  style  or  the  context 
give  sufficient  indications  of  the  reading  of  the  MS.  in  its  perfect 
state,  I  have  tried  to  fill  gaps  due  to  crumbling.  It  is  not  easy;  for 
the  vellum  is  so  much  distorted  in  the  worst  places  that  the  number  of 
missing  letters  can  be  determined  only  by  the  crude  method  of  averaging 
several  whole  lines ;  but  the  attempt  may  serve  a  useful  purpose  so 
long  as  it  is  clear  that  italicised  words  within  brackets  have  no  better 
authority  than  mere  conjecture. 

f.  143  b        §  1-    Her  sagaS  on  bissum  bocum  j>aet  domne  WynfriS  sende   bis 

gewrit  serost  to  Jnssum  leodum,  bi  sumum  preoste  se  wees  brage  forS- 

fered  and  gehwyrfde  ba  eft  to  his  lichaman.    He  ssede  baet  he  bicome  to 

bisse  beode,  and  bget  he  spsece  wis  Sone  preost,  '  and  he  me  ba  rehte  ba 

1.  Rogahas  me,  soror  carissima,  ut  admirandas  visiones  de  illo  redivivo,  qui  nuper 
in  monasterio  Milburge  abbatissae  mortuus  est  et  revixit,  quae  ei  ostensae  sunt,  scri- 
bendo  intimare  et  transmittere  curarem,  quemadmodum  istas  veneranda  abbatissa 
Hildelida  referenti  didici.    Modo  siquidem  gratias.  omnipotenti  Deo  refero,  quia  in  hoc 

3  he  bicome]  so  Wanley:  now  only  the  last  two  strokes  of  to.  and  the  final  e  remain. 

1  Epistolae,  vol.  m,  pp.  252 ff.;  see  also  Epistolae  Selectae,  vol.  i,  ed.  M.  Tangl,  Berlin 
1916.  There  is  a  modern  English  rendering  in  E.  Kylie's  English  Correspondence  of 
St  Boniface  (King's  Classics),  London  1911,  pp.  78 ff. 


264  Wynfrith's  Letter  in  MS.  Otho  C.  1 

5  <wundorlica>n  gesihSe  J?a  pe  he  geseah  J>a  he  waes  buton  lichaman,  and 
Jrts  he  me  rehte  eall  his  agene  worde. 

§  2.  'He  cwaeo"  J?aet  him  geeode  Jmrh  nedbade  J>aet  his  lichama  wsere 
seoc  geworden,  and  he  wses  semninga  pj  gaste  bensemed.  And  him 
Jmhte  J>aet  hit  wsere  on  J?aere  onlicnysse  pe  him  man  J?a  eagan  weccende 

ro  mid  Jncce  hraegle  forbrugde ;  and  J?a  semninga  wses  seo  bewrigennys 
onweg  anumen,  and  ba  waes  him  aetywed  on  gesihSe  ealle  pa  ping  pe  him 
naefre  aer  gesegen  naeron  ne  onwrigen ;  and  him  W8es  aeghwaet  swiSe  uncuS 
baes  pe  he  geseah.  And  pa,  set  nyxtan  waes  eall  seo  swearte  bewrigennis 
aworpen  fram  his  eagum :  ba  Jmhte  him  pset  eall  bes  middaneard  waere 

15  gesamnod  biforan  his  lichaman  gesihSe;  and  he  sceawode  eall  folc,  and 
ealle  eorSan  daelas  and  saestreamas,  under  anre  gesihSe.  And  him  Jmhte 
baet  pa  englas  waeron  swilce  hig  byrnende  waeron,  pa  pe  hine  laeddon  ut 
of  J?am  lichaman,  and  he  ne  mihte  naenig  Jnnga  locian  on  hig  for  baere 
micclan  beorhtnesse  pe  hig  mid  ymbseted  waeron  ;  and  hig  sungon  swiSe 

•20  wynsumum  stefnum  and  swiSe  geswegum,  and  hig  cwaedon  "  Domine,  ne 

in  ira  tua  arguas  me,  neque  in  furore  tuo  corripias  me"  :  pset  is :  "  Drihten, 

ne  prea  pu  us  in  Jrinum  yrre,  ne  |?u  us  ne  steor  in  ]?inre  hatheortnysse." 

§  3.    '  And  he  saede  pset  hig  hine  abrudon  up  in  pone  lyft ;  and  he  j>a 

geseah  fyr  beornan  ymb  ealles  ]?yses  middaneardes  ymbhwyrfte,  and  se 

25  leg  waes  forSblaestende  mid  swiSe  unmaetre  micelnysse,  and  he  waes  swiSe 

egeslic  upastigende  ;  "  and  naes  eall  j?es  middaneard,  J?a  ic  hine  sceawode, 

buton  swilc  he  waere  on  anes  fcleowenf  onlicnysse,  and  eall  his  weorc ;  and 

ic  geseah  pset  pset  fyr  wolde  blaestan  ofer  ealne  middaneard,  gif  se  engel 

ne  sette  Cristes  rode  tacen  ongean  J»am  fy<r"e :  and>  ponne  gestilde  hit, 

dilectionis  tuae  voluntatem  eoplenius  liquidiusque,  Deo  patrocinium  praestante,  implere 
valeo,  quia  ipse  cum  supra  dicto  fratre  redivivo — -dum  nuper  de  transmarinis  partibus 
ad  istas  pervenit  regiones — locutus  sum  ;  et  ille  mihi  stupendas  visiones,  quas  extra 
corpus  suum  raptus  in  spiritu  vidit,  proprio  exposuit  sermone. 

2.  Dicebat  quippe,  se  per  violentis  egritudinis  dolorem  corporis  gravidine  subito 
exutum  fuisse.  Et  simillimum  esse  collatione,  Veluti  si  videntis  et  vigilantis  hominis 
oculi  densissimo  tegmine  velentur  ;  et  subito  auferatur  velamen,  et  tunc  perspicua 
sint  omnia,  quae  antea  non  visa  et  velata  et  ignota  fuerunt.  Sic  sibi,  abiecto  terrenae 
velamine  carnis,  ante  conspectum  universum  collectum  fuisse  mundum,  ut  cunctas 
terrarum  partes  et  populos  et  maria  sub  uno  aspectu  contueretur.  Et  tam  magnae 
claritatis  et  splendoris  angelos  eum  egressum  de  corpore  suscepisse,  ut  nullatenus 
pro  nimio  splendore  in  eos  aspicere  potuisset.  Qui  iucundis  et  consonis  vocibus  cane- 
bant  :  '  Domine,  ne  in  ira  tua  arguas  me,  neque  in  furore  tuo  corripias  me.' 

3.  'Et  sublevabant  me — dixit — in  aera  sursum.  Et  in  circuitu  totius  mundi 
ignem  ardentem  videbam  et  flammam  inmensae  magnitudinis  anhelantem  et  terri- 
biliter  ad  superiora  ascendentem,  non  aliter  pene  quam  ut  sub  uno  globo  totius 
mundi  machinam  conplectentem,  nisi  earn  sanctus  angelus  inpresso  signo  sanctae 
crucis  Christi  conpesceret.  Quando  enim  in  obviam  minacis  flammae  signum  crucis 
Christi  expresserat,  tunc  fiamma  magna  ex  parte   decrescens   resedit.    Et  istius 

5  wundorlican]  Lot.  stupendas  ;  cp.  -wundorlicre =stupendae,  1.  126. 
20-1  Psalm  xxxvii,  2.         27  cleowen]  read  cleowenes. 


K.  SISAM  265 

f.  144a 30  and  se  leg  swiSrode  on  micclum  dsele.  And  ic  wses  swioe  unareefnedlice 
gebrsested  on  minum  eagum  for  biss<es>  micclan  brynes  ege ;  and  me 
wses  ealra  swiSost  seo  gesihS  f  forstynded  f  for  bara  scinendra  gasta 
beorhtnesse;  and  ba  sethran  bgere  beorhtan  gesihSe  an  engel  minum 
heafde,  and  ic  wearS  burn  bget  gescyld  and  gesund  gehealden  fram  bara 

35  lega  sceaSSignesse." 

§  4.  '  And  he  saede,  on  bgere  tide  be  he  waes  of  his  lich<a>man,  bget 
byder  waere  gesamnod  of  lichamum  swa  micel  menego  forSferedra  sawla 
swa  he  ne  wende  baet  ealles  mennisces  cynnes  naere  swylc  unrim  menego 
swilce  baet  waes.   And  he  saede  eac  baet  bger  wsere  micel  meniu  set  awer- 

4o  gedra  gasta,  fand  eac  bam  beorhtum  englum  pe  peer  gesegene  wseron  : 
hig  haefdon  micel  geflit  wis  Sa  awyrigdan  gastas  bi  <pam  sody>aestan 
sawlum  be  pser  waeron  utgongende  of  lichaman :  and  pa,  deoflu  wse<ron 
ivregende  pa  s>awle,  and  hig  waeron  heapiende  hiora  synna  pund  on  hio ; 
ba  <englas  wseron>  ladiende  and  lihtigende  hiora  synna. 

45  §  5.  '  And  se  man  saede  past  he  sylf  gehyrde  ealle  his  f  godwyrcnissef 
and  his  agene  synna — ba  pe  he  of  his  giogoSe  gefremede,  oSSe  baet  he  on 
receleaste  gefremode,  bget  he  nolde  his  synna  andettan,  and  baet  he 
on  ofergitolness  gefremode,  o5Se  past  he  eallunga  nyste  b*t  hit  to 
synna  oSlengde :  and  aelc  bara  synna  cegde  his  agenre  stefne  wis  hine, 

50  and  hio  hine  f  hig  f  ardlice  breadon ;  and  anra  gehwilc  bara  synna  pe  he 

flammae  terribili  ardore  intollerabiliter  torquebar,  oculis  maxime  ardentibus  et 
splendore  fulgentium  spirituum  vehementissime  reverberatis ;  donee  splendidae 
visionis  angelus  manus  suae  inpositione  caput  meum  quasi  protegens  tangebat  et  me 
a  lesione  flammarum  tutum  reddidit.' 

4.  Praeterea  referebat :  illo  in  temporis  spatio,  quo  extra  corpus  fuit,  tarn  magnam 
animarum  migrantium  de  corpore  multitudinem  illuc,  ubi  ipse  fuit,  convenisse,  quarn 
totius  humani  generis  in  terris  non  fuisse  antea  existimaret.  Innumerabilem  quoque 
malignorum  spirituum  turbam  nee  non  et  clarissimum  chorum  supernorum  ange- 
lorum  adfuisse  narravit.  Et  maximam  inter  se  miserrimos  spiritus  et  sanctos  angelos 
de  animabus  egredientibus  de  corpore  disputationem  habuisse,  daemones  accussando 
et  peccatorum  pondus  gravando,  angelos  vero  relevando  et  excussando. 

5.  Et  se  ipsum  audisse,  omnia  flagitiorum  suorum  propria  peccamina — quae  fecit 
a  iuventute  sua  et  ad  confitendum  aut  neglexit  aut  oblivioni  tradidit  vel  ad  peccatum 
pertinere  omnino  nesciebat — ipsius  propria  voce  contra  ilium  clamitasse  et  eum 

Pdirissime  accussasse  et  specialiter  unumquodque  vitium  quasi  ex  sua  persona  in 
medium  se  obtulisse  dicendo  quoddam :  '  Ego  sum  cupiditas  tua,  qua  inlicita  fre- 
quentissime  et  contraria  preceptis  Dei  concupisti' ;  quoddam  vero :  '  Ego  sum  vana 

30  unarsefnedlice]  second  n  added  above  line. 

32  forstynded]  read  forstynted  ;  cp.  1.  132. 

40  and]  delete  (?). 

41  soSfsestan]  only  the  e  part  of  se  survives.    Nothing  equivalent  in  the  Latin. 
43  on  hio]  o  uncertain :  but  the  letter  is  not  g  ;  for  hio  cp.  U.  52,  104- 

45  godwyrcnisse]  conceivable  as  a  barbarous  rendering  of  ibeneficia' :  but  in  fact 
there  is  nothing  in  the  Latin  to  suggest  it.  Read  godwrecnisse,  a  wwd  which  occurs 
once  in  the  O.E.  Bede  =  lfacinus' :  cp.  godwnec  adj.  ' impious.' 

50  hig]  delete  (?). 


266  Wynfrith's  Letter  in  MS.  Otho  C.  1 

of  his  iugoSe  gefremede,  on  f  aenigum  f  hade  )?ser  waes  forSgeboren  on 
hiora  midnesse ;  and  hio  waeron  bus  sprecende  : — Sum  cwaeS :  "  Ic  eom 
bin  gitsung  pe  pu  unalyfedlice  gegitsodest  wis  Godes  bebodu."  Sum 
cwaeS :  "  Ic  eom  idel  gilp  pe  pw  mid  mannum  gylpliceahofe."  Sum  cwaeft  : 

55  "  Ic  eom  leasung  in  baere  Jm  gefirenadest  J?aer  Jm  waere  ligende."  Sum 
cwaeS :  "  Ic  eom  unnyt  word  pe  bu  idelice  gespraece."  Sum  cwaeS  :  "  Ic 
eom  gesihS  burh  ]?a  Jm  gefirenadest."  Sum  cwaeS :  "  Ic  eom  gemanes  and 
ungehersumnes,  baer  Jm  ealdum  gastlicum  mannum  ungehyrsum  waere." 
Sum  cwseS :  "  Ic  eom  drupung  and  sleacnis  pe  Jm  waere  receleas  in  haligra 

6o  gewrita  geornesse."  Sum  cwaeS :  "  Ic  eom  swiciende  geboht  and  unnyt 
•f  gamenf  (be  Jm  oSra  manna  lif  eahtodest  and  bin  agen  lif  forlete),  and 
ic  pe  ofer  gemet  on  cyrican  and  buton  cirican  gebisgode."  Sum  cwaeS : 
"  Ic  eom  slapolnis  mid  bam  pu  wa3re  ge|?ricced,  pset  J?u  late  arise  Gode  to 
andettenne."    Sum  cwaeS  :  "  Ic  eom  unnytnys  " — and  hig  him  on  saedon 

65  manega  Jnng  |?issum  gelic.    And  ealle  pa,  pe  he  on  his  lifes  dagum 

f.  144  b    lifigende  gefremod<e>,  pe  he  areceleasode  to  andettenne,  j  and  manige 

synna  J>ser  cirmdon  swiSe  egeslice  wis  hine  pa,  pe  he  naefre  ne  wende  ]?33t 

hio  to  synnum  oSlengdon;  and  pa  awyrigdan  gastas  wseron  geswege 

eallum  J?am  synnum  ;  and  hig  waeron  hine  swiSe  heardlice  wregende, 

70  and  hig  waeron  secgende  ealle  J?a  stowe  and  ealle  J>a  tide  pe  hig  pa 
mandaede  on  gedydon.  And  he  J?aer  geseah  eac  sumne  J?ara  manna  pe 
he  ser  gewund< od>e  pa,  hwile  pe  he  lifigende  waes ; — and  se  man  lifde 
)?agyt — ,  and  to  gewitnesse  his  yfela  he  waes  ]?ider  gelaeded ;  and  sio  wund 
waes  open,  and  }>set  blod  waes  stemende,  and  he  waes  cegende  his  agenre 

75  stefne  and  he</i>estu  edwit  cweSende,  and  he  s<tselde>  J>aes  blodes 

gloria,  qua  te  apud  homines  iactanter  exaltasti ' ;  aliud :  '  Ego  sum  mendacium,  in 
quo  mentiendo  peccasti '  ;  aliud  :  '  Ego  sum  otiosum  verbum,  quod  inaniter  locutus 
fuisti'  ;  aliud  :  'Ego  visus,  quo  videndo  inlicita  peccasti'  ;  aliud  :  '  Ego  contumacia 
et  inoboedientia,  qua  senioribus  spiritalibus  inoboediens  fuisti ' ;  aliud  :  '  Ego  torpor 
et  desidia  in  sanctorum  studiorum  neglectu '  ;  aliud  :  '  Ego  vaga  cogitatio  et  inutilis 
cura,  qua  te  supra  modum  sive  in  ecclesia  sive  extra  ecclesiam  occupabas '  ;  aliud : 
'  Ego  somnolentia,  qua  oppressus  tarde  ad  confitendum  Deo  surrexisti ' ;  aliud :  '  Ego 
iter  otiosum '  ;  aliud:  '  Ego  sum  neglegentia  et  incuria,  qua  detentus  erga  studium 
divinae  lectionis  incuriosus  fuisti ' ;  et  cetera  his  similia.  Omnia,  quae  in  diebus 
vitae  suae  in  carne  conversatus  peregit  et  confiteri  neglexit,  multa  quoque,  quae  ad 
peccatum  pertinere  omnino  ignorabat,  contra  eum  cuncta  terribiliter  vociferabant. 

51  senigum]  read  seg(e)num  :  Latin  '  quasi  ex  sua  persona? 

61  gamenj  read  gymen  or  gemen  :  Latin  '  cura.' 

75  hefiestu]  distorted  by  burning:  a  pocket  in  the  vellum  now  closed  by  the  special 
mounting  of  the  burnt  leaves,  covers  what  1  conjecture  to  be  the  upper  part  of  f  and  the 
whole  of  i.  Note  that  the  reading  assumes  the  ligature  ft,  which  occurs  nowhere  else  in 
the  tract. 

stselde]  s  certain  from  the  remains  of  the  top :  but  unless  there  is  unusual  distortion 
of  the  burnt  edges,  stselde,  which  suits  the  Latin  '  inputabat,'  and  may  be  construed 
with  the  following  (conjectural)  on  hine,  does  not  fit  the  remains  very  xoell. 


K.  SISAM  267 

gyte  swiSe  wselhreowlice,  and  he  tealode  and  heapode  micel  m<eniu 
synna  on  hine>  ;  and  pa  ealdan  feond  trymedon  and  ssedon  pset  he  wsere 
hira  gew<ealdes  and  hira  hlytes>. 

§  6.    ' "  <pa>  ladedon  me  min  bset  lyttla  msegen  pa,  pe  ic  earma  and 

So  \mm<eodumlic>e  ...re  gedyde  : — Sum  cwseS  :  'Ic  eom  fsesten  pe  he  his 
lichaman  on  aclsensode  wis  Sam  yfelan  geornissum.'  Sum  cwseS :  '  Ic  eom 
hluttor  gebed  bset  he  geat  in  Drihtnes  gesihSe.'  Sum  cwseS:  'Ic  eom 
untrumra  begnung,  ba  he  mildelice  siocum  gedyde.'  Sum  cwseS :  '  Ic 
eom  sealmsang  bone  he  Gode  gedyde  to  bote  his  unnyttra  worda ' "  :  and 

«5  swa  him  cegde  anra  gehwilc  bsera  msegna,  and  wses  hine  beladigende 
wis  his  synnum ;  f  and  pas  pe  pe  wseron  eac  miccligende  pa.  engellican 
gastas,  "and  me  wseron  J?as  msegnu  bescyldigende  pa  pe  her  trymedon ;f 
and  me  wseron  ba  msegnu  miccle  maran  gebuht  bonne  ic  sefre  wende 
bset  ic  hig  on  minum  msegne  gefremman  mihte." 

90  |  7.  '  And  he  ssede  eac  j?set  he  geseage  on  bissum  nioSeran  mid- 
danearde  fyrene  seaSas,  and  ba  waaron  swiSe  egeslice  up  blasstende ;  and 
he  geseah  fleogan  ingemang  |?am  fyrenan  lege  J?a  earman  gastas,  J>a 
wseron  on  sweartra  fugela  onlicnissum ;  and  hig  waeron  hiofigende  and 

Similiter  et  maligni  spiritvis  in  omnibus  consonantes  vitiis  accussando  et  duriter 
testificando  et  loca  et  tempora  nefandorum  actuum  memorantes  eadem,  quae  peccata 
dixerunt,  conclamantes  probabant.  Vidit  quoque  ibi  hominem  quendam,  cui  iam  in 
seculari  habitu  degens  vulnus  inflixit — quern  adhuc  in  hac  vita  superesse  referebat — , 
ad  testimonium  malorum  suorum  adductum ;  cuius  cruentatum  et  patens  vulnus  et 
sanguis  ipse  propria  voce  clamans  inproperabat  et  inputabat  ei  crudele  effusi  san- 
guinis crimen.  Et  sic  cumulatis  et  conputatis  sceleribus,  antiqui  hostes  adfirmabant : 
«um,  reum  peccatorem,  iuris  eorum  et  condicionis  indubitanter  fuisse. 

6.  '  E  contra  autem — dixit— excussantes  me,  clamitabant  parve  virtutes  animae, 
quas  ego  miser  indigne  et  inperfecte  peregi.  Quaedam  dixit :  "  Ego  sum  oboedientia, 
quam  senioribus  spiritalibus  exhibuit" ;  quaedam:  "Ego  sum  ieiunium,  quo  corpus 
suum  contra  desiderium  carnis  pugnans  castigavit"  ;  alia  :  "  Ego  oratio  pura,  quam 
■effundebat  in  conspectu  Domini";  alia  :  "Ego sum  obsequium  infirmorum,  quod  cle- 
menter  egrotantibus  exhibuit";  quaedam:  "Ego  sum  psalmus,  quern  pro  otioso 
sermone  satisfaciens  Deo  cecinit."  Et  sic  unaqueque  virtus  contra  emulum  suum 
peccatum  excussando  me  clamitabat.  Et  has  illi  inmensae  claritatis  angelici  spiritus 
magnificando  defendeDtes  me  adfirmabant.  Et  istae  virtutes  universae  valde  mactae 
et  mul to  maiores  et  excellentiores  esse  mihi  videbantur,  quam  umquam  viribus  meis 
•digne  perpetrate  fuissent.' 

7.  Inter  ea  referebat,  se  quasi  in  inferioribus,  in  hoc  mundo  vidisse  igneos  puteos 
horrendam  eructantes  flammam  plurimos  ;  et,  erumpente  tetra  terribilis  flamma 
ignis,  volitasse  et  miserorum  hominum  spiritus  in  similitudine  nigrarum  avium  per 
flammam  plorantes  et  ululantes  et  verbis  et  voce  humana  stridentes  et  lugentes  pro- 

76  meniu  synna  on  hine]  for  the  restoration  cp.  1.  Ifi  above,  and  I.  39. 

78  hira  gewealdes  and  hira  hlytes]/or  the  restoration  cp.  II.  137 f.  below. 

79  and... gedyde]  after  unm  indistinct  remains  of  two  letters;  then  a  hole,  after 
which  e  is  clear  and  two  more  letters  unclear  ;  then  a  further  gap,  at  the  end  of  which 
stands  re  (possibly  ne),  with  traces  of  an  accent  above  indicating  a  preceding  long  vowel. 
Between  unm  and  gedyde  the  space  would  be  enough  for  20  to  25  letters  in  all. 

11.  86,  87.  The  MS.  is  clear,  and  the  corruption  appears  to  be  deep-rooted. 


268  WynfritKs  Letter  in.  MS.  Otho  C.  1 

wepende  and  gristbitigende  mid  menniscre  stefne  hiora  agene  f  fyrhtu  f, 

95  and  J?set  andwearde  wite ;  and  hig  gesseton  hwilum  lythwon  on  )?8era 
seaSa  ofrum,  and  hig  fiollon  eft  sefre  heofigende  in  ba  seaSas.  pa  cwseS 
him  an  to  of  bam  halgan  englum :  "  peos  lyttle  rest  getacnatS  j?set 
selmihtig  Drihten  syleS  bissum  sawlum  celnisse  and  reste  sefter  bam 
toweardan  domes  dsege." 

ioo        §8.  'And  se  man  gehyrde  under  bam  seaSum,  in  bsere  niooeran 

helle,  swiSe  egeslic  granung  and  swiSe  micelne  wop  bara  hiofigendra 

145  a    sawla.    pa  <vw&ft  hi>m  to  an  bsera  engla:  "peos  granung  and  bes  wop 

be  bu  her  gehyrest  in  bisse  niooeran  helle,  bset  syndon  ba  sawla  be  hiom 

nsefre  to  ne  cymtS  Godes  seo  arfseste  miltse ;  ac  hio  sceall  cwylmian  se 

105  eca  leg." 

§  9.  '  And  he  bser  geseah  eac  on  sume  stowe  swiSe  wundorlicre 
fsegernisse,  and  bser  blissode  swiSe  fsegera  sawla  menigu  :  pa,  latSedon  hig 
hine  j?set  he  come  to  hiora  gefean,  gif  him  alyfed  wsere.  pa  com  J>anon 
swiSe  micel  sweg,  and  se  wses  on  swiSe  micelre  swetnysse :  }>is  )?onne 

nowses  J?a3ra  eadigra  gasta  oroS.   peos  stow  }?onne  wses  be  J?an  pa,  englas 
him  ssedan  ]?set  hit  wses  se  msera  niorxnawang. 

§  10.  '  And  he  peer  geseah  fyren  ea,  sio  wses  gefylled  mid  weallende 
fwitef,  and  hio  wses  eall  inneweard  byrnende,  and  hio  wses  on  wunder- 
licre  fyrhtu ;  and  p<ser  wse>%  an  treow  ofer  }?a  ea  on  brycge  onlicnysse. 

115  ponne  efstan  J?a  halgan  sawla  t<o  ptere>  bricge  fram  )?am  gemote  pe 
hig  set  wseron,  and  hig  gyrndon  ps&t  hig  oferforen  J?a  ea.   ponne  ferdon 

pria  merita  et  praesens  supplicium  :  consedisse  paululum  herentes  in  marginibus 
puteorum  ;  et  iterum  heiulantes  cecidisse  in  puteos.  Et  unus  ex  angelis  dixit  : 
'  Parvissima  haec  requies  indicat,  quia  omnipotens  Deus  in  die  futuri  iudicii  his. 
animabus  refrigerium  supplicii  et  requiem  perpetuarn  praestiturus  est.' 

8.  Sub  illis  autem  puteis,  ctdkuc  in  inferioribus  et  in  into  profundo,  quasi  in 
inferno  inferiori,  audivit  horrendum  et  tremendum  et  dictu  di]ficile?n  gemitum  et 
fietum  lugentium  animarum.  Et  dixit  ei  angelus  :  '  Murmur  et  fletus,  quern  in 
inferioribus  audis,  illarum  est  animarum,  ad  quas  numquam  pia  miseratio  Domini 
perveniet  ;  sed  aeterna  illas  flamma  sine  fine  cruciabit.' 

9.  Vidit  quoque  mire  amoenitatis  locum,  in  quo  pulcherrimorum  hominum 
gloriosa  multitudo  miro  laetabatur  gaudio ;  qui  eum  invitabant,  ut  ad  eorum  gaudia, 
si  ei  licitum  fuisset,  cum  eis  gavisurus  veniret.  Et  inde  mirae  dulcedinis  fraglantia 
veniebat  ;  quia  beatorum  alitus  fuit  ibi  congaudentium  spirituum.  Quern  locum 
sancti  angeli  adfirmabant  famosum  esse  Dei  paradisum. 

10.  Nee  non  et  igneum  piceumque  flumen,  bulliens  et  ardens,  mirae  formidinis 
et  teterrimae  visionis  cernebat.  Super  quod  lignum  pontis  vice  positum  erat.  Ad 
quod  sanctae  gloriosaeque  animae  ab  illo  secedentes  con ventupropera  bant,  desiderio 
alterius  ripae  transire  cupientes.  Et  quaedam  non  titubantes  constanter  transiebant. 
Quaedam  vero  labefactae  de  ligno  cadebant  in  Tartareum  flumen  ;  et  aliae  tingue- 
bantur  pene,  quasi  toto  corpore  mersae  ;  aliae  autem  ex  parte  quadam,  veluti  quedain 

94  fyrhtu]  read  wyrhtu. 
113  wite]  read  pice. 


) 


K.  SISAM  269 

hig  sume  swiSe  anrsedlice  ofer  pa,  bricge.  And  sume  hig  wurdon  aslidene 
of  )>am  triowe,  baet  hig  befeollan  in  ba  tintregan  ea  :  sume  hig  befiollan 
in  fotes  deopnesse;   sume  mid  ealne  lichaman;   sume  oS  Sa  cneowu; 

1 20  sume  oS  Sone  middel;  sume  oS  Sa  helan:  bonne  symble  wses  bara  sawla 
a?ghwilc  biorhtre  bonne  hio  aer  wses,  sySSan  hio  eft  coman  up  of  bsere 
picenan  ea.  pa  cwaeS  an  engel  to  him  bi  bam  feallendum  sawlum : 
"  pis  syndon  ba  sawla  pe  sefter  hinsiSe  sumere  arfsestre  clsensunge 
bihofiaS,  and  Godes  miltsunge,  bset  hig  syn  him  wyrSe  to  bringenne." 

125  §  11.  '  And  he  ssede  bset  he  padr  gesege  scinende  weallas,  ba  wseron 
on  micelre  biorhtnesse  and  on  wundorlicre  lengu  and  on  drmsettre 
heannesse.  pa  cwsedon  pa  halgan  englas :  "  pis  is  sio  halige  and  sio 
mserlice  ceaster  Hierusalem,  in  bgere  gefsegniaS  symble  pa,  eadigan  sawla 
and  ba  halgan  gastas."   And  bonne  ba  sawla  coman  ofer  pa,  ea,  pe  ic  ser 

130  big  ssede,  bonne  efstan  hig  eallum  msegne  wis  Sissa  wealla.  He  bonne 
ssede  past  hig  wasron  swiSe  beorhte  scinende,  and  he  ssede  bset  him  wurde 
for  pisse  micclan  beorhtnesse  his  eagena  gesihS  forstynted,  bset  he  neenig 
binga  locian  ne  mihte  on  ba  beorhnesse. 

§  12.   'Ssede  eac  bset  bser  cumen  waere  sumes  mannes  sawul  to  J>am 

135  gemote  se  wearS  dead  in  abboddomes  pegnunge,  and  sio  wses  swiSe 

wlitig  gesegen.    pa  gegripon  )?a  deoflu  pa,  sawle,  and  hig  ssedon  pset  hio 

waere  hiora  hlytes  and  hiora  anwealdes.    pa  andswarode  him  an  of  J?am 

halgan  englum  and  cwaeS :  "  Ic  eow  nu  gecySe  hraSe,  ge  earman  gastas, 

f.  145  b    past  ]?ios  sawul  <ne  bi&  eow>res  gewealdes."   pa  mid  py  pe  pis  |  gecweden 

i4o  wses,  pa,  com  paer  fa3rlice  micel  heap  swiSe  hwittra  sawla,  and  pus  wseron 
cweSende  : — "  pes  abbod  wses  ure  ealdor,  and  us  ealle  he  gestrynde  Gode 

usque  ad  genua,  quaedam  usque  ad  medium,  quaedam  vero  usque  ad  ascellas. 
Et  tamen  unaquaeque  cadentium  multo  clarior  speciosiorque  de  flumine  in  alteram 
ascendebat  ripam,  quam  prius  in  piceum  bulliens  cecidisset  flumen.  Et  unus  ex 
beatis  angelis  de  illis  cadentibus  animabus  dixit :  '  Hae  sunt  animae,  quae  post  exitum 
mortalis  vitae,  quibusdam  levibus  vitiis  non  omnino  ad  purum  abolitis,  aliqua  pia 
miserentis  Dei  castigatione  indigebant,  ut  Deo  dignae  offerantur.' 

11.  Et  citra  illud  flumen  speculatur  muros  fulgentes  clarissimi  splendoris, 
stupendae  longitudinis  et  altitudinis  inmensae.  Et  sanctos  angelos  dixisse  :  '  Haec 
est  enim  ilia  sancta  et  inclita  civitas,  caelestis  Hierusalem,  in  qua  istae  perpetualiter 
sanctae  gaudebunt  animae.'  Illas  itaque  animas  et  istius  gloriosae  civitatis  muros, 
ad  quam  post  transitum  fluminis  festinabant,  tarn  magna  inmensi  luminis  claritate 
et  fulgore  splendentes  esse  dixit,  ut,  reverberatis  oculorum  pupillis,  pro  nimio  splen- 
dore  in  eos  nullatenus  aspicere  potuisset. 

12.  Narravit  quoque,  ad  ilium  conventum  inter  alias  venisse  cuiusdam  hominis 
animam,  qui  in  abbatis  officio  defunctus  est ;  quae  speciosa  nimis  et  formosa  esse 
visa  est.  Quam  maligni  spiritus  rapientes  contendebant  sortis  eorum  et  condicionis 
fuisse.  Respondit  ergo  unus  ex  choro  angelorum  dicens :  '  Ostendam  vobis  cito, 
miserrimi  spiritus,  quia  vestrae  potestatis  anima  ilia  probatur  non  esse.'  Et  his 
dictis,  repente  intervenit  magna  choors  candidarum  aniniarum,  quae  dicebant : 
'  Senior  et  doctor  noster  fuit  iste,  et  nos  omnes  suo  magisterio  lucratus  est  Deo ;  et 
hoc  pretio  redemptus  est,  et  vestri  iuris  non  esse  dinoscitur,'  et  quasi  cum  angelis 

M.L.R.  xviii.  18 


270  WynfritKs  Letter  in  MS.  Otho  C.  1 

mid  his  lare,  and  he  biS  alysed  for  pissum  weorSe,  and  he  ne  biS  eowres 
anwealdes."  pa  gefuhton  pa  englas  wis  Sam  deoflum,  and  pa  englas  pa 
geeoden  on  pa  deoflu  past  hig  generedon  pa  sawle  of  para  <a>werigdra 

X45  gasta  anwealde.  pa  preade  se  halga  engel  pa  deoflu,  and  cwaeS :  "  Wite 
ge  nu  paet  ge  genamon  pas  sawle  buton  rihte :  gewitatS  ge  nu,  earman 
gastas,  f  nu  f  in  psefc  ece  fyr."  And  pa  se  engel  pis  gecweden  haefde,  pa 
ahofan  pa  awyrigdan  deoflu  swiSe  ormaetlicne  hiaf,  and  hig  wurpon  hig 
sylfe    mid   cwealmlicre   flihte  on   pa  byrne<ncfe>  s<ea>Sas,  and   hig 

150  coman  eft  aefter  lyttlum  faece  in  paet  gemot,  and  hig  flito<n  bi>  manna 
sawla  gewyrhtum. 

§  13.  '  And  hig  fliton  eac  bi  para  manna  gewyrhtum  pe  in  pissum 
life  mislice  lifiaS.  And  he  saede  eac,  on  pa  tid  pe  he  waes  buton  lichaman, 
paet  he  mihte  sceawian  pa  men  pa  pe  waeron  mid  synnum  besmitene,  and 

155  eac  pa  pe  waeron  mid  halgum  maegnum  Gode  peowigende  and  mid  arfaest- 
nyssum  haefdon  aelmihtigne  God  -f-.  And  he  geseah  paet  pa  Godes  men 
waeron  symble  f  biscyldende  f  fram  pam  englum,  and  pa  englas  waeron 
to  him  gepeodde  mid  sibbe  and  mid  lufu.  And  he  saede  bi  pam  mannum 
pe  waeron  gefylde  mid  manfullum  synnum,   paet  paer  waeron  symble 

160  deoflu  to  pam  gepeodde ;  and  he  saegde  ponne  se  man  syngode,  oS5e  on 
worde  o'SSe  on  daede,  paet  pa  deoflu  paet  singallice  saedon  pam  wyrrestan 
deoflum,  and  paet  hig  hit  brohtan  mid  hleahtre  in  hira  midnesse.  And 
he  saede  ponne  se  man  firnode  paet  pa  deoflu  brohtan  aelce  synne  onsun- 
dran  pam  oSrum  deoflum  to  gewitnesse;   and  he  saede  paet  se  diofol 

contra  daemones  pugnam  inirent.  Et  adminiculo  angeloruru  eripientes  illam  aniniam 
de  potestate  malignorum  spirituvun  liberaveruut.  Et  turn  increpans  angelus  dae- 
mones dixit :  '  Scitote  modo  et  intellegite,  quod  animam  istam  sine  iure  rapuistis : 
et  discedite,  miserrimi  spiritus,  in  ignein  aetei'num ' — cum  vero  hoc  dixisset  angelus, 
ilico  maligni  spiritus  levaverunt  fletum  et  ululatum  magnum  ;  in  momento  et  quasi  in 
ictu  oculi  pernici  volatu  iactabant  se  in  supra  dictos  puteos  ignis  ardentis  :  et  post 
modicum  intervallum  emersi  certantes  in  illo  conventu  iterum  de  animarum  meritis 
disputabant. 

13.  Et  diversorum  merita  hominum  in  hac  vita  commorantium  dicebat  se  illo  in 
tempore  speculari  potuisse.  Et  illos,  qui  sceleribus  obnoxii  non  fuerunt  et  qui  Sanctis 
virtutibus  freti  propitium  omnipotentem  Deum  habuisse  noscebautur,  ab  angelis 
semper  tutos  ac  defensos  et  eis  caritate  et  propinquitate  coniunctos  fuisse.  Illis 
vero,  qui  nefandis  criminibus  et  maculate  vitae  sordibus  polluti  fuerunt,  adversarium 
spiritum  adsidue  sociatum  et  semper  ad  scelera  suadentem  fuisse  ;  et,  quandocumque 
verbo  vel  facto  peccaverint,  hoc  iugiter  quasi  ad  laetitiam  et  gaudium  aliis  nequissi- 
mis  spiritibus  in  medium  proferens  manifestavit.  Et  quando  homo  peccavit,  nequa- 
quam  malignus  spiritus  sustinuit  moram  faciens  expectando,  donee  iterum  peccaret ; 

144  awerigdra]  initial  a  added  much  later  above  the  line. 
147  nu]  delete,  unless  it  is  an  error  for  inn  adv. 

156  God]  a  following  word  =' propitium'  omitted  in  MS.:  (?)  gemiltsod(ne). 

157  biscyldende]  read  biscyldede. 


K.  SIS  AM  271 

165  semninga  ba  synne  gelaerde  bone  man,  and  baet  he  hig  eft  semninga 
gecydde  bam  deoflum. 

§  14.  'And  he  saede  baet  he  geseage  grindan  her  on  worulde  an 
maegden  on  anre  cweorne.  pa  gesioh  hio  licgan  obres  maegdnes  lorh  wi5 
hig,  swiSe  faegre  awrittenne,  mid  fagum  flese.   pa  forstael  hio  hine.   pa 

170  waeron  ba  deoflu  sona  gefylled  mid  swiSe  ormaetlice  gefean,  and  baer 
urnon  sona  fif  ba  wyrrestan  deofla  and  saedon  ba  stalu  to  scylde  in  bara 
oSra  deofla  gemote,  and  hig  wregdon  ba  stale  to  scylde,  and  saedon  baet 
baet  maeden  waere  fyrenfull.   And  saede  eac  baet  he  baer  gesege  sumes 

174  ealdes  preostes  sawle  on  micelre  unrotnesse  se  waes  lyttle  aer  dead,  and 
f.  146  a  bam  he  begnade  <ponne  he>  laeg  on  his  feorhadle,  "  and  he  me  |  ba  baed 
ba  he  waes  sweltende  baet  ic  baede  his  <broftor  fiset  he>  friode  <sum> 
maennen  for  hine  baet  waes  hiom  baem  g<emmne."  pa  abead>  he  hit 
him;  ac  his  lices  broSor  for  his  gitsunge  a,gse<lde  pa  be>ne  and  nolde 
hig  gefyllen.   pa  waes  his  sawul  on  bsere  hextan  sworetunge,  <and  wee>s 

180  wregende  hire  bone  ungetriowan  broSer,  and  hio  hefiglice  hine  <firea>de. 

§  15  (=  16).    '  And  ba  bis  waes  eall  buss  gespecen  and  gesceawod,  ]?a 

bibudon  pa,  eadigan  englas  ]?aet  his  sawul  ahwyrfde  eft  buton  yldinge  to 

his  lichaman ;  and  he  \a,  gecydde  eall  J>aet  him  ]?aer  aeteawed  waes  gely- 

fedum  mannum ;  and  j?am  ]>e  hit  bismorodan,  ]?onne  forwyrnde  he  )?am 

185  ]?aere  segene.  And  sumum  wife  he  gerehte  hire  synne,  sio  waes  eardi- 
gende  in  feorjnode ;  and  he  hire  gecydde  J?aet  hio  mihte  geearnian,  gif 
hio  sylf  wolde,  past  hire  waere  aelmihtig  God  miltsiend.  And  sumum 
maessepreoste  he  gerehte  ealle  J>as  gastlican  gesihSe.    paes  maessepreostes 

sed  singillatira  unumquodque  vitium  ad  notitiam  aliorum  spirituum  offerebat.  Et 
subito  apud  hominem  peccata  suasit  et  ilico  apud  daemones  perpetrata  demonstravit. 

14.  Inter  ea  narravit,  se  vidisse  puellam  quandam  in  hac  terrena  vita  molantem 
in  mola.  Quae  vidit  iuxta  se  iacentem  alterius  novam  colum  sculptura  variatam  ; 
et  pulchra  ei  visa  fuit,  et  furata  est  illam.  Tunc,  quasi  ingenti  gaudio  repleti,  quin- 
que  teterrimi  spiritus  hoc  furtum  aliis  in  illo  referebant  conventu  testificantes,  illam 
furti  ream  et  peccatricem  fuisse.  Intulit  quoque  :  '  Fratris  cuiusdam,  qui  paulo  ante 
defunctus  est,  animam  tristem  ibi  videbam.  Cui  antea  ipse  in  infirmitate  exitus  sui 
ministravi  et  exsequia  prebui ;  qui  mihi  moriens  precepit,  ut  fratri  illius  germano 
verbis  illius  testificans  demandarem,  ut  ancillam  quandam,  quam  in  potestate  com- 
muniter  possederunt,  pro  anima  eius  manu  mitteret.  Sed  germanus  eius,  avaritia 
impediente,  petitionem  eius  non  implevit.  Et  de  hoc  supra  dicta  anima  per  alta 
suspiria  accussans  fratrem  infidelem  et  increpans  graviter  querebatur.' 

15.  El  similiter  testatus  est  de  Ceolredo  rege  Mercionwn,  quern  illo  tamen  tempore, 
quo  haec  visa  sunt,  in  corpore  fuisse  non  dubium  est.  Quern,  ut  dixit,  videbat  angelico 
quodam  umbraculo  contra  impetum  daemoniorum,  quasi  libri  alicuius  magni  exten- 
sione  et  superpositione,  defensum.  lpsi  autem  daemones  anhelando  rogabant  angelos, 
ut,  ablata  defensione  ilia,  ipsi  permitterentur  crudelitatis  eorum  voluntatem  in  eo 
exercere.  Et  inputabant  ei  horribilem  ac  nefandam  multitudinem  flagitiorum;  et 
minantes  dicebant,  ilium  sub  durissimis  infer orum  claustris  claudendum  et  ibi,  peccatis 

177  abead]  remains  of  last  letter  favour  d. 

18—2 


272  Wynfrith's  Letter  in  MS.  Otho  C.  1 

nama  wses  Bogia,  and  se  hine  gelserde  )?set  he  J>a  gesihSe  mannum  cydde. 

190  And  he  gecydde  ]?am  preoste  J?set  he  wses  iii  for  manegum  wintrum 
bigyrded  for  Godes  lufan  mid  iserne  gyrdelse,  and  nses  him  J?aes  nsenig 
man  gewita. 

§  16  (=17).  'And  he  ssede  ]>a  he  eft  sceolde  to  his  lichaman,  bset  he 
ba  nsenigre  oSru  wiht  swa  swiSe  onscunode  on  ealre  bsere  gesihSe  be  he 

195  geseah  swa  his  agenne  lichaman,  ne  him  nan  bing  swa  ladlic  Jmhte  ne 
swa  forsewenlic :  and  he  nsefre  gestanc  hiardran  fulnes  bonne  him  Jmhte 
J>set  se  lichama  stunce,  buton  bam  deoflum  and  J>am  byrnendum  fyre  ]?e 
he  J^ser  geseah.  And  him  ba  wa3s  biboden  bset  he  hwyrfde  to  his  lichaman 
in  dsegred,  and  ser  he  eode  of  his  lichaman  set  bam  forman  hancrede.' 

promerentibus,  aeternis  tormentis  cruciandum  esse.  Tunc  angeli  solito  tristiores  facti 
dicebant :  lPro  dolor,  quod  homo  peccator  iste  semet  ipsum  plus  defendere  non  per- 
mittit ;  et  ob  ipsius  propria  merita  nullum  ei  adiutorium  possumus  prebere.'  Et  aufe- 
rebant  superpositi  tutaminis  defensionem.  Tunc  daemones  gaudentes  et  exultantes,  de 
universis  mundi  partibus  congregati  maiori  multitudine,  quam  omnium  animantium 
in  saeculo  fieri  aestimaret,  diversis  eum  tormentis  inaestimabiliter  fatigantes  lacerabant. 

16.  Turn  demum  beati  angeli  praecipiebant  ei,  qui  haec  omnia  extra  corpus  suum 
raptus  spiritali  contemplatione  vidit  et  audivit,  ut  sine  mora  ad  proprium  rediret 
corpus  et  universa,  quae  illi  ostensa  fuerunt,  credentibus  et  intentione  divina  interro- 
gantibus  manifestare  non  dubitaret,  insultantibus  autem  narrare  denegaret ;  et  ut 
cuidam  mulieri,  quae  inde  in  longinqua  regione  habitabat,  eius  perpetrata  peccata  per 
ordinem  exponeret  et  ei  intimaret,  quod  omnipotentem  Deum  potuisset  per  satisfacti- 
onem  repropitiari  sibi,  si  voluisset;  et  ut  cuidam  presbitero  nomine  Beggan  istas 
spiritales  visiones  cunctas  exponeret,  et  postea,  quemadmodum  ab  illo  instructus 
fieret,  hominibus  pronuntiaret :  propria  quippe  peccata,  quae  illi  ab  spiritibus  in- 
mundis  inputata  fuerunt,  confessa  supra  dicti  presbiteri  iudicio  emendaret ;  et  ad 
indicium  angelici  praecepti  presbitero  testificari,  quia  iam  per  plurimos  annos  zonam 
ferream  circa  lumbos,  nullo  hominum  conscio,  amore  Domini  cogente,  habuerat. 

1 7.  Proprium  corpus  dicebat  se,  dum  extra  fuerat,  tarn  valde  perhorruisse,  ut  in 
omnibus  illis  visionibus  nihil  tarn  odibile,  nihil  tarn  despectum,  nihil  tarn  durum 
foetorem  evaporans,  exceptis  daemonibus  et  igne  flagrante,  videret,  quam  proprium 
corpus.  Et  fratres  eius  conservos,  quos  intuitus  est  exsequias  corporis  sui  clementer 
exhibere,  ideo  perhorruit,  quia  invisi  corporis  curam  egerunt.  Iussus  tamen  ab  angelis 
primo  diluculo  redit  ad  corpus,  qui  primo  gallicinio  exiebat  de  corpore.  Redivivo 
autem  in  corpore  plena  septimana  nihil  omnino  corporalibus  oculis  videre  potuit,  sed 
oculi  Jisicis  pleni,  frequenter  sanguine  stillaverunt. 

18.  Et  postea  de  presbitero  relegioso  et  peccatrice  muliere,  sicut  ei  ab  angelis  mani- 
festatum  est,  ita  illis  proftentibus,  verum  esse  probavit.  Subsequens  autem  et  citus 
scelerati  regis  exitus,  quae  de  illo  visa  fuerunt  vera  esse,  procul  dubio  probavit. 

19.  Multa  alia  et  his  similia  referebat  sibi  ostensa  fuisse,  quae  de  memoria 
labefacta  per  ordinem  recordari  nullatenus  potuisset.  Et  dicebat  se  post  istas  mirabiles 
visiones  tarn  tenacem  memoriae  non  fuisse,  ut  ante  fuerat. 

20.  Haec  autem  te  diligenter  flagitante  scripsi,  quae  tribus  mecum  relegiosis  et 
valde  venerabilibus  fratribus  in  commune  audientibus  exposuit;  qui  mihi  in  hoc  scripto 
adstipidatores  fideles  testes  esse  dinoscuntur. 

Vale;  verae  virgo  vitae  ut  et  vivas  angelicae, 
Recto  rite  et  rumore  regnes  semper  in  aethere 
Christum. 

K.  SlSAM. 
Oxford. 


A  NEW  COLLATION  OF  THE  GLOSS  OF  THE 
DURHAM  RITUAL. 

My  dissertation  on  the  language  of  the  Old  Northumbrian  Gloss  of 
the  Rituale  Ecclesiae  Dunelmensis,  published  more  than  thirty  years 
ago  (Die  Sprache  des  Rituals  von  Durham,  Helsingfors,  1890),  and  my 
Glossary  to  the  same  text  (  Worterbuch  zur  Interlinearglosse  des  Rituale 
Ecclesiae  Dunelmensis,  Bonn,  1901),  were  both  founded  on  Stevenson's 
edition  of  the  Ritual  (Publications  of  the  Surtees  Society,  1840),  corrected 
in  accordance  with  the  collation  published  by  the  late  Professor  Skeat 
in  the  Transactions  of  the  Philological  Society  (London,  1879).  Some 
years  ago  I  came  across  Professor  Skeat's  popular  sketch  of  the  English 
Dialects,  from  the  Eighth  Century  to  the  Present  Day  (Cambridge,  1911), 
and  found  there,  on  page  21,  the  following  statement  as  to  the  text  of 
the  Ritual :  '  Mr  Stevenson's  edition  exhibits  a  rather  large  number  of 
misreadings,  most  of  which  (I  fear  not  quite  all)  are  noted  in  my  "  Colla- 
tion of  the  Durham  Ritual."  When  in  the  summer  of  1922  circumstances 
made  it  possible  for  me  to  spend  a  few  days  at  Durham,  I  took  the 
opportunity  of  collating  the  Gloss  in  the  MS.  of  the  Ritual  with 
Stevenson's  text,  and  am  able  to  add  a  considerable  number  of  correc- 
tions to  those  printed  in  Skeat's  collation.  The  following  is  a  list  of  my 
new  readings,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  cases  where  the  printed  text 
differs  from  the  MS.  only  in  the  use  of  the  letter  u  or  v  for  u  or  w\ 
In  order  to  facilitate  the  comparison  with  my  previous  works  on  the 
Ritual,  I  refer  to  the  number  of  the  pages  and  the  lines  of  the  Gloss  in 
Stevenson's  edition.  The  Latin  word  of  the  text  and  Stevenson's  read- 
ing are  given  within  marks  of  parenthesis. 

1,  2  (electus,  Stevenson  gecoren')  read  gicoren*.  1,  9  (solitudines, 
vnbyergo)  should  perhaps  be  read  vnbyengo,  r  and  n  being  sometimes 
very  similar  to  each  other2. 

2,  1  (epiphania,  baed  dseg)  looks  rather  like  bseS  daeg3. 

1  And  perhaps  in  a  few  cases  referring  to  the  use  of  se  or  ae. 

2  Cf.  byencgv  (habitaculis)  123,  4 ;  and  see  Bosworth-Toller  and  Hall. 

3  The  meaning  of  this  gloss  is  quite  clear  ;  '  bseS  dseg  '  (bath  day)  is  '  baptism  day  '  ;  on 
the  connexion  of  Epiphany  with  celebrations  of  the  baptism  of  Christ  cf.  the  article 
1  Epiphany  '  in  the  Encyclopedia  Britannica. 


274    A  New  Collation  of  the  Gloss  of  the  Durham  Ritual 

3,  1  (salvatoris,  second  gloss:  hielendes)  read  haelendes,  ae  in  the 
Gloss  being  often  very  similar  to  ie.  3,  5  (manifestata,  giyredo)  probably 
giypedo;  the  fourth  letter  is  certainly  not  an  r1. 

4,  6  (nzea,  min)  the  gloss  min  occurs  twice  (min  min). 

5,  5  (misericordise,  miltheart)  miltheart'.  5,  9  (etenim,  f'Son)  7  f  Son. 
5, 12  (afflictam,  first  gloss  :  awoerSedo)  awoerdedo.  5, 17  (guidem,  wuted) 
wuted'. 

6,  8  (loquebar,  ic  spraeco)  ic  spraec.  6,  13  (quicquam,  aenigv)  aengv. 
6,  19  (exaudi,  geher)  giher. 

7,  9  {ineffabilem,  vnasacegendlic')  vnasaecgendlic'.  7, 14  (reparations, 
eftnivuwn'ges  Stev.,  eftnivuwunges  Skeat)  Stevenson's  reading  appears 
to  be  the  correct  one,  yet  the  curl  is  rather  above  the  w. 

8,  1  (infirmitatem,  vntrymnise  Stev.,  vntrumnise  Skeat)  Stevenson 
gives  the  correct  reading.     8,  14  (adversitas,  viSerworSnise)  viServordnise. 

10,  5  (ambulaverit,  gigieS)  gigaeS.  10,  6  (vivet,  gilefeS)  gilifeS.  10,  8 
(patris,  faSores)  fadores. 

11,  1  (furor,  waelm  Stev.,  walm'  Skeat)  waelm'. 

12,  4  (gratias,  Sancvnco)  Soncvnco.     12,  17  (die,  dseg)  dsegi. 

13,  16  (et,  1)  7.     13,  18  (vobismetipsis,  ivh  soelfv)  ivh  seolfv. 

14,  4  (quadragesimali,  faestn'lic'  Stev.,  fsesternlic  Skeat)  fsest'nlic'. 
14,  12  (jejunium,  fsestn'  Stev.,  fsestern  Skeat)  fsest'n.  14,  19  (adversaria, 
wiSerwordnis')  wiSirwordnis'. 

15,  2  (macerantur,  awonaS  bi?5on)  awonad  biSon.  15,  4  (claritatis, 
brihtnises)  brehtnises. 

17,  20  (jejunemus,  ve  gefsestae)  ve  gifaesta?. 

18,  2  (nobis,  vs)  vs.     18,  9  (mitigatis,  gimengadv)  gimetgadv2. 

19,  1  (deleo,  gidilga)  ic  gidilga.  19,  3  (recordabor,  eft  gimyndga)  eft 
ic  gimyndga. 

20,  5  (expectabo,  ic  bid'o)  ic  bido. 

21,  4  (tabernaculum,  hvs)  hvs.  21,  11  (similitudinem,  anlicnisse) 
onlicnisse.     21,  20  (desiit,  first  gloss :  Hasten)  f'leten. 

22,  2  (seternam,  eco...)  ecnisse  altered  to  eco.  22,  4  (secula,  worulda 
Stev.,  worulde  alt.  to  -a  Skeat)  worlde  alt.  to  worlda. 

23, 16  (affligimur,  we  biSon  awoendedo)  we  biSon  awoerdedo. 

24,  8  (fideliter,  gitrowalice)  gitriwalice3.  24,  16  (incontaminatam, 
vnawidlad  Stev.,  vnwidlad  Skeat)  Stevenson  gives  the  correct  reading. 

25,  6  (ipso,  Sem)  5aem.     25,  9  (epulemur,  girordiga  ve  Stev.,  gihror- 

1  giyPP8,  (inanifestare)  is  found  four  times  in  the  Ritual ;  cf.  my  Glossary. 

2  gimetgia  (temperare,  mitigare)  four  times  in  Bit. ,  cf.  Glossary. 

8  A  form  'gitrowalice,'  mentioned  in  BT   (s.v.  getreowlice,  in   the  Suppl.)   and   in 
Bvilbring,  Elementarb.  §  329,  does  not  exist  in  Bit. 


U.  LINDELOF  275 

diga  ve  Skeat)  giriordiga  ve.  25,  12  (malitiam,  yfelgiorn'is)  the  curl  is 
here,  as  is  usually  the  case,  placed  above  the  word,  and  certainly  stands 
for  an  omitted  ending.     25,  22  (mortificatos,  gideSod)  gideSed1. 

26,  10  (vetus,  se  aldra)  se  alda. 

27,  9  (secundum,  eft')  sefV.     27,  15  (certamen,  gifeht')  gifeht. 

28,  5  (patre,  fseder)  seems  corrected  to  feder.  28,  6  (nee  vicissitudinis, 
ne  sethvoerflvnges  Stev. ;  '  looks  like  echvoerflvnges '  Skeat)  the  gloss  is 
unmistakably  ne  sec  hvoerfl  vnges  (nee  being  glossed  *  ne  sec  ')2.  28,  13 
(sumus,  sindon)  sindon  ve.     28,  14  (ceteri,  o&ro)  oSoro. 

29,  4  (obliviosus,  of'geatvl)  of  geotvl. 

30,  5  (gratiam,  gife)  second  letter  illegible.  30,  10  (perceperunt, 
onfaengon)  onfengon.     30,  11  (haec,  Sses)  Sas. 

31,  19  (tribue,  girae'e  Stev.,  raec  Skeat)  girsec. 

32,  2  (adunasti,  gigei. . . .adest  Stev.,  gige...r..dest  Skeat)  legible  is 
only  gige adest. 

34,  2  (csdesti,  heafne)  heofne.  34,  9  (dignanter,  ginieodvmlicej 
gimeodvmlice.  34,  10  (terrena,  eardlico)  earSlico.  34,  14  (facias,  Sv 
doast  Stev.,  Sv  dost  Skeat)  Sv  doe. 

36,  1  (sinas,  f'lset  Sv)  f'let  Sv.  36,  15  (vivamus,  ve  lifa)  ve  lifia. 
36,  18  (dignatus,  gimoedvmad)  gimeodvmad. 

37,  5  (clarificare,  gigibrehtan)  gi-  (new  line)  gibrehta.  37,  13 
(omnipotent,  sellm')  allm'. 

38,  14  (digneris,  gimetdomia  Sv)  gimeodomia  Sv.  38,  15  (luminis, 
lihtes)  gloss  faded,  but  probably  lehtes.     38,  18  (se,  ina?  Skeat)  hia. 

40,  14  (miser  orum)  ...mra)  gloss  faded,  probably  earmra.  40,  15 
(verberum,  1st  gloss:  Serlincgra  Stev.,  Sersincgra  Skeat)  Serscincgra; 
(remediorum,  lecedome)  lecedoma.  40,  17  (irasceris,  giiorses)  giiorsas ; 
(ajflicti)  gloss  indistinct,  probably  gisvoenctes. 

42,  2  (percepta,  Ser  ondfoendv)  Serhonfoendv.  42,  3  (serviamus, 
giherse  ve)  gihere  ve.     42,  18  (consolatione,  frofra)  frofre. 

43,  1  (moveat,  ...oen)  ...oer.  43,  2  (affectus,  to...gvng),  indistinct, 
looks  like  tohigvng. 

44,  2  (loquebatur,  wses  sprycend')  gloss  indistinct,  yet  probably  wses 
spreccende. 

45,  2  (capere,  ginoma)  ginioma. 

47,  3  (venerandam,  arwyrSre)  arwyrSne. 

1  Cf.  correction  to  48,  7  (gideada).  The  Old  Northumbrian  texts  seem  generally  (though 
with  a  couple  of  exceptions,  perhaps  caused  by  confusion)  to  distinguish  between  the  verbs 
deadia,  to  die  (weak  class  n),  and  gide&a,  to  kill  (weak  class  i). 

2  hvoerflvng  correctly  given  in  Bosworth-Toller,  Suppl.,  s.v.  hwirflung;  see  also  Napier, 
Old  English  Glosses  1992. 


276     A  New  Collation  of  the  Gloss  of  the  Durham  Ritual 

48,  7  (mortifica,  gideaSa  Sv)  gideada  tSv1. 

50,  2  (passione,  Srovenge)  corrected  to  Srovnge.  50,  14  (iniquitate, 
vnrehtvisse')  curl  above  the  word,  evidently  to  be  read  vnrehtvisnisse. 
50,  16  (qui,  Sv  Se)  ffa  Se  (!). 

51,  3  (sexu,  giscsef)  more  like  giscsep.     51,  4  (ejus,  Sees)  Sasr. 

52,  5  (donatione,  gefe  giselenise)  gefe  seems  erased. 

55,  6  (mandavero,  bibeade)  ic  bibeade;  (facie,  onsiene)  onsione. 
55,  16  (formans,  1st  gloss :  bisnide)  gloss  indistinct,  looks  rather  like 
bisinde.     55,  20  (tuum,  Sinre)  Sinne. 

56,  17  (preconis,  merseris)  merseres. 

58,  3  (angelus,  angel)  engel.  58,  4  (dicens,  cvoedende)  cvoeSende. 
58,  11  (manu,  honde  Stev.,  hondte  Skeat)  hondv  altered  to  honde. 

59,  14  (gubernetur,  sie  gisteored)  sie  gistiored. 

60,  3  (minimus,  laesest  Stev.,  lasest  Skeat)  Stevenson  gives  the  correct 
reading.     60,  4  (apostolus,  erendwraca)  erendwracca. 

61,  5  (quanto,  svse  fealo)  svse  feolo.  61,  6  (validioribus,  strongrvm 
Stev.,  stronglrvm  (!)  Skeat)  stronglicvm.  61,  12  (narrabunt,  2nd  gloss : 
secgaS)  ssecgaS. 

62,  13  (cognovimus,  ve  ongetton)  ve  ongeton. 
65,  16  (2nd  quasi,  svselce)  svoelce. 

66, 13  (tamen,  sva  Seah)  svae  Seah.  66, 15  (delictis,  gvltingv)  gyltingv; 
(ignosce,  f  egifi  Stev.,  f'gif  Skeat)  P gef. 

68,  18  (2nd  una,  min)  an. 

69,  3  (servorum,  Segna)  Seana. 

70,  5  (experiatur,  sie  ar Stev.,  sie  aynsped  (?)  Skeat)  gloss  difficult 

to  read,  perhaps  sie  aypped.     70,  7  (patrociniis,  faSorlicv  Singv)  fadorlicv 
ftingv.     70,  10  (dracone,  Saem  drsecce)  Ssem  drsecca. 

74,  6  (largiente,  gifende)  gefende.  74,  9  (offendimus,  ve  ondspyrnatS) 
ve  ondspvrnaiS. 

75,  4  (cotidie,  dseghvemlice)  dseghveemlice. 

77,  13  (tribue,  gife)  gise,  perhaps  for  gisel.  77,  19  (micantium, 
lexendra)  probably  lixendra. 

79,  7  (credit,  gilefeS)  gelefeS.     79,  11  (reatibus,  gescyldv)  giscyldv. 

81,  12  (abyssi,  niolnisso)  niolniso. 

82,  3  (supplicatione,  boed')  boen'.  82,  7  (possibilitas,  1st  gloss :  ve 
mseg)  ve  msegi. 

83,  1  (ascendens,  astigend)  astigende.  83,  2  (altum,  heahnisse) 
heanisse. 

84,  18  (hereditabit,  gierfevarSeS)  gierfevardeS. 

1  Cf.  note  to  25,  22. 


U.  LINDELOF  277 

85,  4  (voluerit,  ville  Stev.,  v. He  (?)  Skeat)  probably  vselle.  85,  8 
(recedet,  eft  fareS)  gloss  faded,  more  like  eft  faereS.  85,  21  (qui,  Sa  5e) 
<5v  Se. 

86,  5  (conciliet,  gifoege)  more  like  gifoega.  86,  9  (exterminii,  woestes 
Stev.,  woesternes  Skeat)  woest'es.  86,  18  (cito,  hreS')  probably  hreSe ; 
(discurrent,  giiorniaS)  giiornaS. 

87,  6  (preimus,  1st  gloss:  icge  ve  Stev., ycge  ve  Skeat)  gloss 

■difficidt  to  read,  looks  like  gibrycge  ve1. 

88,  8  (cognovit,  onget')  ongaet. 

89,  3  (adjuvemur,  ve  sie  aholpen)  ve  sie  holpen.  89, 17  (indulgentiam, 
f'egefnise)  f'gefhise. 

90,  14  (eo  quod,  f'e  Son)  f'Son. 

92,  9  (inexpugnabile,  vnafashtendlic)  vnafehtendlic  (?).  92,  12  (red- 
didit, gigelde)  probably  agelde. 

93,  9  (fiducia,  haeldo)  bseldo.  93,  12  (frequentibus,  eftgimose... 
Stev.,  oft  giriosede(?)  Skeat)  gloss  faded,  looks  like  oft  giniosende2. 

94,  18  (societatis,  gifoenscipes)  gifoerscipes. 

95,  11  (presta,  gion)  gionn. 

97,  12  (fabricata,  gihrinado)  h  expunged. 

104,  5  (famulam,  Sioenne  Skeat)  Sioen'.  104,  12  (respice,  eft  bisih) 
eft  besih. 

107,  7  (regi,  cynig)  cynig'.  107,  10  (tauri,  farra)  farras ;  (omnia, 
alia)  alio. 

108,  7  (connubii,  gesinig')  gisinig'.  108,  13  (generatio,  cnevreso 
Stev.,  cneoreso  Skeat)  Stevenson  gives  the  correct  reading. 

109,  8  (institui,  p  we  vere  asended  (?)■  Stev. ;  Skeat :  read  asetted) 
gloss   indistinct,  probably   asetted.      109,    9   (conligaveris,   gis...scipla 

Stev.,   gis scipli  (?)   Skeat)  gloss  faded,   looks   like   gis gscipa, 

probably  to  be  read  gisinigscipa ;  (copulam,  geaorvng)  geadrvng.     109, 13 
(diluvii,  floedes)  flodes. 

110,  1  (permaneat,  Serhwvnie)  Serhwvnia ;  (thoro,  bryd  scean'  ?)  bryd- 
sceam'3.  110,  6  (tertiam,  SriSa  Stev.,  Sirdan  Skeat)  SirSan  (!).  110,  15 
(celo,  heafone)  heofne. 

111,  6  (digneris,  gimoedvma  5v)  gimeodvma  5 v.  Ill,  9  (creator, 
sceppend)  scgppend. 

113,  1  (assidue,  giwvnlice)  givvnvlice.  113,  2  (cxl,  hvnd  feortig 
Stev.,  hvnd  feor...  Skeat)  hvnd  feort'. 

1  Cf.  gibrycgende  (utenda)  97,  15.    The  obscure  Latin  text  has  evidently  caused  the 
Glossator  great  difficulties.     Cf.  also  lifbrycgvng  7,  15. 

2  Cf.  oftginiosa'5  (frequentant)  15,  9. 

3  Probably  brydsceamol,  see  BT,  Suppl.,  and  cf.  Schlutter,  Anglia  45,  p.  187  f. 


278     A  New  Collation  of  the  Gloss  of  the  Durham  Ritual 

114,  1  (creaturi,  giscefte)  gisc§fte  (?).  114,  4  (patiaris,  giSolaSes) 
giSola  Sv.     114,  9  (Jordanis,  jord'  Stev. ;  gloss  illegible  Skeat)  iorda'. 

115,  13  (sanasti,  Sv  gihaeledest)  Sv  gihaeldest. 

116,  8  (sanctificate,  gihalgado)  gihaelgado.  116,  19  (hydrias,  fato 
Stev.,  faeto  Skeat)  fato  is  the  correct  reading. 

117,  4  {mereamur,  vegiearniaS)  vegiearnia.  117,  7  (aptas,  giscroepo 
Stev.,  giscroero  (?)  Skeat)  gloss  partly  faded,  yet  Stevenson's  reading 
probably  correct. 

118,  2  (omnes,  ale)  selc.     118,  4  (remissionem,  eftf'gifnis)  eftf'gefnis. 

119,  5  (digneris,  gimoedv')  gimeodv'.     119,  11  (ac,  &)  7. 

120,  11  (exorcizo,  ic  gihaelsiga)  ic  gihalsiga. 

123,  3  (benignitas,  boedsvng)  bloedsvng. 

124,  21  (remissionem,  f'egefnise)  f'gefnise. 

125,  3  (respice,  bisih)  besih.  125,  14  (vipera,  sio  hatt'ne)  sio  haett'ne. 
125,  19  (vires,  att'no)  aett'no1;  (evacua,  gild...Sia)  gloss  illegible. 

126,  9  (dignetur,  gimvod'  Stev.,  gimeood'  Skeat)  gimeod'.  126,  14 
(natus,  acenn')  accenn'  (!). 

145,  2  (omnipotentem,  allmaehtigne)  allmaehtigne.  145,  4  (adjuro, 
ic  halsigo)  ic  gehalsigo.  145,  10  (creator,  scieppend)  scaeppend,  cf  3,  1. 
145,  11  (seiernsR,  aeces)  above  the  word  is  written  an  r,  probably  indicating 
a  correction  to  aecre. 

146,  1  (sancte,  hselge  Stev.,  halga  Skeat)  hselge  corr.  to  -a.  146,  7 
(pater,  feder)  faeder. 

162,  2  (supplices,  boensendo)  boensando.     162,  7  (gisihde)  gisihSe. 

163,  15  (patris,  faeder'  Stev.,  faedor'  Skeat)  fador.  163,  21  (accendat, 
giled...  Stev.,  gilehto  Skeat)  gilehta  (?). 

164,  2  (unice,  an...)  ancend  (indistinct).     164,  7  (instruis,  Sv  gibaeres) 

Sv  gilaeres.     164,  8  (ignibus  ,  fyr  licv)  ignibus  m 2, 

fyr..  midd..licv  (evidently  fyrum  middaeglicum). 

165,  18  (principalis,  aldorlic)  aldorlic'. 

168,  11  (mundum,  clene)  claene. 

169,  1  (viris,  vervm)  vaervm.  169,  14  (r  i.e.  retributiones,  eftselnisses 
Stev.,  eftselenises  Skeat)  eftselenise  (?).     169,  19  (te,  Sec)  no  gloss. 

170,  9  (1st  te)  glossed  Sec.     170,  19  (respice,  eftbisih)  efbbesih. 

171,  9  (quia,  f'eSon)  f'Son ;  (peccavi,  ic  synde  Stev.,  ic  synde'  Skeat) 
ic  syn'de.  171,  17  (semper,  symble)  symle;  (justitiam,  soSfaestnis') 
soSfaestnis'. 

175,  7  (fecit,  Syde)  dyde.     175,  21  (qua,  Saem)  Saem. 

1  The  Glossator  has  mistaken  vires  for  a  plural  of  virus. 

2  The  illegible  word  in  this  Ambrosian  hymn  is  meridiem. 


U.  LINDELOF  279 

176,  4  (benedic,  gibloedsa)  gebloedsa.  176,  7  (habundantia,  gihyht- 
svmnisse  Stev.,  ginyhtsvmnise  Skeat)  ginyhtsvmnisse. 

177,  13  {multse,  msenigo)  menigo. 

178,  16  (inmittit,  onsende  Stev.,  onsette  ?  Skeat)  onseade  (!  prob. 
miswritten  for  onsende). 

179,  17  {incongruum,  vngebyredlic)  vngibyredlic. 

180,  2  (stecula,  vorvldo)  vorvlda. 

181,  1  (noctem,  neht)  nseht.  181,  13  (benedictus,  gibloedsad)  ge- 
bloedsad.     181,  18  {sanctum,  halga)  hselga. 

182,  6  (possimus,  ve  msego)  ve  maegi.     182,  17  (caliginem, strvng) 

gloss  hardly  legible,  looks  like  heolstrvng1. 

183,  2  {remisse,  f'egefeno)  f  gefeno. 
187,  18  (bellum,  gefeht)  gifeht. 

189,  16  {kaduca,  3a  geheno)  gloss  almost  illegible. 

190,  7  {potest,  maehge)  corrected  to  maege.  190,  11  {pater,  fader) 
feeder. 

191,  10  {ruit,  gefselea  Stev.,  gefael  Skeat)  gefsel,  above  the  line  corrected 
to  gefeal.     191,  20  {sors,  geslytte)  gehlytte. 

192,  14  (1st  alia,  oSer)  oSor.     192,  16  {spiritus,  gastes)  prob.  gastas. 

193,  4  {licet,  Seh  sie)  5aeh   sie.     193,  8  {tribunus,  landhsebbende) 

londhsebbende.     193,  14  {Mei. ,  seghvoelcvm)  eghvoelc  cyn\     193,  16 

{Exodo,  exodos  boc)  exodes  boc. 

194,  2  (we,  Sv  lses)  Sy  lses.     194,  3  {exorcista,  halsere)  hselsere. 

195,  3  {nominantur,  genomaS  biS)  genomad  bi3.  195,  16  {requiescit, 
geresteS)  girgste'. 

197,  8  {I II I,  fover)  gloss  faded :  f..  ver ;  the  distance  between  f  and  v 
makes  it  almost  certain  that  the  gloss  was  feover.  197, 8  {litteris,  staefnv) 
stafv ;  the  gloss  to  '  litera '  in  the  same  line  (Stev.  staefne)  is  absolutely 
illegible.     197,  11  {suis)  gloss  prob.  sinvm. 

198,  7  {opifex,  doere  creftig)  doere  crseftig.     198,  9  (2nd  sunt,  woere) 

woero.     198,  14  {tenuit,  geheald)  giheald.     198,  16  {divina,  godecvn ) 

godcvn....     198,  17  {expulsi,  f'edrifeno)  f'drifeno. 

199,  3  (///,  Sreo)  Srio  (?). 

I  add  some  short  remarks  on  the  new  readings.  They  do  not  of 
course  materially  alter  our  general  conception  of  the  language  of 
the  Ritual  Gloss.  Some  corrections  are  no  doubt  of  small  import- 
ance, but  many  of  them  possess  a  certain  interest  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  phonology  and  morphology  of  our  text.   A  few  impossible 

1  Cf.  heolstor,  subst.  and  adj.,  and  the  adj.  heolstrig. 


280     A  New  Collation  of  the  Gloss  of  the  Durham  Ritual 

or  evidently  erroneous  words  or  forms  in  the  printed  text  have  no 
foundation  in  the  manuscript,  and  a  considerable  number  of  irregulari- 
ties and  deviations  from  the  general  linguistic  and  dialectal  type  of  the 
Gloss,  some  of  which  are  even  mentioned  in  standard  works  on  Old 
English  Grammar,  have  proved  to  be  simply  misreadings  or  misprints. 

Correct  MS.  readings  instead  of  evidently  erroneous  forms  of  the 
printed  text  are  e.g.  found  in  the  following  places :  2,  1 ;  3,  5 ;  7,  9 ; 
23,  16;  34,  9;  38,  14;  38,  18;  42,  2;  51,  3;  61,  6;  70,  5;  82,  3;  93,  9; 
94,  18;  114,  4;  118,  2;  123,  3;  164,  7;  175,  7;  191,  20;  197,  8  (stafv). 
Add  to  this  the  deciphering  of  some  glosses,  faded  and  hard  to  read, 
which  appear  incomplete  in  the  printed  text:  40,  14;  40,  17;  85,  4; 
164,2;  164,8;  182,  17;  197,  11. 

Readings  which  are  of  interest  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  phono- 
logy of  the  Gloss  are  e.g.  (phonology  of  the  vowels) :  3,  1 ;  10,  5;  10,  6 ; 

II,  1;  12,  4;  13,  18;  15,  4;  21,  11;  21,  20;  25,  9;  27,  9;  28,  5;  29,4 
(cf.  Bulbring,  Elementarb.  §  236) ;  30,  10;  30,  11 ;  34,  2  (cf.  Bulbring,  loc. 
cit.) ;  36,  1 ;  36,  18 ;  37,  13 ;  38,  15 ;  44,  2 ;  45,  2 ;  55,  6 ;  59,  14 ;  60,  3 
(lsesest  for  lasest,  cf.  Sievers,  Ags.  Gramm.  §  312,  Anm.  1) ;  61,5;  61, 12 
66,  15  ;  74,  6  (there  are  no  forms  with  i  in  the  verb  'to  give'  in  Rit. ;  cf. 
Bulbring,  §155,  Anm.  2;  Luick,  Hist.  Gramm.  §173,  Anm.  3);  75,  4 
77,  19;  85,  8;  86,  18;  88,  8;   110,  15  (cf.  Bulbring,  loc.  cit);   111,  6 

III,  9;   114,  1;   116,   19;  118,4;   119,  5;  125,   14;    126,  9;  145,   10 
146,  7 ;   163,  15 ;  168,  11  (clsene  for  clene ;  cf.  Bulbring,  §  167,  Anm.) 
177,  13;  181,  1;  190,  11;  191,  10;  193,  8;  193,  14;  197,  8  (feover  for 
fover;  cf.  Sievers,  §  325 ;  Bulbring,  §331);  198,  7;  199,  3;  (phonology 
of  the  consonants)  5,  12  ;    8,  14  ;    10,  8  ;    34,  10  ;   40,  15 ;   58,  4  ;   58,  11 ; 
62,  13 ;  70,  7  ;  83,  2  ;  84,  18  ;  109,  9 ;  162,  7  ;  171,  17 ;  190,  7. 

Not  a  few  of  the  readings  enumerated  have  at  the  same  time  a 
morphological  interest.  Other  corrections  relating  to  the  morphology 
of  the  Gloss  are  to  be  found  e.g.  6,  8  ;  15,  2  ;  26,  10;  34,  14;  36,  15; 
37,5;  40,  15;  40,  17;  42,  18;  56,  17;  82,  7;  83,  1;  107,  10;  115,  13; 
117,4;  182,6;   192,  16;  195,3. 

U.  LindelOf. 

Helsingfors. 


ON  EDITING  EARLY  ENGLISH  TEXTS. 

SOME  BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  AND  PAL^EOGRAPHICAL 
CONSIDERATIONS. 

The  object  of  the  following  notes  is  to  plead  for  stricter  attention 
to  certain  bibliographical  and  pal  geographical  details  on  the  part  of 
editors  of  early  English  texts.  The  occasion  is  a  perusal  of  Professor 
J.  W.  H.  Atkins'  elaborate  edition  of  The  Owl  and  the  Nightingale 
recently  published  by  the  Cambridge  University  Press.  On  the  merits 
of  the  work  as  a  whole  I  am  in  no  way  competent  to  pronounce  :  I  can 
only  say  that  the  full  commentary  seems  to  me  of  the  greatest  value 
and  that  the  ninety  pages  of  introduction  are  unquestionably  of  first-rate 
interest.  Indeed  it  is  just  because,  so  far  as  I  can  judge,  the  edition 
has  been  so  admirably  prepared  that  I  venture  to  make  use  of  a  few 
minor  defects  as  pegs  on  which  to  hang  certain  criticisms  that  seem  to 
me  to  apply  very  generally  to  current  editorial  methods  in  that  part  of 
English  literature  for  which  we  depend  on  manuscript  originals. 

In  the  first  place  I  suggest  the  desirability  of  greater  precision  and 
care  in  the  use  of  bibliographical  terms,  in  which  I  include  what  would 
more  generally  be  called  the  terms  of  textual  criticism.  Words  are 
always  slippery  things,  and  in  a  field  where  precise  thought  is  above  all 
necessary  (and  rare),  a  critic  cannot  give  too  great  attention  to  deter- 
mining the  exact  bearing  of  the  evidence  and  presenting  it  to  his 
readers  in  unequivocal  language. 

Discussing  '  the  two  texts '  in  which  the  poem  he  edits  is  preserved 
(Cotton,  Calig.  A  ix,  and  Jesus  Coll.  Oxford,  29)  Mr  Atkins  propounds 
four  propositions,  the  essence  of  which  he  indicates  by  italics  as  follows : 
(i)    '  J.  represents  a  later  version  than  C.,' 
(ii)  '  the  texts  are  independent  copies,' 
(iii)  '  both  texts  were  copied  from  a  common  original,' 
(iv)  *  this  common  original  was  not  the  author's  text  but  an  inter- 
mediate copy.' 

The  context,  of  course,  to  some  extent  amplifies  these  propositions, 
but  they  are  apparently  intended  to  stand  by  themselves  as  precise  and 
accurate  statements  of  fact.  Now,  as  regards  (i)  the  evidence  adduced 
seems  to  show  that  all  the  writer  means  is  '  J.  is  later  than  C    As  the 


282  On  Editing  Early  English  Texts 

term  '  version '  is  often  used,  and  as  Mr  Atkins  elsewhere  uses  it,  the 
later  of  two  manuscripts  may,  of  course,  preserve  the  earlier  version. 
In  (ii)  '  independent '  is  a  very  ambiguous  term.  The  further  statement 
that  '  J.  is  not  based  on  C  makes  it  at  once  clear  that  Mr  Atkins 
would  define  two  manuscripts  as  '  independent '  when  neither  is  a  copy 
(mediate  or  immediate)  of  the  other.  This  is  quite  legitimate,  but 
various  other  uses  are  possible  and  indeed  current.  It  is,  however,  with 
respect  to  (iii)  that  the  chief  difficulty  arises,  and  I  must  confess  that 
I  am  not  at  all  certain  that  I  know  what  Mr  Atkins  means  by  the 
statement.  It  will,  I  think,  be  found  that  among  critics  such  a  phrase 
is  used  in  one  of  three  senses,  (a)  By  'copied'  may  be  meant  'ultimately 
copied.'  In  that  case  (if  we  exclude  the  possibility  of  oral  transmission, 
which  does  not  here  arise)  the  statement  is  a  truism,  since  it  follows 
from  the  fact  that  the  texts  are  texts  of  the  same  work.  (6)  By  '  common 
original '  is  sometimes  meant  an  archetype  short  of  the  author's  manu- 
script. This  cannot  be  Mr  Atkins'  sense,  since  it  would  render  proposition 
(iv)  superfluous,  (c)  The  strictest  meaning  can  be  given  to  the  phrase 
by  taking  'copied'  in  the  sense  of  'immediately  copied.'  And  this, 
I  think,  is  what  Mr  Atkins  must  mean,  since  he  adds  that  certain 
evidence  'seems  to  suggest  that  the  scribes  had  before  them  one  and 
the  same  MS.'  But  if  this  is  so,  I  can  only  say,  with  all  due  respect, 
that  the  evidence  on  which  he  relies  seems  to  me  not  only  inconclusive 
but  hardly  even  relevant.  The  proposition  is  not  in  itself  unreasonable, 
for  the  evidence  does  make  it  unlikely  that  the  extant  texts  are  many 
steps  removed  from  their  latest  common  ancestor,  but  it  is  difficult  even 
to  imagine  the  evidence  that  would  warrant  the  assertion  that  'it  is 
clear  that '  they  are  immediate  copies  of  it. 

Reconsideration  might  likewise  suggest  some  change  in  the  following 
statement:  'J.  supplies  a  few  lines  that  are  missing  from  C....and  the 
fact  that  these  lines  formed  part  of  the  original  poem  and  are  no  mere 
scribal  insertions,  is  proved  by  the  rhymes.'  There  may  be — there 
probably  are — excellent  reasons  for  regarding  the  lines  in  question  as 
original,  but  how  is  their  nature  '  proved  by  the  rhymes '  ?  Is  M  r  Atkins 
prepared  to  argue  that  the  linguistic  forms  required  were  obsolete  by 
the  time  J.  was  written  ?  I  imagine  not ;  at  least  he  makes  no  such 
assertion  in  the  course  of  his  commentary.  What  is  in  fact  '  proved  by 
the  rhymes '  is  merely  the  presence  of  lacunae  in  C,  not  the  originality 
of  the  lines  preserved  in  J. 

One  last  instance  of  bibliographical  inexactitude  may  be  quoted. 
We  read:  'The  Jesus  MS.  consists  of  two  quarto  MSS.  partly  paper, 


W.  W.  GEEG  283 

partly  parchment,  bound  together.'  I  need  not  here  raise  the  perhaps 
controversial  question  whether  the  term  '  quarto '  has  any  significance 
as  applied  to  manuscripts :  what  I  wish  to  point  out  is  that  Mr  Atkins 
does  not  mean  what  he  says.  It  is  not  true  (according  to  his  subsequent 
description)  that  the  two  manuscripts  are  *  partly  paper,  partly  parch- 
ment ' ;  one  is  paper  and  the  other  is  parchment. 

Secondly,  as  regards  palaeography,  I  submit  that  in  what  aims  at 
being,  if  not  a  '  definitive,'  at  least  a  standard  edition,  it  is  the  business 
of  an  editor  to  present  to  his  readers  the  full  textual  evidence  that  it 
is  possible  to  extract  from  the  originals.  Mr  Atkins  seems  inclined  to 
claim  credit  for  having  examined  the  manuscripts  at  all ;  at  least  that 
is  the  impression  left  on  my  mind  when  he  writes  :  '  the  accurate  work 
of  Wells  has  been  of  considerable  assistance,  though,  it  must  also  be 
added,  both  MSS.  have  been  carefully  and  independently  examined.' 
It  is  possible  that  in  some  departments  of  literature  such  an  attitude 
on  an  editor's  part  may  be  excusable ;  I  am  quite  certain  it  is  not  so  in 
Middle-English.  However,  perhaps  Mr  Atkins  has  again  not  said  exactly 
what  he  meant ;  anyhow  the  main  thing  is  that  he  has  examined  the 
originals  for  himself,  and  claims  that  '  the  texts  are  represented  sub- 
stantially as  they  stand.'  But  why,  then,  has  he  followed  Wells  in 
capitalizing  J.  while  beginning  most  of  the  lines  of  C.  with  a  small 
letter  ?  The  capitalization  of  C.  seems  if  anything  more  consistent  than 
that  of  J.,  and  in  both  is  clearly  the  intention  of  the  scribe. 

Certain  statements  respecting  the  graphic  peculiarities  of  C.  challenge 
remark.  Thus  we  are  told  that  there  are  '  two  symbols  for  s  (long  and 
short).'  That  might  be  said  of  most  manuscripts  and  printed  books 
between  1100  and  1700:  what  is  to  some  extent  peculiar  is  that  in  C. 
and  J.  the  long  s  sometimes  occurs  finally  and  (in  J.  at  least)  the  short 
8  initially.  The  distinction  is  not  retained  in  the  printed  texts.  Again 
we  are  told  that  '  u  and  v  occur  indiscriminately ' :  this  is  true,  but  it 
happens  that  in  the  examples  cited  in  support  they  are  distinguished 
according  to  the  old  convention.  As  a  rule  w  is  represented  by  the  Old- 
English  letter  p,  but  '  Occasionally  the  French  w  is  employed :  and  while 
this  iv  might  also  stand  for  vu  sometimes  a  single  v  (u)  is  used  to  denote 
O.E.  w.'  Since,  then,  w  may  have  a  meaning  that  p  cannot  have,  I  think 
it  would  have  been  well  to  distinguish  the  two  in  the  text.  As  a 
matter  of  fact  w  for  vu  seems  to  be  treated  as  an  error ;  thus  in  1.  657 
' i[vu]rne '  is  printed  where  C.  has  '  iwrne.'  In  J.  w  very  frequently 
stands  for  vu  =  wu,  and  it  seems  rather  uncritical  to  treat  it  as  a  scribal 
error  every  time  it  occurs.    Moreover  C.  occasionally  uses  p  in  the  same 


284  On  Editing  Early  English  Texts 

manner  in  a  parallel  passage,  a  fact  that  seems  to  point  to  the  spelling 
being  derived  from  the  archetype,  if  not  from  the  author's  manuscript. 
Once  at  least  (C.  534)  we  find  v  —  W  =  wu.  The  statement  that  'the  only 
distinction  between'  p  and  p  in  C.  'was  the  dot  placed  above  the'  latter, 
is  quite  incorrect.  The  two  letters  tend  to  approximate  in  shape  when 
at  all  carelessly  formed,  but  as  a  rule  the  scribal  intention  is  perfectly 
clear  apart  from  the  dot. 

Turning  to  the  text  of  C.  by  far  the  most  important  criticism  I  have 
to  make  concerns  certain  corrections  or  alterations  that  were  introduced 
into  the  manuscript  as  the  scribe  originally  wrote  it.  These  corrections 
were  sometimes  accepted  by  Wells,  with  some  hesitation,  as  '  original,'  but 
were  mostly  discarded  as  '  later.'  Mr  Atkins  accepts  the  former  into  his 
text  without  comment ;  of  the  latter  he  records  only  a  few,  apparently 
at  random.  Now,  of  course,  '  later '  these  corrections  necessarily  are  in 
the  sense  that  they  were  written  apres  coup,  but  there  does  not  appear 
any  sufficient  reason  for  regarding  them  as  '  later '  in  any  other  sense, 
or  for  dividing  them  into  two  classes.  The  ink  seems  to  be  in  every  case 
the  same  as  that  used  by  the  original  scribe,  and  although  there  are 
certain  obvious  differences  it  by  no  means  follows  that  the  hand  is  not 
also  the  same.  After  a  fairly  careful  examination  I  am  myself  inclined 
to  think  that,  while  sometimes  an  alteration  was  perhaps  made  imme- 
diately after  the  original  reading  was  inscribed,  the  bulk  are  probably 
due  to  revision  after  the  whole  poem  had  been  completed,  but  that  this 
revision  was  executed  by  the  original  scribe.  This  is,  of  course,  no  more 
than  a  private  opinion,  but  although  it  may  be  possible  to  take  different 
views  as  to  the  authority  of  the  corrections,  there  can  surely  be  no 
question  that  they  deserve  careful  record.  And  I  feel  bound  to  point 
out  that  Wells'  notes  are  by  no  means  always  to  be  trusted.  For  in- 
stance, on  1.  555  he  remarks,  '  pu  on  erasure ;  ansuare,  second  a  deleted, 
e  above  in  different  ink.'  There  is  here  no  erasure,  only  a  flaw  in  the 
vellum,  and  the  ink  of  the  '  e '  is  identical.  Again  his  note  on  1.  680, 
'  her  very  like  het ',  can  only  be  due  to  some  strange  confusion,  for  the 
'  r '  has  not  the  remotest  resemblance  to  a  '  t.' 

I  will  give  the  result  of  a  comparison  of  a  hundred  lines  of  Mr  Atkins' 
text  of  C.  with  the  manuscript. 

1.  619.  'an ',  C.  'and '.  The  'd '  is  clearly  visible  even  in  Mr  Atkins'  facsimile,  but 
he  makes  no  mention  of  it.   Wells  has  the  note  'an,  later  d'.     (See  above.) 

1.  637.  'uorbisne'.  The  'r'  is  interlined  in  the  same  way  as  the  'd'  in  619. 
Wells  notes  '  %orig.  r  inserted'.   (See  above.) 

1.  660.  '  ne3  ut\  There  is  an  erasure  of  one  letter  in  the  space  between  the  words 
(noted  by  Wells).  J.  has  '  neyh '  and  the  erasure  may  point  to  this  having  been  the 
spelling  of  the  archetype. 


W.  W.  GREG  285 

1.  667.   '  o>er '  (and  so  Wells),  read  '  o]>er '. 

1.  679.  '  noj>eles  3ut '.  Wells  notes  '  }>,  3,  smudged '.  This  is  not  correct.  The  scribe 
originally  wrote  'no3eles'  and  then  altered  the  '3',  possibly  to  ']>'  (it  is  by  no  means 
clear).  The  second  word  was  perhaps  originally  written  '  Jut ' ;  the  first  letter  has 
been  altered  to  '  3 '. 

1.  697.  '  Alur[e]d '  ('  Alurd '),  Wells  '  Alrud '.  In  C.  there  are  three  minims  merely 
between  '  1 '  and  '  d ',  and  no  '  r '  at  all.  Perhaps  we  should  read  '  alu[r]id '  (there  is 
no  capital). 

1.  707.  '  [H]ule ',  noting  '  Nule,  rubric  N '  (and  so  Wells).  It  should  have  been 
remarked  that  the  guide-letter  is  '  H '  correctly,  but  that  not  being  very  clearly 
formed  it  was  misread  by  the  rubricator. 

I  have  not  seen  J.  but  add  one  or  two  notes  from  an  inspection  of 

Mr  Atkins'  facsimile. 

1.  1440.  'misfonge'.  The  last  two  or  three  letters  are  not  in  the  original,  which 
is  cropped  (according  to  Wells). 

1.  1450.    'kmge'  (and  so  Wells),  read  'kmge'. 

1.  1454.    'brej>',  J.  'bred,  y  (a  correction,  duly  noted  by  Wells). 

It  seems  evident  from  this  that  Mr  Atkins,  relying  on  the  generally- 
very  accurate  work  of  his  predecessor,  thought  himself  justified  in 
passing  over  the  minor  palaeographical  evidence  which  had  been  already 
recorded.  In  this,  I  think,  he  did  less  than  justice  to  the  position  which 
his  work  is  likely  to  occupy  for  many  years  to  come.  The  few  notes 
collected  above  suggest  that  what  Professor  Wells'  apparatus  needed 
was  not  pruning  but  correction  and  expansion. 

I  see  that  yet  another  parallel-text  edition  of  The  Owl  and  the 
Nightingale,  by  the  late  G.  F.  H.  Sykes  and  Mr  J.  H.  G.  Grattan,  is  at 
press  for  the  Early  English  Text  Society.  It  will  be  interesting  to  observe 
how  it  compares  with  its  rival. 

W.  W.  Greg. 

London. 


m.l.r.  xviii.  19 


CHAUCER'S  KNOWLEDGE  OF  HORACE. 

In  1892,  Professor  Lounsbury,  in  his  Studies  in  Chaucer  (vol.  II, 
pp.  261-4),  argued  at  some  length  the  question  of  Chaucer's  alleged 
knowledge  of  Horace.  He  there  very  definitely  rejected  any  hypothesis 
of  even  the  merest  acquaintance  of  Chaucer  with  the  writings  of  Horace. 
Since  then,  the  question  has  received  comparatively  slight  attention 
from  scholars.  It  seems  worth  while,  therefore,  to  review  once  more 
Professor  Lounsbury 's  arguments,  in  the  light  of  some  fresh  evidence 
that  has  since  come  to  hand. 

Professor  Lounsbury 's  arguments  may  be  summarized  as  follows : 

(a)  The  evidence  of  allusion  or  reminiscence  from  Horace  that  is 
generally  brought  forward  is  too  slight  to  warrant  serious  consideration, 
since  the  alleged  imitations  are  utterly  indefinite,  and  can  be  explained 
away  without  the  hypothesis  of  any  acquaintance  with  Horace.  More- 
over, even  if  imitation  is  admitted,  all  the  passages  can  prove  only 
acquaintance  with  Horace's  Epistola  ad  Pisones  de  Arte  Poetica.  No 
evidence  has  been  adduced  for  Chaucer's  acquaintance  with  any  other 
writing  of  Horace. 

(b)  If  Chaucer  had  known  the  work  of  Horace,  he  would  certainly 
have  mentioned  the  Roman  poet  by  name  at  least  once.  But  he  nowhere 
does  anything  of  the  kind  ;  and  therefore  could  not  have  had  any  know- 
ledge of  him. 

(c)  Chaucer  and  Horace  had  much  intellectually  in  common,  and 
resembled  one  another  in  genius  and  character  and  in  their  attitude 
towards  life  and  the  world.  Chaucer  would  have  found  a  congenial 
spirit  in  Horace,  would  have  taken  pains  to  become  intimately  familiar 
with  his  works,  and  would  have  taken  him  as  one  of  his  favourite 
authors.  But,  had  this  been  so,  he  would  have  quoted  or  echoed  Horace 
and  his  ideas  with  the  greatest  frequency — as  was  his  practice,  for 
instance,  with  Le  Roman  de  la  Rose  or  Boethius'  De  Consolatione 
Philosophiae.  Chaucer  does  not  do  anything  like  this.  Therefore  he 
did  not  know  Horace  at  all. 

I  shall  now  attempt  to  answer  the  above  objections  in  order.  Though 
I  must  admit  that  these  answers  are  not  all  equally  complete,  and  are 
sometimes  of  a  merely  negative  character,  I  hope  to  be  able  to  show 


C.  L.  WRENN  287 

that  they  do  amount  in  their  cumulative  effect  to  a  proof  that 
(a)  Chaucer  did  know  Horace's  De  Arte  Poetica  at  first  hand :  and 
that  (b)  there  is  strong  probability  that  he  had  some  first-hand  acquaint- 
ance with  parts  of  Horace's  other  writings  also. 

(a)  Let  us  examine  again,  one  by  one,  all  those  passages  in  Chaucer 
which  have  at  various  times  been  regarded  as  indicating  a  knowledge 
(direct  or  indirect)  of  Horace. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  Tale  of  the  Manciple  {Cant  Tales,  H.  116-7), 
Chaucer  mentions  as  a  type  of  supreme  excellence  in  singing : 

the  kyng  of  Thebes,  Amphioun, 
That  with  his  syngyng  walled  that  citee. 

This  has  been  thought  to  be  reminiscent  of  Horace's  description  of 
Amphion  (Ars  Poet.  394-6) : 

Dictus  et  Amphion,  Thebanae  conditor  arcis, 
Saxa  movere  sono  testudinis,  et  prece  blanda 
Ducere  quo  vellet. 

Professor  Lounsbury  thinks  that  Chaucer  may  well  have  read  of  Amphion 
in  Ovid  or  elsewhere,  and  that — as  the  two  passages  do  not  resemble 
one  another  very  closely — there  is  no  need  to  drag  in  the  name  of 
Horace.  Now  while  it  is  quite  possible  that  the  story  of  Amphion  was 
the  common  property  of  14th  century  writers  who  did  not  get  it  from 
any  particular  Latin  original,  it  must  be  pointed  out  that  Gower — who 
is  a  fair  specimen  of  the  non-ecclesiastical  scholarship  of  the  period — 
was  by  no  means  so  accurate  in  his  knowledge  of  the  classical  myth  of 
Amphion.  For,  in  his  Gonfessio  Amantis  (Book  VI,  2160) — his  only 
allusion — he  speaks  of  Amphion  as  'a  clerc,'  notable  for  his  skill  in 
the  interpretation  of  dreams.  Furthermore,  in  Ovid's  Metamorphoses 
(cf.  Book  vi,  270  sqq.),  the  emphasis  is  laid  rather  on  the  relations  of 
Amphion  with  his  wife  Niobe  than  on  his  skill  as  a  musician :  and  it  is 
just  with  this  very  point  of  musical  pre-eminence,  that  the  references 
in  both  Chaucer  and  Horace  are  concerned.  In  the  Merchant's  Tale 
(Cant.  Tales,  E.  1716),  Chaucer — in  his  only  other  reference  to  Amphion — 
again  quotes  him  as  the  type  of  a  great  musician ;  and  Horace  (Odes, 
Book  in,  11,  11.  1-2),  again  refers  to  him  in  the  same  connexion  : 

Docilis 

Movit  Amphion  lapides  canendo. 

Lastly,  it  is  significant  that  Chaucer,  like  Horace  in  the  two 
passages  quoted  above,  refers  definitely  to  Amphion's  feat  of  causing 
the  stones  to  form  themselves  into  city  walls  by  singing — a  point  less 
emphasized  in  Ovid.    We  are,  therefore,  perhaps  justified  in  concluding 

19—2 
/ 


288  Chaucer  s  Knowledge  of  Horace 

that  this  reference  to  Amphion  in  the  Manciple's  Tale,  does,  in  fact,  owe 

its  existence  directly  to  Horace. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  second  book  of  Troilus  and  Criseyde  (11.  22-5), 

we  read  : 

Ye  knowe  eek  that  in  forme  of  speche  is  chaunge 
With-inne  a  thousand  yeer,  and  wordes  tho 
That  hadden  prys,  now  wonder  nyce  and  straunge 
Us  thinketh  hem. 

It  has  often  been  pointed  out — though  Lounsbury  does  not  discuss  this 

passage — that  here  is  an  echo  in  idea  of  the  famous  words  of  Horace 

(Ars  Poet.  70-2) : 

Multa  renascentur  quae  jam  cecidere,  cadentque 
Quae  nunc  sunt  in  honore  vocabula,  si  volet  usus, 
Quern  penes  arbitrium  est,  et  jus,  et  norma  loquendi. 

Now  however  vague  or  indefinite  this  resemblance  may  be,  it  has,  as  a 

matter  of  fact,  been  my  own  experience  (and  I  believe  it  must  also  have 

been  the  experience  of  everyone  acquainted  with  Latin  literature),  that 

the  above  lines  of  Horace  jump,  as  it  were,  spontaneously  into  the  mind 

the  moment  the  passage  in  Chaucer  is  read.    Here,  however,  I  do  not 

wish  to  press  a  claim  that  Chaucer  is  directly  and  consciously  echoing 

Horace — though  this  seems  by  no  means  improbable. 

But  perhaps  the  best  known  apparent  borrowing  of  Chaucer  from 

Horace  is  the  149th  stanza  of  the  second  book  of  Troilus  and  Criseyde 

(11.  1037-43) : 

Ne  Iompre  eek  no  discordaunt  thing  y-fere, 
As  thus,  to  usen  termes  of  phisyk ; 
In  loves  termes,  hold  of  thy  matere 
The  forme  alwey,  and  do  that  it  be  lyk  ; 
For  if  a  peyntour  wolde  peynte  a  pyk 
With  asses  feet,  and  hede  it  as  an  ape, 
It  cordeth  nought ;  so  nere  it  but  a  Iape. 

Everyone  is  agreed,  I  believe,  that  the  advice  here  given  manifestly 
resembles  the  opening  lines  of  Horace's  Ars  Poet.  (11.  1-5) : 

Humano  capiti  cervicem  pictor  equinam 
Jungere  si  velit,  et  varias  inducere  plumas 
Undique  collatis  membris,  ut  turpiter  atrum 
Desinat  in  piscem  mulier  formosa  superne, 
Spectatum  admissi,  risum  teneatis,  amici  1 

Professor  Lounsbury  holds  that  this  idea  of  Horace,  and  his  manner  of 
expressing  it,  had  become  practically  proverbial  in  the  Middle  Ages ; 
so  that  Chaucer's  use  of  it  implies  absolutely  nothing — not  even  any 
indirect  acquaintance  with  Horace. 

Quite   apart   from    the   fact    that    the    evidence    for   the   extreme 
familiarity  of  the  Middle  Ages  with  this  idea  of  Horace  is  not  available — 


C.  L.  WRENN  289 

the  theory  is  indeed  far  more  of  a  mere  conjecture  than  is  Chaucer's 
knowledge  of  Horace — there  are  very  striking  verbal  resemblances 
between  these  two  passages,  which  seem  to  me  to  make  it  hard  to  avoid 
a  conclusion  of  Horace's  direct  influence  here.  Looking  at  the  English 
and  Latin  passages  side  by  side,  one  is  impressed  with  their  general 
similarity,  both  in  thought  and  expression.  But  further,  two  of  the 
leading  words  here  used  by  Chaucer  point  to  two  corresponding  words 
in  Horace  with  such  a  close  equivalence,  that  direct  echoing  is  the  only 
fully  satisfying  explanation.  For  Horace's  'pictor'  is  Chaucer's '  peyntour,' 
and  (far  more  significantly)  Chaucer's  '  pyk '  must  have  been  the  direct 
result  of  a  half-conscious  memory  of  Horace's  '  piscem.'  I  therefore  am 
inclined  to  the  view  that  this  too  is  evidence  of  the  acquaintance  of 
Chaucer  with  Horace. 

I  shall  not  here  discuss  the  possible  and  plausible  connexion  of 
Chaucer's  mysterious  '  Lollius '  with  the  recipient  of  the  second  epistle 
of  Horace's  first  book,  as  the  question  is  too  complex  and  conjectural  to 
be  used  as  evidence  here.  If  '  Lollius '  could  be  proved  to  have  originated 
from  the  line  (Horace's  Epistles,  I,  2,-1.  1) 

Trojani  belli  scriptorem,  maxime  Lolli, 

it  would  merely  show  that  Chaucer  had  seen  that  one  line  only:  for 

such  a  theory  would  be  absurd  if  he  were  supposed  to  have  read  further 

into  the  epistle. 

I  come  now  to  a  piece  of  evidence  for  Chaucer's  direct  acquaintance 

with  Horace,  which,  I  believe,  has  not  hitherto  been  pointed  out  by 

anyone.    In  the  second  book  of  Troilus  and  Criseyde  are  these  lines 

(484-89) : 

and  here  I  make  a  protestacioun, 
That  in  this  process  if  ye  depper  go, 
That  certaynly,  for  no  savacioun 
Of  yow,  though  that  ye  sterve  bothe  two, 
Though  al  the  tvorld  on  o  day  be  my  fo, 
Ne  shal  I  never  on  him  han  other  routhe. 

Whenever  I  read  this  passage,  the  following  lines  of  Horace  always 
come  spontaneously  into  my  mind  (Odes,  Book  in,  3,  1-8): 

Justum  et  tenacem  propositi  virum 
Non  civium  ardor  prava  jubentium, 
Non  vultus  instantis  tyranni 
Mente  quatit  solida,  neque  Auster 
Dux  inquieti  turbidus  Hadriae, 
Nee  fulminantis  magna  Jovis  manus  : 
Sifractus  illabatur  orbis, 
Impavidum  ferient  ruinae. 


290  Chaucer  s  Knowledge  of  Horace 

There  is,  of  course,  a  general  resemblance  between  these  two  passages 
in  so  far  as  Criseyde — in  face  of  the  danger  to  her  virtue  and  honour 
from  Pandarus  and  Troilus — wishes  us  to  regard  her  as  the  '  Justum  et 
tenacem  propositi  virum '  of  Horace's  Ode.  But  the  real  direct  resem- 
blance, as  it  appears  to  me,  lies  in  the  italicized  words.  To  me,  Criseyde's 
line  '  Though  al  the  world  on  o  day  be  my  fo '  infallibly  suggests — and 
must  as  infallibly  have  been  suggested  by — the  last  two  lines  from 
Horace  quoted  above,  and  especially  by  the  words  '  Si  fractus  illabatur 
orbis.' 

To  return  to  Professor  Lounsbury's  first  contention,  we  are  now  in 
a  position  to  reply  that  the  evidence  for  Chaucer's  direct  acquaintance 
with  Horace  as  shown  in  apparent  borrowings  or  reminiscences,  is  indeed 
worth  serious  consideration,  and  amounts  in  its  cumulative  effect  to 
decided  probability.  Secondly,  it  is  clear  that  these  alleged  echoes  of 
Horace  are  not  strictly  confined  to  the  Epistola  ad  Pisones  de  Arte 
Poetica. 

(b)  The  argument  against  Chaucer's  direct  acquaintance  with  Horace 
based  on  the  circumstance  of  the  entire  absence  of  the  Roman  poet's 
name  from  Chaucer's  extant  writings,  is  in  the  nature  of  a  non  sequitur. 
For  the  proposition  that  Chaucer  always  mentioned  the  authors  with 
whose  work  he  was  familiar  by  name,  is  simply  not  proven.  It  is  enough 
to  demonstrate  its  fallibility  to  point  out  that  Boccaccio — with  whose 
chief  poetical  works,  at  any  rate,  Chaucer  was  palpably  exceedingly 
intimate — is  nowhere  even  once  named  by  him.  As  to  the  theory  that 
in  Chaucer's  writings  '  Lollius '  stands  for  Boccaccio  (in  Troil.  I,  394  it 
seems  clearly  to  denote  Petrarch),  it  has  at  present  little  substance  and 
no  evidence  ;  and  it  should  therefore  not  be  treated  seriously.  It  would 
be  almost  as  reasonable  to  take  some  other  unexplained  proper  name  in 
Chaucer,  and  argue  that  it  probably  represented  Horace. 

I  am  not,  of  course,  suggesting  for  a  moment  that  Chaucer  was 
demonstrably  intimate  with  the  works  of  Horace — the  comparative 
fewness  of  the  apparent  references  preclude  the  proving  of  that — but 
negatively,  I  do  contend  that  this  argument  from  the  absence  of  Horace's 
name  from  Chaucer's  writings,  cannot  in  itself  disprove  such  an  ac- 
quaintance. 

(c)  It  is  beyond  doubt  that  Chaucer  and  Horace  had  much  in 
common  in  their  mentality,  and  that,  had  the  whole  of  Horace's  work 
been  accessible  to  him,  Chaucer  would  have  taken  Horace  as  a  favourite, 
and  made  himself  familiar  with  his  writings.  But  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that,  from  what  is  known  of  14th  century  classical  scholarship  in 


C.  L.   WRENN  291 

England,  it  is  not  at  all  likely  that  Horace  could  have  been  read  in 
extenso  at  that  time  by  a  person  in  Chaucer's  position.  Even  in  the 
libraries  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge  colleges,  copies  of  Horace  appear  to 
have  been  comparatively  rare.  In  the  library  of  Peterhouse,  Cambridge — 
as  we  gather  from  the  catalogue  compiled  in  the  year  1418 — there  was 
then  no  copy  of  Horace.  And  Gower — Chaucer's  contemporary,  and 
near  his  equal  in  Latin  learning — only  mentions  Horace  (as  '  Orace ') 
twice  (Confessio,  VII,  3581,  and  Mirour,  23371):  and  then  only  to 
attribute  to  him  a  misunderstood  passage  from  Juvenal.  It  must  there- 
fore be  admitted  at  once  that  Chaucer  could  scarcely  have  read  anything 
like  the  whole  of  Horace.  But  we  have  seen  that  there  is  evidence  that 
he  had  read  the  Epistola  de  Arte  Poetica  (perhaps  the  whole  of  it), 
the  third  ode  of  Horace's  third  book,  and  also,  possibly,  the  eleventh  of 
the  third  book  (dealing  with  Amphion) :  and  there  is  the  possibility, 
too,  that  he  had  seen  the  beginning  of  the  second  epistle  (addressed  to 
Lollius)  of  Horace's  first  book.  How  is  this  curiously  fragmentary  know- 
ledge to  be  accounted  for  ? 

I  would  suggest  that  Chaucer  had  seen  the  Ars  Poetica  entire,  either 
as  a  separate  MS.,  (it  was  more  likely  to  be  popular  than  Horace's  other 
works,  because  rhetoric  was  one  of  the  courses  in  the  Trivium  of  the 
medieval  universities  and  included  poetry,)  or  bound  up  with  other 
similar  works.  I  would  derive  the  rest  of  Chaucer's  knowledge  of  Horace 
from  one  of  those  MS.  collections  of  classical  quotations  and  favourite 
pieces,  which  were  certainly  current  in  his  time. 

Before  quitting  this  part  of  the  argument,  it  may  be  well  to  point 
out  that  Horace  was  not  the  only  Latin  author  whom  Chaucer  knew, 
but  scarcely  quoted  at  all.  Chaucer's  Franklin  (Cant.  Tales,  F.  721), 
excuses  his  ignorance  of  rhetoric,  etc.,  in  a  line  which  everyone  has 
recognized  as  having  been  directly  taken  from  Persius.  Chaucer  here 
makes  his  Franklin  say : 

I  sleep  never  on  the  mount  of  Pernaso ; 

thus  almost  literally  reproducing  the  second  line  of  the  prologue  to 
Persius'  Satires : 

Neque  in  bicipiti  somniasse  Parnasso 
Memini,  ut  repente  sic  poeta  prodirem. 

Now  it  is  clear  from  this  that  Chaucer  knew  something  of  Persius,  and 
it  is  almost  equally  certain  that  he  would  have  appreciated  the  work  of 
the  Latin  satirist :  yet  he  never  once  names  him,  nor  does  he  ever  again 
refer  to  him  or  his  writings  outside  this  one  particular  passage.    Surely 


292  Chaucer  s  Knowledge  of  Horace 

this  circumstance  goes  some  way  to  weaken   the  argument  against 
Chaucer's  direct  acquaintance  with  the  work  of  Horace. 

From  all  the  evidence  and  argument  adduced  above,  I  would  conclude 
that  Chaucer — though  he  cannot  be  said  to  have  been  familiar  with 
Horace,  or  to  have  known  him  at  all  completely — was  directly  acquainted 
with  his  Epistola  ad  Pisones  de  Arte  Poetica,  and  with  at  least  one 
(perhaps  two)  of  his  Odes. 

C.  L.  Wrenn. 

Dacca,  Bengal. 


VOULTE'S  EUPTURE  WITH  RABELAIS. 

In  the  few  facts  that  research  has  hitherto  established  it  is  impossible 
to  trace  adequately  what  happened  to  Rabelais  during  a  long  period  of 
eleven  years  (1535-46).  Yet  uncertainty  upon  this  point  renders  the 
student's  enquiries  vain  at  the  outset,  for,  to  make  mention  of  what  may 
prove  to  be  an  important  consideration,  Rabelais,  whom  Dolet  hailed  as 
'the  glory  of  the  healing  art'  in  1537,  became  later  famous  above  all  as 
the  philosophical  author  of  Pantagruel1.  The  significance  of  this  change 
may,  it  is  true,  be  over-stressed,  but  when  we  compare  the  work  done 
before  and  after  this  lapse  in  time,  and  when  we  note  that  in  the  interval 
the  author's  style  had  been  transformed  :  that  a  definite  purpose  had  been 
adopted,  and  that  discussion  rather  than  narration  came  to  demand  his 
closest  attention  ;  we  are  driven  to  the  conclusion  that  some  enquiry  into 
those  obscure  years  is  necessary  to  our  comprehension  of  the  mature 
worker,  and  therefore  of  the  early  work  itself.  In  the  absence  of  other 
sources  of  certain  knowledge,  what  was  in  fact  a  mere  episode,  Jean 
Voulte's  brief  and  intimate  friendship  and  his  violent  quarrel  with 
Rabelais,  may  throw  a  very  valuable  light  upon  this  question. 

What  is  ascertainable  of  Rabelais'  life,  as  far  as  directly  concerns 
us,  can  be  briefly  summarized  here.  He  passed  his  early  years  in  the 
monastery  of  Fontenay-le-Comte2  busy  with  Pierre  Amy  in  the  study  of 
Greek.  Forced  to  quit  this  seclusion  in  1524  by  his  fellows'  persecutions, 
he  may  well  have  carried  with  him  feelings  of  resentment  against  those 
who  had  thwarted  his  congenial  pursuits,  and  ten  years  later  he  appears 
still  to  have  had  aspirations  to  a  monastic  life  of  cultured  indolence 
without  the  irksome  duties  imposed  by  monastery  rules3.  In  consequence 
of  this  hatred  of  monks  he  would  naturally  fall  into  line  with  reformers, 
but,  though  much  must  be  inferred  from  his  writings,  evidence  of  his  life 
from  1524  to  1530  is  lacking.  'Then,  however,  he  matriculated  at  Mont- 
pellier  and  thenceforward  for  five  years  the  traces  discovered4  show  him 
busy  in  the  study  of  medicine,  in  hospital  practice,  and  in  preparing 

1  Petit  de  Julleville,  Histoire  de  la  langue  et  de  la  litt.  franqaise.    Vol.  iv. 

2  In  1522  and  1524  he  was  described  as  a  young  man,  in  1519  as  '  frere  mineur  '  of  this 
monastery.   See  A.  Tilley,  Frangois  Rabelais. 

:i  See  the  Abbey  of  Thelema  in  Gargantua. 

4  In  the  University  records,  Lyons  printing  records,  his  publications  etc. 


294  Voulte's  Rupture  with  Rabelais 

medical  publications  at  Lyons.  His  enthusiasm  and  skill  were  building 
up  a  splendid  reputation.  Notwithstanding  this,  in  1535,  for  the  second 
time,  he  suddenly  abandoned  his  post  without  leave  of  absence  and  after 
a  short  delay,  he  having  accompanied  Jean  du  Bellay  to  Rome1,  the 
hospital  authorities  appointed  a  successor.  That  he  sought  at  Rome  the 
Pope's  letter  of  absolution  for  irregularities,  that  he  returned  successful 
and  entered  the  Abbey  of  Saint  Maur-les-Fosses  and  so  could  be  present 
at  the  dinner  in  honour  of  Dolet's  pardon  (1537),  and  that  he  was  present 
at  Court  in  1538,  all  this  we  know;  but,  apart  from  the  dates  of  his 
Licentiate  and  Doctorate  and  his  indisputable  presence  with  Guillaume 
du  Bellay  in  Piedmont,  we  know  practically  nothing  further  of  him  until, 
in  1545,  he  obtained  the  royal  privilege  for  his  Third  Book.  Nevertheless 
even  this  protection  seems  to  have  been  insufficient,  since  shortly  after- 
wards he  had  fled  to  Metz,  whence  he  appealed  for  assistance  to  Jean 
(Cardinal)  du  Bellay.  For  this  hurried  flight  various  causes  have  been 
advanced.  His  greatest  patron  dead  and  that  patron's  brother  temporarily 
powerless,  it  is  probable  that  Rabelais'  enemies  had  seized  upon  the 
occasion  for  persecuting  him.  Upon  what  grounds  they  did  so  only  the 
inner  history  of  the  time  could  reveal,  but  judging  from  one  mention  of 
him  in  Cardinal  de  Tournon's  letters  and  another  in  John  Sturm's,  critics 
have  considered  that  he  was  in  close  touch  with  exiled  reformers  and 
therefore  Protestant  in  sympathy.  However  the  notorious  Cardinal  failed 
to  convict  him,  and  the  traces  of  such  sympathy,  which  we  might  expect 
in  his  later  work,  are  less  numerous  than  those  of  Gargantua  even  in  his 
posthumous  work.  The  adoption  of  such  an  explanation  involves  the 
question  of  his  beliefs  in  yet  deeper  difficulties. 

Let  us  then  briefly  enquire  what  his  contemporaries  considered  to 
be  Rabelais'  religious  views.  At  a  much  later  date  (1550)  Jean  Calvin 
claimed  that  both  Desperiers  and  Rabelais  had  belonged  to  the  reforming 
party  until  jests  which  blasphemed  'the  sacred  pledge  of  eternal  life2' 
had  brought  down  upon  them  spiritual  blindness.  There  can  be  no  doubt 
that  the  Cymbalum  Mundi  abounds  in  matter  that  justifies  a  charge 
from  which  Rabelais'  work  appears  almost  wholly  free3  and,  were  not 
confirmation  available  that  the  charge  lies  equally  well  with  Rabelais, 
the  denunciation  might  provoke  our  question.     At  the  same  time  in 

1  See  Letters  to  the  Bishop  of  Maillezais  and  his  preface  to  Marliani,  Topographia 
Romae. 

2  Cf.  De  Scandalis  :  'Alii  (ut  Rabelaesus,  Desperius  et  Goveanus)  gustato  Euangeiio, 
eadem  caecitate  sunt  percussi.  Cur  istud?  nisi  quia  sacrum  illud  vitae  eternae  pignus, 
sacrilega  ludendi  aut  ridendi  audacia  ante  profanarant.' 

3  Pantagruel,c.  19,  p.  95  (Edition  by  Babeau,  Patry  and  Boulenger)  contains  'Alors  fut 
ouye  une  voix  du  ciel.' 


A.   F.   CHAPPELL  295 

forming  our  judgment  we  must  not  forget  that  Cop's  famous  speech 
and  the  '  Affaire  des  placards '  had  early  rent  the  reforming  movement 
in  twain,  that  from  1534  Calvinism  had  dissociated  itself  from  the  more 
moderate  reformers  whom  Calvin  was  to  denounce,  and  that  a  tendency 
to  return  to  the  bosom  of  Holy  Church  had  appeared  in  the  Third  Party 1. 
It  becomes  probable  therefore  that  Rabelais,  as  a  moderate  reformer,  was 
rather  abandoned  by  advancing  Calvinism  than  that  he  was  an  apostate 
from  that  creed.  Besides,  although  up  to  1540  he  seems  to  have  been  a 
Platonist,  after  that  date  he  certainly  toyed  with  Platonist  beliefs  in  a 
contemptuous  manner,  and  therefore  he  is  not  to  be  lightly  classed  with 
those  reformers  who  deserted  their  cause  and  relapsed  into  orthodoxy. 
Indeed,  if  we  may  judge  by  repeated  utterances  in  his  later  work,  he 
became  almost  as  unreconciled  with  Church  teaching  as  he  was  the 
avowed  critic  and  enemy  of  Calvinism.  We  may  believe  that  he  remarked 
the  tendency  to  reaction  which  culminated  in  the  Truce  of  Nice,  but,  if 
that  is  true,  he  did  not  hesitate  to  continue  on  his  course  with  notable 
tenacity  of  purpose,  and  that  would  sufficiently  explain  the  frequent 
dangers  into  which  he  ran.  Whether  the  views  to  which  he  obstinately 
adhered  partook  of  a  religious  nature,  nothing  but  close  enquiry  can 
reveal,  but  Voulte's  life  and  the  causes  of  his  quarrel  with  Rabelais  do 
provide  a  starting  point  from  which  we  may  make  the  search. 

A  student  and  lecturer  in  the  College  of  Guyenne  and,  from  1534  to 
1536,  in  the  Faculty  of  Toulouse,  Jean  Voulte2  became  a  close  associate 
of  Dolet's  friend,  the  liberal  Jean  de  la  Boyssone,  and  of  Gripaldi,  the 
jurist  whose  championship  of  free  enquiry  brought  upon  him  persecution 
from  Calvinist  and  Catholic.  The  law  school  of  Toulouse  being  then  a 
stronghold  of  reaction,  it  is  significant  that  under  Boyssone's  persuasions 
the  young  lecturer  renounced  his  legal  career  in  favour  of  letters,  and 
furthermore  that,  having  visited  Lyons  in  1536,  he  formed  sincere  friend- 
ships with  Dolet  and  Rabelais.  These  facts  point  to  a  certain  measure 
of  liberalism  in  the  young  poet,  which,  even  if  it  were  the  enthusiasm  of 
a  youth,  appears  strange  when  we  consider  that,  within  two  years  and 
at  a  time  when  reaction  was  in  the  ascendant,  Voulte  suddenly  quarrelled 
with  his  friends,  returned  to  the  practice  of  the  law  in  Paris  and  was  to 
find  favour  in  reactionary  Court  circles.    His  few  remaining  years — he 

1  Calvin  adds  an  explanation,  Excusatio  ad  Nicodemitas  (1545):  'Tertius  ordo  ex  iis 
constat  qui  religionem  quodammodo  in  philosophiam  convertunt...sed  quieti  ac  securi 
expectant  donee  Ecclesia  in  tolerabilem  statum  reformetur :  ut  autem  in  earn  rem  incum- 
bunt,  quia  periculosum  est,  adduci  nequeunt ;  quidam  etiam  eorum  ideas  Platonicas  con- 
cipiunt:  de  modo  colendi  Dei.  Itaque  bonam  partem  Papisticarum  superstitionum  excusant 
Hie  ordo  fere  constat  ex  literatis.' 

2  See  R.  C.  Christie,  Etienne  Dolet,  a  Martyr  of  the  Renaissance,  for  further  details. 


296  Voulte  s  Rupture  with  Rabelais 

was  assassinated  by  a  private  enemy  in  1542 — are  obscure,  but  does  not 
that  fact  too  seem  to  suggest  that  he  had  abjured  his  former  errors  ? 

Inspired  with  eager  admiration,  Voulte  had  hastened  to  defend  the 
author  of  Pantagruel  and  Gargantua,  whom  he  had  heard  stigmatized  as 
a  madman.    Indignantly  he  repels  the  attack, 

Qui  rabie  asseruit  laesum,  Rabelaese,  tuum  cor, 

adjunxit  vero  cum  tua  Musa  sales  : 
hunc  puto  mentitum,  rabiem  tua  scripta  sonare 

qui  dixit ;  rabiem,  die  Rabelaese,  canis  ? 
Zoilus  ille  fuit  rabidis  armatus  iambis ; 

non  spirant  rabiem,  sed  tua  scripta  jocos1. 

This  view,  probably  shared  by  many  contemporaries,  would  confirm  our 
theory  of  Voulte's  liberal  tendencies,  for  there  can  be  no  doubt  that 
Rabelais'  satire  of  the  representatives  of  the  past  and  his  laughter  sug- 
gested no  deeper  meaning  than  the  free  jests  of  Erasmus,  Marot  and 
Desperiers.  It  was  the  author  himself  who  later  constantly  read  profound 
wisdom  into  his  early  merriment,  and  who  therefore  has  somewhat  ob- 
scured his  readers'  vision  of  him.  At  that  period,  contempt  for  the  older 
age  bound  together  reformers  and  men  of  letters,  and  it  drew  the  young 
liberal  to  the  side  of  the  founder  of  Pantagruelism.  Very  soon,  however, 
when  such  sympathy  and  other  circumstances  had  brought  them  into 
intimacy,  Voulte  had  detected  and  denounced  what  is  Rabelais'  dis- 
tinction, differentiating  clearly  between  him  and  other  reformers.  In  a 
semi-jocular  poem  his  friend's  possession  by  an  insatiate  desire  for  know- 
ledge, and  that  knowledge  of  a  seriously  dangerous  kind,  was  picked  out 
for  emphatic  disapproval.    'Ad  Rabellam2'  opens  thus : 

Scire  cupis  qui  sim,  qui  vivam,  quoque  parente 

sim  natus,  quae  sit  patria,  quique  lares, 
scire  cupis  nomenque  meum,  nomenque  puellae. 

Scire  cupis  vitae  quod  genus  ipse  sequar  ; 

and  it  ends  with  : 

Nil  non  scire  cupis  ;  sed  dum  cupis  omnia  scire, 
non  satis  et  nimium  scire,  Rabella,  cupis.        • 

We  picture  Rabelais  with  an  appeal  for  information  ever  on  his  lips, 
maybe  of  a  nature  trivial  in  the  extreme  in  so  far  as  the  poet  gives 
instances,  but  probably  of  a  much  more  serious  kind  according  to  the 
hint  in  the  last  two  verses.  '  Thou  desirest  to  know  too  much  and  not 
enough '  cannot  have  implied  medical  or  linguistic  learning,  for  these 
were  still  honoured  in  France.    '  Thou  desirest  to  be  ignorant  of  nothing ' 

1  'Ad  Rabelaesum,'  Joanni  Vultei  Epigrammatum  lib.  iv,  Lyons,  1537. 

2  The  change  of  spelling  may  be  perhaps  pregnant  with  meaning,  though  the  full  change 
to  Rabulam  (rabula)  was  made  by  others.  Joannis  Vultei  Inscriptionum  libri  duo,  Paris, 
1538. 


A.  F.   CHAPPELL  297 

implies  knowledge  and  the  search  for  certainty  in  matters  in  which 

the  poet  approved  of  no  enquiry  and  at  which  the  friend  dared  only  to 

hint. 

His  later  poems  are  even  more  definite,  although  Rabelais'  name  is 

not  mentioned.    Still,  bearing  in  mind  Rabelais'  manifest  indebtedness 

to  Lucian  in  Pantagruel,  his  frequent  denomination  as  the  '  disciple  of 

Lucian '  and  the  ponderous  learned  jokes  of  his  early  books,  we  are  driven 

to  the  conclusion  that '  In  quendam  irreligiosum  Luciani  sectatorem '  may 

contain  carefully  veiled  references  to  some  episode  in  their  intercourse1. 

In  libris  quoteis  meis  loquor  de 

Christo,  hoc  sit  quasi  nomen  haud  receptum. 

Rides,  displiceo  auribus  tuisque 

dicis  nee  Latio  fuisse  in  ore 

nomen,  nomine  quo  beatius  non 

ullum  est2. 

We  cannot  doubt  that  the  earlier  Rabelais  was  capable  of  such  jokes, 

but  an  intimate  experience  of  his  conversation  would  be  necessary  to 

decide  whether  they  imply  positive  irreverence.    The  poet,  however,  goes 

on  to  hint  at  speculations,  which  in  that  age  could  find  utterance  only 

in  closest  intimacy  and  which  indeed  indicate  infidelity  in  the  utterer. 

The  poem  continues : 

Vah,  adhuc  dubitas  scelus  parentum 
tractum  mortifero  asperoque  morsu 
esse  victima  amabili  expiatum  ? 

Relying  upon  the  undoubted  sincerity  of  the  poet,  we  may  conclude  that 
the  desire  for  knowledge  had  led  Rabelais  into  deep  speculation,  and  we 
must  admit  that  his  confidence  in  the  goodness  of  human  nature  would 
early  or  late  drive  him  to  religious  scepticism.  For  a  much  smaller  matter 
Dolet  was  to  give  his  life,  and,  with  rumours  of  these  meditations  reaching 
the  ears  of  the  authorities,  we  cannot  wonder  that  Rabelais  should  take 
refuge  in  flight.  What  is  more  remarkable  is  that  the  gross  ribaldry  of 
Pantagruel  had  not  revealed  to  Voulte  and  his  contemporaries  a  lack  of 
religious  conviction,  as  it  does  to  modern  readers.  Against  the  lower  moral 
earnestness  of  that  day  such  a  conclusion  had  not  stood  forth  prominent, 
and  the  author's  scepticism  was  therefore  revealed,  unlike  Dolet's,  only 
in  less  guarded  relationships.  Voulte's  horror  at  this  discovery  impelled 
him  again  and  again  to  make  fruitless  attempts  to  dissuade  the  poor 
'  Lucianique '  from  a  course  that  brought  dangers  to  body  and  soul.    In 

1  We  may  add  that,  applicable  to  Eabelais,  this  poem  cannot  refer  to  other  known 
friends  of  the  poet. 

2  Joannis  Vultei  Hendecasyllaborum  libri  quattuor,  Paris,  1538.    Cf.  Calvin's  charge 
against  Eabelais  in  De  Scandalis. 


298  Voulte  s  Rupture  with  Rabelais 

vain  will  his  friend  postpone  the  evil  day  when  pretence  and  legality 

will  fail  him.    That  day  will  arrive  and  then, 

Belle  te  simulasse  Christianum. 
Rides,  has  rogo,  pone,  pone  technas 
et  subterfugia  omnia ;  invidere 
hanc  noli  tibi  quam  impetrare  possis 
criminis  veniain,  fatere  mentem 
insani  hactenus  esse  Luciani, 
vitam  denique  te  impie  secutum1. 

Only  by  fully  comprehending  the  peculiar  trend  of  thought  belonging  to 
those  days  could  we  hope  to  realize  the  import  of  such  a  passionate  plea. 
When  we  consider  that  men  held  tenaciously  to  the  slightest  revealed 
word  and  that  matters  of  faith  were  productive  of  the  most  violent  dis- 
ruptions of  society,  even  to  massacres  of  men  of  different  beliefs,  we  are 
forced  to  admit  that,  in  rejecting  his  friend's  pleadings,  Rabelais  was 
either  harder  of  heart  than  his  readers  will  trace  in  his  works,  or  more 
boldly  resolved  on  his  speculations  than  many  present-day  .views  will 
easily  allow.  Still  more  inexplicable,  as  Voulte'  doubtless  thought,  was 
his  not  shrinking  from  the  picture  of  the  Last  Day  that  follows.    On  that 

solemn  occasion, 

Dices  :  hei  mini,  jam  miser  miser  sum. 
Erravi,  fateor,  Deum  esse  nosco. 
Vixi,  non  homo,  sed  canis ;  poeta 
Vulteius  mihi  providus,  poeta 
verax,  hanc  mihi  centies  ruinam 
hanc  praedixerat. 

It  will  perhaps  be  apparent  that  Voulte  must  not  be  lightly  considered 
as  a  moderate  reformer,  who  turned  back  before  threatened  persecution 
and  who  therefore  quarrelled  with  his  friend.  His  quarrel  with  Rabelais 
took  place  only  when  his  dissuasive  powers  had  failed,  and  when  he  feared 
to  be  involved  in  the  eternal  consequences  of  daring  speculations  at  which 
he  hinted  and  to  which  Rabelais  was  much  inclined.  His  poems  are  cries 
of  alarm  uttered  by  a  singularly  devout  man,  who  recoiled  and  tried  to 
call  back  his  friend  from  the  abyss  of  infidelity  that  lay  before  him.  As 
for  Rabelais,  his  position  may  perhaps  be  best  explained  with  reference 
to  his  new  philosophy  of  Pantagruelism,  the  boldness  and  courage  of 
which  lie  hidden  within  his  famous  descriptions  and  definitions2  of  it, 
and  which  may  have  been  exerting  a  powerful  influence  upon  its  dis- 
coverer even  at  that  time. 

From  the  facts  of  his  career  we  may  see  that  Rabelais'  nature  was 
largely  moulded  by  life  in  a  provincial  monastery  into  which  the  most 

1  '  In  Luciani  simium'  (Hendecasyllaborum  libri  quattuor,  Paris,  1538). 

2  During  his  saddest  years  he  defined  it  as  '  certaine  gayete  d'esprit  conficte  en  mespris 
de  choses  fortuites.'   Bk  iv,  Prol.  de  l'Auteur. 


A.  F.  CHAPPELL  299 

liberal  views  available  to  him  penetrated  necessarily  through  classical 
literature.  We  can  therefore  in  part  appreciate  his  obstinate  prosecution 
of  studies  which  gave  him  a  sense  of  living,  but,  this  occupation  apart, 
he  probably  spent  his  life  with  no  greater  purpose  than  did  a  number 
of  his  fellows1.  Having  entered  the  world,  he  had  been  attached  to  two 
of  the  least  prejudiced  nobles  of  his  time,  he  had  prosecuted  various 
practical  studies,  and  he  had  travelled  extensively  when  opinions  were 
in  a  ferment.  We  may  be  sure  that,  when  he  had  seen  the  actual  state 
of  the  Church  in  Rome  at  that  time,  a  considered  and  steadfast  judgment 
took  the  place  of  his  traditional  and  fluctuating  views2,  and  this  fact 
prompts  the  question,  how  widely  must  his  opinions  on  other  matters 
have  changed  ?  He  had  been  forced  from  the  cavern,  in  which  he  had 
beheld  the  mere  shadows  of  the  world,  to  look  upon  reality  in  the  broad 
light  of  day.  So  far-reaching  a  change  from  secluded  idleness  to  personal 
and  public  activity  cannot  but  have  influenced  him.  Perhaps,  indeed,  it 
transformed  him,  at  first  no  doubt  throwing  his  thoughts  into  confusion. 
The  change  was  certainly  painful.  And  here  it  must  be  recalled  that 
the  most  potent  influences  were  brought  to  bear  upon  him  after  the 
publication  of  his  first  two  books.  Pantagruel  and  Gargantua  are  there- 
fore the  utterances  of  the  monk  and  student,  his  later  works  are  those 
of  the  man  of  the  world. 

During  the  first  stage,  his  thought  had  of  necessity  followed  the 
beaten  tracks  of  Renaissance  learning,  and  in  consequence  of  his  rever- 
ence for  Erasmus,  for  whom  he  felt  as  a  son  for  his  father — nay  for  his 
mother3,  he  had  dreamed  of  a  new  world,  reformed  by  its  absorption  of 
that  learning.  He  was  of  the  opinion  that  students  needed  but  to  expound 
Ancient  philosophy,  nay  merely  to  amass  Ancient  knowledge,  in  order  to 
equip  a  prince  for  government.  Such  influences  and  such  enthusiasm, 
common  to  many  of  his  contemporaries4,  are  therefore  deeply  imprinted 
upon  his  two  early  books.  In  the  world,  however,  nothing  but  disillusion- 
ment fell  to  his  lot :  he  beheld  in  Italy  a  moribund  Renaissance  move- 
ment which  was  closely  fettered  to  the  foolish  '  birds  '  of  the  Isle  Sonante ; 
he  saw  the  great  and  powerful  dictating  their  will  to  the  weak;  he  must 
have  realized  that  reform  by  peaceful  means  was  becoming  more  and  more 
difficult;  and  he  probably  discovered  that  humanity's  strength  or  weak- 
ness lay  in  an  irrational  objection  to  his  reasonable  reforms.    Within  a 

1  That  he  was  not  always  in  advance  of  his  age  was  not  therefore  surprising.    See 
Millet,  Fraiupis  Rabelais  (Les  Grands  Ecrivains). 

2  L'Isle  Sonante.   The  futile  lives  of  the  'birds'  seem  to  have  impressed  him  deeply. 

3  Epistola  ad  B.  Salignacum. 

4  Cf.  Dolet's  Prefaces  quoted  in  R.  C.  Christie,  Etienne  Dolet. 


300  Voultes  Rupture  ivith  Rabelais 

very  few  years  the  author  of  Gargantua  saw  one  ideal  after  another 
crushed  by  triumphant  reaction,  and  it  is  not  surprising  that  his  discon- 
certed mind  should  strive  to  understand  the  nature  of  his  fellows,  and 
his  own.  With  his  dream-world  shattered  Rabelais  was  driven  to  seek  a 
firm  footing  even  in  the  most  dangerous  places.  With  such  a  man,  prone 
to  discouragement  as  Rabelais  certainly  was,  a  life  of  activity  and 
acquaintance  with  other  men  would  be  of  the  highest  importance  in 
re-establishing  calmness  of  mind,  and  Voulte  knew  him  just  when  he 
probably  most  needed  calm,  and  before  he  underwent  the  powerful  in- 
fluence of  Guillaume  du  Bellay. 

Yet  he  had  not  merely  the  example  of  his  great  patron  as  a  cor- 
rective to  his  despair.  Whenever  in  his  early  books  he  recalls  home 
scenes  and  homely  or  personal  adventures,  his  style  becomes  richly 
coloured  and  powerfully  effective,  while,  when  he  treats  of  the  abstractions 
of  Thelema  or  of  his  educational  schemes,  we  feel  in  his  diminished  force 
a  lack  of  conviction  and  a  hesitancy  that  come  of  his  limited  vision.  The 
artificial  mode  of  life,  into  which  he  had  been  forced  possibly  when  very 
young1,  had  not  weakened,  and  had  probably  reinforced,  his  longing  for 
fact  and  experience,  and  it  appears  almost  self-evident  that  he  must  have 
been  endowed  with  an  exuberant  interest  in  all  aspects  of  life.  Now 
realism  alone  remains  constant  through  the  whole  romance,  and  no  other 
quality  of  mind  could  have  been  more  valuable  to  him  in  this  period  of 
upheaval.  No  other  power  than  that  of  interesting  himself  in  the 
physical  world  could  have  carried  him  through  to  the  time  when  '  he  saw 
life  steadily  and  saw  it  whole.'  He  would  take  his  stand  on  the  certainties 
that  remained  and  thence  push  his  researches  into  the  unknown.  Thus 
the  '  Tiers  Livre '  must  be  accepted  as  in  part  a  resume  of  Rabelais'  own 
enquiries,  and  in  the  same  way  under  cover  of  the  contemporaneous 
interest  in  geographical  discovery,  which  suggested  Pantagruel's  voyage2, 
he  would  seem  himself  to  have  anticipated  his  hero  in  a  quest  of  truth. 
Voulte's  poems  contain  obscure  references  to  some  of  Rabelais'  enquiries. 

Surely,  when  the  later  Pantagruel  says : 

Nature  me  semble,  non  sans  cause,  nous  avoir  forme  oreilles  ouvertes,  n'y  ap- 
posant  porte  ne  clousture  aucune,  comme  a  faict  es  yeulx,  langue  et  aultres  issues 
du  corps.  La  cause  je  cuide  estre,  afin  que  tousjours  toutes  nuitz,  continuellement 
puissions  ouir,  et,  par  ouye,  perpetuellement  apprendre  (in,  16), 

this  retort,  made  to  Epistemon's  fear  of  consultation  with  witches,  is  no 
less  the  response  that  Rabelais  would  give  to  a  Voulte*.  And,  the 
Tourangeau  might  add, 

1  Cf.  VIsle  Sonante,  p.  11  (Lefrane  and  Boulenger's  edition). 

2  Cf .  Les  Navigations  de  Pantagruel. 


A.  F.  CHAPPELL  301 

Que  nuist  scavoir  tousjours  et  tousjours  apprendre,  fust  ce 
D'un  sot,  d'un  pot,  d'une  guedoufle, 
D'une  moufle,  d'une  pantoufle  1   {ibid.) 

Calvin  preferred  that  all  knowledge  should  vanish  from  the  earth  rather 
than  that  it  should  be  a  cause  of  stumbling1;  Voulte  would  certainly 
have  established  strict  limits  to  enquiry;  and  Rabelais'  great  quality,  as 
a  result  of  which  consistency  was  to  be  given  to  his  mature  work,  was 
apparently  precisely  what  horrified  his  friend  and  had  dissolved  their 
friendship.  Rabelais  was  prepared  to  thrust  aside  the  most  cherished 
beliefs  of  his  day  in  the  interest  of  his  speculations.  Voulte  had  noted 
the  change  that  had  come  over  his  friend,  but  naturally  he  could  not 
decide  how  fundamental  it  was.  Indeed  only  a  careful  comparison  of  the 
books  produced  before  and  after  this  period  will  reveal  a  most  extra- 
ordinary interruption  of  Rabelais'  development.  His  acquaintance  with 
Voulte  appears  to  indicate  that  a  definite  breach  with  the  past  had 
been  made. 

A.  F.  Chappell. 
Manchester. 


1  De  Scandalis  :  'ego  enim  mallem,  et  certe  praestaret,  scientias  omnes  exterminatas  e 
mundo  esse,  quam  ut  studio  gloriae  Dei  Christianos  alienent.' 


M.  L.  R.  XVIII.  20 


THE  EARLY  EDITIONS  OF  GOMBERVILLE'S 
'POLEX  ANDRE. ' 

'  I  READ  scores  of  times  the  Polexandre  ! '  exclaimed  La  Fontaine  with 
joyful  remembrance,  when  he  enumerated  the  fiction  which  had  appealed 
to  him  most1;  and,  considering  the  complicated  evolution  of  this  novel, 
the  several  editions,  the  successive  modifications  in  the  story  and  the 
very  length  of  the  book  in  its  final  shape,  La  Fontaine's  '  scores  of  times ' 
would  indeed  be  needed  for  anyone  now  to  acquire  an  adequate  idea  of 
Gomberville's  famous  novel.  Other  seventeenth  century  authors  joined 
La  Fontaine  in  his  praise.  Guez  de  Balzac  expressed  all  his  admiration 
in  these  few  words :  '  Le  Polexandre  est  a  mon  avis  un  ouvrage  parfait 
en  son  genre2.'  Even  Boileau,  an  enemy  of  lofty  and  adventurous  fiction, 
read  it  with  delight  in  his  youth:  'Comme  j'etais  fort  jeune,...je  les 
lus,  ainsi  que  les  lisait  tout  le  monde,  avec  beaucoup  d'admiration  et  je 
regardais  ces  romans  comme  des  chefs  d'ceuvre  de  notre  langue3.' 

Although  Browne's  translation  (1647)  seems  to  have  enjoyed  some 
popularity  in  England,  the  novel  soon  fell  into  oblivion.  During  the 
eighteenth  century  several  abridged  and  revised  editions  of  the  novels 
of  D'Urfe,  La  Calprenede,  Mile  de  Scudery  and  others,  were  published ; 
but  Polexandre,  more  celebrated  once  than  any  of  them,  had  to  forego 
this  honour.  La  Harpe4  treats  it  with  disdain  and  Sainte-Beuve  simply 
states  that  '  Gomberville  aujourd'hui  n'est  plus  lisible'  {Port-Royal,  II, 
p.  267). 

These  opinions  contrast  with  a  modern  reaction  which  is  far  more 
favourable  to  Polexandre.  In  his  book  Marin  Le  Roy  de  Gomberville, 
1876,  Kerviler  devotes  a  chapter  to  it;  Korting  in  his  Geschichte  des 
franzosischen  Romans  im  17 'ten  Jahrhundert  acclaimed  the  work,  the 
earliest  example  of  a  new  category  of  '  heroic-gallant '  novels,  which  was 
imitated  for  several  decades  (p.  216);  and,  lastly,  Professor  Chinard 
stresses  its  significance  as  the  master-piece  of  the  stories  of  exotic  adven- 
ture in  the  early  seventeenth  century5.    One  would  expect  a  work  of 

1  La  Fontaine,  (Euvres,  Ed.  Grands  Ecrivains,  ix,  p.  25. 

2  (Euvres,  1665,  n,  p.  634. 

3  Discours  sur  les  Heros  de  Roman,  (Euvres,  Ed.  Lemerre,  1875,  n,  p.  24. 

4  Lycie  ou  Cours  de  Literature,  1799,  vn,  p.  225. 

6  L'Amerique  et  le  Eeve  Exotique  dans  la  Litt.  frangaise,  1913,  p.  66. 


ANTONY  CONST ANS  AND  GUST.  L.  VAN  ROOSBROECK       303 

such  importance  to  have  been  sufficiently  studied,  and  it  is  with  astonish- 
ment that  one  notices  the  great  number  of  errors  about  its  earliest 
appearance,  its  editions  and  its  text.  All  bibliographies  and  studies 
disagree  as  to  the  dates  of  the  first  and  the  following  editions,  and  also 
in  regard  to  the  number  of  volumes  of  each  edition.  The  same  confusion 
exists  about  the  text  which  Gomberville  altered  profoundly  in  each 
successive  edition.  The  historical  and  contemporary  allusions  which 
abound  in  this  '  roman  a  clef  have  not  been  entirely  explained1;  and  its 
sources  in  the  voyage  literature  of  the  times  have  not  been  altogether 
identified. 

To  elucidate  at  least  one  problem  to  which  Polexandre  gives  rise,  it 
will  be  attempted  here  to  prove  that  the  first  edition  of  this  novel  dates 
from  1619  and  was  published  under  the  pseudonym  of  'Orile.'  The 
errors  about  its  earliest  appearance  are  numerous  and  contradictory. 
Niceron  (Memoires,  xxxviii,  p.  263)  gives  1632  and  states  that  it  was 
made  up  of  two  volumes ;  La  Valliere2  and  Brunet's  Manuel  indicate 
the  year  1629  and  one  volume;  the  Biographies  Universelles  Michaud 
and  Firmin-Didot  both  contend  for  the  year  1632,  but  increase  the 
number  of  volumes  to  four;  Graesse  (Tresor  des  Livres  Rares)  lists  only 
an  edition  of  1637  in  five  volumes,  which  he  apparently  considers  as  the 
first.  More  recent  works  dealing  especially  with  Gomberville  do  not 
solve  the  problem.  Kerviler  (op.  cit.)  maintains  that  the  first  edition 
appeared  in  1629  and  was  composed  of  two  volumes,  which  places  him 
in  contradiction  with  all  preceding  bibliographers.  Korting  (op.  cit.)  over- 
looks the  existence  of  Kerviler's  work  and  copies  Lenglet  du  Fresnoy 's 
date3  without  specifying  the  number  of  volumes. 

For  all  this  confusion  there  was  little  excuse :  already  Querard  (Les 
Supercheries  litteraires  devoilees,  II,  p.  1310)  had  cautiously  suggested 
that  the  earliest  edition  probably  dated  from  1619.  His  only  proof, 
however,  is  that  a  volume  of  that  edition,  which  he  had  seen,  was  attri- 
buted to  Gomberville  by  a  manuscript  note  of  Lenglet  du  Fresnoy4. 
Lanson's  Manual  follows  Querard  and  states:  'Polexandre  1619  (in- 
complet),  1637,  5  vol.'  This  is  quite  misleading  because  it  mentions 
only  two  of  the  editions ;  and  the  word  '  incomplet '  implies  that  the 

1  Drujon,  Les  Livres  a  Clef,  does  not  mention  it.  Some  interesting  material  about  the 
allusions  can  be  found  in  Gustave  Charlier's  article,  Un  Amour  de  Ronsard  (Revue  du 
XVIe  siecle,  1920,  vn,  p.  123). 

2  Catalogue  de  la  Bibl.  de  M.  de  la  Valliere,  m,  p.  167. 

3  Lenglet  du  Fresnoy  (Gordon  du  Percel),  De  V Usage  des  Romans;  avec  une  Biblio- 
tkeque  des  Romans,  1734,  n,  p.  63. 

4  It  must  be  noted  that  in  Lenglet  du  Fresnoy's  De  V  Usage  des  Romans  (n,  p.  63)  no 
mention  is  made  of  this  1619  edition. 

20—2 


304     The  Early  Editions  of  Gomberville  s  ' Polexandre ' 

edition  of  1619  was  completed  in  1637,  whereas  Gomberville  rewrote 
his  book  entirely  for  each  issue,  transported  its  hero  to  another  country, 
changed  the  names  of  the  secondary  personages  as  well  as  their  station 
in  life. 

Several  proofs  can  be  grouped  to  demonstrate  that  the  earliest 
edition,  or  rather  the  earliest  form,  of  Polexandre  is  the  volume  of  1619, 
entitled  L'Exil  de  Polexandre  et  d'Ericlee,  Paris.   Toussainct  du  Bray. 

(a)  The  Epitre  is  signed  '  oeile.'  It  has  not  been  noticed  heretofore 
that  this  pseudonym  is  the  anagram  of  Gomberville's  name  Le  Roi 
(Le  Roy).  In  1619  he  was  still  called  Marin  Le  Roy.  His  father's  name 
was  Louis  Le  Roy,  sieur  de  la  Croix  le  Chapitre  :  it  is  only  later  that 
his  son  added  •  de  Gomberville1 '  and  we  recall  how  fond  the  latter  was  of 
substituting  for  his  own  name  such  queer  forms  as  '  Thalassius  Basilides 
a  Gombervilla.'  In  1614  his  Tableau  du  bonheur  de  la  Vieillesse  gives 
his  name  as  Marin  Le  Roy,  without  the  addition  of  de  Gomberville. 

(b)  The  edition  of  1619  ends  with  an  Advertissement  au  Lecteur  in 
which  Orile  complains  about  the  great  number  of  mistakes  the  printer 
allowed  to  slip  into  his  novel,  and  says :  '  Mais  quoy  qu'il  arrive,  je  te 
promets  que  si  ces  malheureuses  reliques  ne  te  sont  point  desagreables 
...j 'essay eray  de  les  receuillir  un  peu  mieux  qu'elles  ne  sont,  et  de  te 
les  faire  voir  pour  la  seconde  fois,  avec  plus  de  purete  et  de  politesse.' 
A  second  and  modified  edition  of  L'Exil  de  Polexandre  et  d'Ericlee  was 
thus  promised.  And,  in  fact,  the  edition  of  1629  was  a  rewritten  book, 
as  can  be  seen  by  the  Privilege  (dated  September  28,  1629):  'II  est 
permis  a  M.  le  Roy,  Escuyer,  sieur  de  Gomberville.  de  faire  imprimer... 
un  petit  essay  de  son  esprit,  sous  le  tiltre  de  L'Exil  de  Polexandre,  qu'il 
a  depuis  peu  corrige,  change,  finy,  et  desire  le  faire  voir  tout  autre  et 
en  meilleur  ordre  qu'il  n'a  paru  jusqu'a  present.'  This  very  explicit 
Privilege  proves  that  the  edition  of  1629  cannot  be  the  earliest,  and,  as 
will  be  pointed  out  further  on,  the  changes  and  corrections  in  which  it 
claims  to  differ  from  the  preceding  edition  are  found  to  exist  between 
the  issues  of  1619  and  1629. 

(c)  Moreover,  in  the  Preface  of  a  later  work,  his  Memoires  du  Due 
de  Nevers  (1665),  Gomberville  told  at  length  the  events  of  his  life  a  few 
years  before  1630  and  marked  the  influence  they  had  upon  his  literary 
career.  He  states  clearly  that,  before  1630,  the  Duchess  of  Lorraine 
encouraged  him  to  rewrite  his  '  first  Polexandre,'  and  that  to  her  he 
dedicated  the  changed  work.  He  begins  with  informing  us  that  he  had 
planned  to  compile  a  long  history  of  the  French  religious  wars  in  the 

1  Cf.  Jal,  Diet,  de  Biographic  et  d'Histoire,  p.  646. 


ANTONY  CONSTANS  AND  GUST.  L.  VAN  ROOSBROECK       305 

sixteenth  century,  of  which  only  the  Preface  and  the  first  book  were 
finished :  '  Avant  que  Davila  eust  fait  imprimer  a  Venise  l'histoire  de 
nos  guerres  civiles,  j'avois  forme  le  dessein  d'escrire  celle  des  derniers 
rois  de  la  Maison  des  Valois  et  d'y  enfermer  tous  les  evenements  extra- 
ordinaires...dont  la  France  a  este  le  theatre  depuis  la  mort  de  Louis  XII 
jusqua  celle  de  Henri  III.'  The  date  of  these  historical  activities  can 
be  determined  by  his  statement  that  they  preceded  the  appearance  of 
Davila's  History  of  the  French  Civil  Wars:  this  was  published  in  1630  *. 
He  narrates  then  how,  before  this  date,  he  rewrote  his  Polexandre  to 
please  a  lady  of  very  high  rank  :  '  II  arriva  cependant  par  une  advanture 
que  je  n'avois  pas  pre  venue,  que  je  retombay  dans  la  maladie  des  romans, 
et  que  je  fus  engage  par  une  dame  de  premiere  condition  de  me  souvenir 
de  mon  premier  Polexandre.  Je  le  revys  pour  luy  plaire,  et,  ne  luy 
trouvant  ny  la  qualite  ny  le  merite  que  je  luy  aurois  souhaite,  je  voulus 
me  rendre  le  maistre  de  sa  fortune  et  de  sa  condition ;  et,  puisque  son 
elevation  ne  me  coustoit  que  quelques  momens  de  reveries,  le  porter 
aussi  haut  que  mon  imagination  pouvoit  aller.  La  princesse  pour  le 
divertissement  de  qui  j'avois  entrepris  ce  roman  l'ayant  trouve  tres 
agreable  comme  il  etoit,  je  le  publiay  sous  son  nom  et  voulus  voir  si  la 
fable  me  seroit  un  peu  plus  favorable  que  l'histoire.'  There  can  be  no 
doubt  that  this  transformation  of  his  'early  Polexandre'  happened  in 
1629,  for  Gomberville  relates  that  his  rewritten  novel  was  a  great  success 
at  the  Court  and  put  him  in  touch  with  many  influential  noblemen. 
Soon  after,  he  says,  '  a  big  storm '  burst  out  at  the  Court,  and  destroyed 
the  power  of  some  of  his  friends;  he  refers,  certainly,  to  the  famous 
'  Journee  des  Dupes'  of  November  11,  1630,  for  he  states  that,  at  that 
very  time,  a  friend  brought  him  from  Italy  the  Historia  of  Davila 
'  nouvellement  imprimee,'  and,  as  we  said  above,  this  volume  appeared 
in  1630.  Now,  if,  in  1629,  Gomberville  rewrote  an  earlier  Polexandre, 
it  can  only  have  been  his  Exil  de  Polexandre  et  d'Ericlee  of  1619.  This 
is  confirmed  once  more  by  the  fact  that  Gomberville,  in  the  passage 
previously  quoted,  says  that  in  the  new  edition  (1629)  he  bettered 
the  hero's  position  in  life,  since  this  cost  him  nothing  but  '  quelques 
momens  de  reveries':  in  1619  Polexandre  is  an  ordinary  nobleman,  in 
1629  a  Prince.  Besides,  the  edition  of  1629  is  dedicated  to  the  Duchesse 
de  Lorraine,  and  Gomberville  declares  that  it  appeared  '  under  the  name  ' 
of  the  lady  of  high  rank  who  had  asked  him  to  write  the  book  over  again. 
(d)  Gomberville  himself  furnishes  another  argument  to  establish 
that  It  Exil  de  Polexandre  et  d'Ericlee  of  1619  is  the  early  form  of  his 
1  Enrico  Caterino  Davila,  Historia  delle  Guerre  di  Francia,  Venice,  1630. 


306     The  Early  Editions  of  Gombervitte' s  'Polexandre' 

successive  Polexandre  novels :  in  the  Avertissement  aux  Honnestes  Gens 
at  the  end  of  vol.  V  of  the  last  edition  of  the  novel  (pp.  611-18  of  the 
edition  of  1641),  he  explains,  in  rather  cryptic  language,  the  successive 
changes  he  introduced  in  his  labyrinth.  This  passage  has  been  quoted, 
among  others,  by  Kerviler  (op.  cit.  p.  45)  and  Korting  (op.  cit.  p.  219), 
but  it  can  be  correctly  interpreted  only  when  the  1619  edition  is  taken 
into  account :  '  La  premiere  fois  que  Polexandre  vit  le  jour,  il  le  vit  par 
la  puissance  d'Eolinde,  et  le  perdit  aussitost  qu'elle  eut  cesse  de  lui 
prester  sa  lumiere.  Neuf  ans  apres,  il  sortit  des  te'nebres  et  eut  l'obliga- 
tion  de  ce  nouveau  jour  a  Zelmatide  et  a  Yzatide,  car  il  ne  fut  que  le 
pretexte  de  mon  travail.  Les  deux  autres  en  furent  la  cause.  Incontinent 
apres,  Yzatide  estant  morte  pour  Zelmatide  et  pour  elle-mesme,  je  laissay 
Polexandre  comme  mort  dans  la  grande  place  de  Coppenhague.  Deux 
ans  apres,  je  luy  fis  changer  de  condition  par  pure  maxime  d'Estat.  Mais 
cette  maxime  se  trouvant  fausse,  je  le  laissay  avec  toutes  ses  pretentions 
ensevely  dans  les  desordres  d'AUemagne.  Maintenant,  si  je  ne  me  flatte 
un  peu  trop,  je  vous  le  donne  tel  que  vous  l'avez  desire....'  The  first 
part  of  this  explanation,  '  La  premiere  fois  que  Polexandre  vit  le  jour, 
il  le  vit  par  la  puissance  d'Eolinde,'  manifestly  refers  to  the  Exil  de 
Polexandre  et  d'Ericlee  of  1619,  for  this  novel  is  almost  entirely  made 
up  of  the  story  of  the  love-affairs  of  Alig&nor  and  Eolinde  (especially 
pp.  96  to  325),  whereas  in  the  Exil  de  Polexandre  of  1629  no  mention 
is  made  of  Eolinde.  The  next  statement,  '  Neuf  ans  apres,  il  sortit  des 
tenebres/  is  again  confirmed  by  fact,  for  nine  years  after  1619  take  us 
to  1628,  the  year  Gomberville  must  have  written  his  transformed  Exil 
de  Polexandre,  which  appeared  in  1629.  Besides,  he  goes  on  :  '  (Le  livre) 
eut  l'obligation  de  ce  nouveau  jour  a  Zelmatide  et  a  Yzatide';  and 
the  Histoire  de  Zelmatide,  Prince  du  Perou,  et  d'lzatide,  Princesse  de 
Mexique,  forms  the  greater  part  of  the  edition  of  1629.  In  the  last  place, 
the  sentence  '  Incontinent  Yzatide  estant  morte '  refers  to  the  death,  in 
prison,  of  this  Mexican  Princess,  beloved  of  Prince  Zelmatide  (ed.  of 
1629,  p.  454);  and  'je  laissay  Polexandre  comme  mort  dans  la  grande 
place  de  Coppenhague '  alludes  of  course  to  the  duel,  in  Copenhagen,  of 
Polexandre  with  his  rival  Phelismond,  at  the  end  of  which,  in  Polexandre's 
own  words  :  'La  teste  me  tourna,  je  perdis  la  veue,  demeuray  sans  me- 
moire,  et  tombay  comme  mort  a  dix  pas  de  Phelismond'  (ed.  of  1629, 
p.  881  *).    Korting  (op.  cit.  p.  219),  who  evidently  has  never  seen  the 

1  With  the  later  changed  editions  of  Polexandre  we  are  not  directly  concerned  here. 
However,  we  may  point  out  that  Gomberville 's  explanation  makes  it  clear  that  he  wrote 
four  different  versions  of  the  novel :  1619,  1629,  1632,  and  1637-41. 


ANTONY  CONSTANS  AND  GUST.  L.  VAN  ROOSBROECK         307 

several  editions,  misinterprets  strangely  the  meaning  of  the  French 
novelist's  passage.  He  gives  the  date  of  the  first  edition  as  1632,  and 
believes  the  action  to  be  centred  around  Polexandre :  '  Hier  ist  die 
Handlung  noch  eine  leidlich  konzentrierte ;  der  Eine  Held,  um  den 
sich  samtliche  Figuren  gruppieren,  ist  Polexandre.'  Just  the  opposite  is 
true.  In  both  earliest  editions  the  action  is  concentrated,  not  around 
Polexandre,  who  appears  only  at  the  very  end  of  the  novels,  but  around 
two  pairs  of  lovers :  Alig6nor  and  Eolinde  in  1619  ;  Yzatide  and  Zelma- 
tide  in  1629.  Korting  then  mentions  a  '  second '  version  of  the  novel — 
written,  he  imagines,  in  1634 — into  which  Gomberville  introduced  for 
the  first  time  a  pair  of  Mexican  lovers  (Zelmatide  and  Yzatide),  breaking 
the  unity  of  the  earlier  form  of  his  work.  But,  this  Mexican  story  occurs 
already  in  the  edition  of  1629  ! 

(e)  Another  fact  which  pleads  strongly  in  favour  of  the  authorship 
of  Gomberville  for  the  Exil  de  Polexandre  et  d'Ericlee  of  1619  is  that 
an  episode  of  this  work,  which  he  did  not  use  in  the  edition  of  1629, 
occurs  in  a  later  novel:  his  Cytheree  of  1640-42.  Polexandre  meets  his 
mother,  who  was  believed  dead.  After  telling  her  adventures,  she  dies 
in  his  arms  (ed.  of  1619,  pp.  564-640) ;  in  the  same  way,  in  the  Cytheree 
(Book  II),  Araxes  finds  his  mother,  Tenesis,  who  expires  soon  after. 

(/)  Moreover  there  exist  between  the  editions  of  1619  and  1629 
certain  unmistakable  similitudes,  which  clearly  designate  them  as  works 
of  the  same  hand.  Without  going  into  minute  detail,  the  principal 
incidents  which  are  common  to  both  books  may  be  pointed  out.  The 
opening  scene  is  very  similar  in  both  volumes  :  an  unknown  man  jumps 
into  the  sea  from  a  high  rock.  In  the  1619  edition  he  cannot  be  saved, 
but  in  1629  he  is  rescued  by  some  sailors.  In  both  a  beautiful  Turk 
appears,  whom  his  Christian  enemies  instinctively  feel  to  be  a  French- 
man of  distinction  (1619,  p.  37 ;  1629,  p.  25).  Another  personage,  the 
surgeon  Dicee,  is  found  in  1619,  1629  and  the  following  forms  of  the 
novel.  In  both  early  versions,  Polexandre  is  educated  at  the  Court  and 
becomes  a  friend  of  the  Dauphin.  The  period  in  which  his  adventures 
happen  is  the  same  :  he  is  a  French  knight  living  at  the  time  of  Henri  II, 
Francois  II  and  Charles  IX  (pp.  200  ff.  of  1619  ;  pp.  642-63  of  1629). 

(g)  Finally,  a  long  description  of  a  tournament  which  is  found  in  the 
Exil  de  Polexandre  et  d'Ericlee  of  1619  (pp.  530-60)  has  been  trans- 
posed into  the  Exil  de  Polexandre  of  1629  (pp.  658-700).  Some  pages 
have  been  entirely  copied,  others  have  been  altered  and  paraphrased, 
although  the  heroes  of  the  tournament  are  different  in  each  case. 

These  transpositions  of  text  and  incidents  illustrate  Gomberville's 


308     The  Early  Editions  of  Gomberville's  'Polexandre' 

literary  methods,  which  are  far  from  being  as  slipshod  and  as  varied  as 
literary  historians  have  stated.  He  recasts  his  text  and  makes  use  of 
former  inventions  much  after  the  fashion  of  a  good  tradesman  in  litera- 
ture. Korting  indicates  that  he  inserted  in  his  Gytheree  whole  scenes 
and  motives  from  his  Polexandre  and  thus  became  his  own  imitator. 
His  boasted  abundance  appears  then  as  rather  sterile,  and  it  would  be 
interesting  to  study  from  this  point  of  view  the  later  editions  of  his 
principal  work,  considered  as  entirely  different  from  one  another. 

The  existence  of  the  1619  edition  of  Polexandre  shows,  too,  that 
Gomberville  has  been  occupied  with  the  varied  adventures  of  his  hero  for 
eighteen  or  twenty  years,  and  that  his  novel  was  only  a  kind  of  flexible 
framework  into  which  he  successively  gathered  the  deeds  of  several  fine- 
mannered  and  high-spirited  adventurers,  who  are  images  both  of  the 
traditional  Amadis  and  of  the  '  honneste  homme '  of  the  period. 

Antony  Constans. 
Gust.  L.  van  Roosbroeck. 

Minneapolis,  Minnesota,  U.S.A. 


A  FORGOTTEN  NOVEL  OF  MANNERS  OF  THE 
EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY :  '  LA  PAYSANNE  PAR- 
VENUE'  BY  LE  CHEVALIER  DE  MOUHY. 

Despite  the  researches  of  MM.  Texte  and  Le  Breton  and  Mr  Saints- 
bury,  the  novel  in  French  literature  remains  one  of  the  few  genres  to 
which  La  Bruyere's  famous  '  Tout  est  dit '  cannot  be  applied.  This  rich 
lode  is  far  from  exhausted,  and  occasionally  even  the  most  dilettante  of 
•  fureteurs '  unearths  a  forgotten  work  which  amply  recompenses  him 
for  his  labours.  La  Paysanne  parvenue,  ou  les  Memoires  de  Madame  la 
Marquise  de  L.  V.  by  Monsieur  le  Chevalier  de  Mouhy  is  such  a  work1. 
Histories  of  literature  ignore  de  Mouhy,  and  even  the  omniscient  Sainte- 
Beuve  is  silent  on  his  count.  Lanson,  in  his  Bibliographie,  mentions  him, 
but  not  at  all  as  a  novelist2.  Le  Nouveau  Larousse  gives  the  following 
information  about  him : 

Mouhy  (Charles  de  Fieux),  romancier  fraiigais  ne  a  Metz  en  1701,  mort  a  Paris 
en  1784,  neveu  du  baron  de  Longepierre.  Sans  fortune  mais  exempt  de  scrupules  il 
se  met  aux  gages  de  Voltaire  comme  sollieiteur  de  ses  proces  et  '  chef  de  meute '  au 
parterre,  puis  du  Marechal  de  Belle-Isle  pour  des  services  peu  avouables.  Ecrivain 
mediocre  il  cherche  surtout  les  succes  dans  l'actualite  imitant  les  ouvrages  en  vogue. 
C'est  ainsi  qu'il  ecrivit  La  Paysanne  parvenue  1735  pour  faire  pendant  au  Paysan 
parvenu  de  Marivaux.  Dans  l'abondant  mais  mediocre  bagage  litteraire  de  cet  auteur 
nous  citerons  seulement  Les  Memoires  posthumes  du  Comte  de  XXX  avant  son  retour 
a  Dieu,  1735  ;  Memoires  oVunefille  de  qualite  qui  ne  s' 'est  pas  retiree  du  monde,  1747. 

The  notice  is  short,  but  ample  for  our  purpose,  which  is  not  to  give 
a  biography  of  de  Mouhy.  By  the  way,  the  classic  Life  of  Voltaire,  by 
Desnoiresterres,  sheds  a  ray  of  light  on  de  Mouhy's  activities  as  'sol- 
lieiteur' in  the  well-known  quarrel  between  Arouet  and  Desfontaines3. 
The  incident  is  not  entirely  to  the  Chevalier's  discredit. 

1  La  Paysanne  parvenue  ou  les  Memoires  de  la  Comtesse  de  L.  V.  Par  Le  Chevalier  de 
Mouhy.  A  Amsterdam.  Aux  depens  de  la  Compagnie.  1741.  All  references  are  to  this 
edition. 

a  Gustave  Lanson,  Manuel  bibliographique  de  la  litterature  francaise  moderne,  Paris, 
1911.  The  following  are  the  works  of  de  Mouhy  cited  here:  p.  52,  §  496:  Voyages 
imaginaires,  songes,  visions  et  romans  merveilleux,  recueillis  par  Gamier,  1787-9  ;  p.  656, 
§  8993-5:  De  Mouhy  (se  defier  de  cet  auteur),  Tablettes  dramatiques  contenant  Vabrege  du 
Theatre  francais,  1752;  Abrege  de  VHistoire  du  Theatre  francais  (jusqu'au  ler  juin  1780), 
3  vols,  in-8  ;  Journal  manuscrit  du  Theatre  francais,  6  vols,  in-fol.  Bib.  Nat.  f.  fr,  9229- 
9235;  p.  709,  §  9738:  De  Mouhy,  Les  Mille  et  une  Folies,  Conte  francais,  1771 ;  p.  757, 
§  10419 :  De  Mouhy  is  mentioned  in  Les  Huit  philosophes  aventuriers  de  ce  siecle,  1752, 
in-8,  ed.  mod.  1754;  p.  791,  §  10930:  Le  Chevalier  de  Mouhy,  Justification  de  la  musique 
fram;aise,  1754. 

3  Gustave  Desnoiresterres,  Voltaire  et  la  societe  francaise  au  XVIIIe  siecle:  Voltaire 
au  Chateau  de  Cirey.  Paris,  1868. 


310        A  Forgotten  Novel:  'La  Paysanne  Parvenue' 

The  Chevalier  de  Mouhy  dedicates  his  novel  to  l'Abbe  d'Opede, 
'  aumdnier  de  chez  le  roi.'  The  dedication  is  spirited,  grateful  and  un- 
usually sincere. 

Voici  une  occasion  de  vous  marquer  ma  reconnaissance  ;  j'en  profite,  et  j'avoue 
publiquement  les  obligations  que  je  vous  ai.  Sans  me  connoltre,  vous  m'avez  prevenu 
par  des  politesses  infinies.  Je  cours  la  poste,  je  suis  blesse"  ;  vous  etes  en  chaise,  et 
vous  vous  genez  pour  m'y  recevoir  :  votre  bourse  m'est  ouverte  ;  il  faut  absolument 
m'en  servir,  ou  vous  ddsobliger.   Oh  trouve-t-on  des  coeurs  semblables?... 

The  preface  serves  as  a  vehicle  for  the  usual  affectedly  sincere 
explanation  of  the  origin  and  purpose  of  the  novel.  As  the  sub-title 
implies,  the  novel  is  the  '  veracious '  account  of  the  life  and  adventures 
of  the  Marquise  de  L.  V.  But  de  Mouhy  betrays  a  certain  originality 
even  here.  For  three  months,  we  learn,  he  has  been  a  confirmed  hater 
of  the  sex.  A  charming  lady,  it  is  hinted,  is  the  cause  of  his  access  of 
misogyny.  '  Une  des  plus  amiables  femmes  de  Paris  nee  en  Provence  et 
que  j'ai  aim^e  a  la  folie  a  beaucoup  de  part  au  chagrin  que  j'ai  contre  le 
sexe.'  It  is  now  that  the  Marquise  de  L.  V.  makes  her  untimely  request. 
Will  M.  de  Mouhy  call  and  see  her  ?  M.  de  Mouhy  will  not.  Follows  a 
letter  from  the  Marquise :  she  is  surprised  at  the  ungallant  reply. 
She  does  not  know  whether  M.  le  Chevalier  de  Mouhy  is  '  un  homme  k 
bonnes  fortunes,'  but  if  he  thinks  that  she  is  throwing  herself  at  his  head 
he  is  very  much  mistaken !  She  has  a  favour  to  ask  of  him.  This 
vivacious  lady  continues : 

Vous  devez  connoitre  les  femmes,  puisque  vous  les  evitez,  et  savoir  que  lorsqu'elles 
se  sont  mises  quelque  chose  dans  la  tete  il  est  difficile  de  les  faire  changer :  cela  doit 
vous  faire  comprendre  que  si  vous  n'etes  point  chez  moi  deux  heures  apres  ma  lettre, 
je  viendrai  vous  en  demander  la  raison  chez  vous.  Je  suis,  Monsieur,  malgre  mon 
depit  votre  tres-humble  et  tres-ob&ssante,  La  Marquise  de  L.  V. 

The  favour,  as  the  reader  guesses,  is  that  de  Mouhy  will  write  up  the 
Marquise's  life  from  her  manuscripts.  De  Mouhy  gravely  assures  us 
then: 

Ce  sont  done  ces  Memoires  que  je  donne  aujourd'hui  au  public  ;  les  parties  qui 
suivent  celle-ci  seront  tres-interessantes,  elles  paroitront  de  mois  en  mois.  Je  n'ai 
que  faire  d'annoncer  que  le  but  de  Madame  la  Marquise  de  L.  V.  dans  cet  Ouvrage, 
est  d'instruire  son  sexe  en  l'amusant,  de  mettre  la  vertu  dans  son  jour  et  de  porter 
ceux  qui  ecrivent  a  orner  leurs  Ouvrages  de  ses  beautez. 

De  Mouhy,  like  Richardson,  seeks  his  heroine  in  the  humblest  walk 
of  peasant  life.  Jeannette  B.  is  the  daughter  of  a  woodcutter.  Her 
mother,  however,  though  of  peasant  stock,  was  for  some  time  lady's 
maid  to  the  local  '  grande  dame,'  la  Comtesse  de  N.  She  has  seen  some- 
thing of  society,  if  only  from  the  coulisses,  and  it  is  from  her  that 
Jeannette  receives  her  gentle  manners  and  delicate  feelings.   The  girl 


F.  C.  GREEN  311 

shrinks  instinctively  from  the  boisterous  village  lads,  and  rejects  the 
advances  of  Colin,  an  eminently  eligible  parti  in  the  eyes  of  her  parents. 

It  is  while  the  king  and  his  hunting  train  are  passing  through  the 
woods  near  Jeannette's  village  that  she  makes  the  acquaintance  of  the 
young  Marquis  de  L.  V.,  who  falls  a  victim  to  the  charms  of  the  lovely 
peasant  girl.  Luckily  for  the  Marquis,  his  friend  the  Comtesse  de  N.  is 
Jeannette's  godmother,  and  he  thus  arranges  to  have  the  girl  educated 
at  the  chateau.  Here  Jeannette  sees  her  lover  frequently  and  falls  in  love 
with  him,  hopelessly  too,  it  appears,  because  marriage  seems  impossible, 
and  for  Jeannette  there  is  no  compromise  thinkable.  She  is  badly 
treated  by  the  venomous  young  lady  of  the  house  and  pestered  by  the 
passionate  advances  of  the  son,  a  haughty  and  vicious  youth  called  the 
Chevalier  Delbieu.  This  impetuous  gentleman  swears  to  have  her,  and 
attempts  violence  in  a  secluded  part  of  the  grounds.  Jeannette  is  saved 
in  the  nick  of  time  by  the  arrival  of  her  lover  and  rushes  blindly  into 
the  wood. 

She  makes  up  her  mind  to  go  back  to  the  cottage,  and  gets  a  lift  from 
a  friendly  waggoner.  To  her  dismay,  she  notices  the  relentless  Delbieu 
and  a  friend  riding  behind  the  cart.  Taking  advantage  of  a  moment 
when  her  pursuers  have  to  make  a  slight  detour  to  avoid  some  low 
hanging  trees,  our  heroine  seizes  a  drooping  bough  and  takes  refuge  in 
a  tree.  The  two  scoundrels  search  everywhere  for  her,  and  it  seems  as 
if  she  is  to  be  discovered,  when  a  carriage  passes  by.  The  girl,  at  her 
wits'  end,  drops  from  the  tree  and  throws  herself  on  the  mercy  of  the 
occupant  of  the  carriage,  a  certain  Mme  de  G.  This  good  lady,  who 
happens  to  know  Delbieu's  parents,  rates  that  gentleman  soundly  and 
sends  him  off  discomfited. 

The  next  stage  of  Jeannette's  life  is  her  stay  with  Mme  de  G.  and 
the  attempts  of  that  lady's  husband,  an  old  but  amorous  receveur  de 
finances,  to  seduce  his  guest  by  presents.  That  little  lady,  however, 
turns  the  incident  to  her  advantage  by  informing  Mme  de  G.  A  match 
is  now  arranged  between  Jeannette  and  a  nauseous  type  of  '  financier ' 
called  Gripart.  The  Marquis,  in  despair,  pleads  with  Mme  de  G.  and 
Jeannette  to  break  off  the  match ;  meanwhile  the  ceremony  all  but 
takes  place,  but  unfortunately  for  Gripart,  a  lady  to  whom  he  had  once 
proposed  marriage  forbids  the  banns.  Delbieu  appears  again,  attacks 
Gripart's  carriage  and  nearly  kills  the  financier  in  an  attempt  to  carry 
off  Jeannette.  There  is  a  fight  between  the  Marquis  and  Delbieu  in 
which  the  latter  is  severely  wounded.  Jeannette  meanwhile  takes  refuge 
in  a  convent,  the  superior  of  which  is  an  old  friend  of  Mme  de  G.'s. 


312        A  Forgotten  Novel:  'La  Paysanne  Parvenue' 

The  Marquis  pere  now  enters  the  story.  Lettres  de  cachet  are  out 
against  Jeannette  and  Delbieu,  and  the  young  Marquis  has  to  go  for  a 
time  to  Lorraine.  Saint-Fal,  a  nephew  of  the  old  Marquis,  is  commis- 
sioned by  the  old  man  to  seize  Jeannette.  He  takes  her  away  from 
Mme  de  G.'s.  He  falls  in  love  with  his  fair  prisoner  but  realises  the 
hopelessness  of  his  suit ;  he  thereupon  proves  a  loyal  friend  and  outwits 
the  old  Marquis  by  hiding  Jeannette  in  rooms  at  Versailles.  En  route, 
there  is  a  chance  meeting  between  the  old  gentleman  and  his  son's 
sweetheart,  though  he  does  not,  of  course,  recognise  that  lady. 

Life  at  Versailles  is  very  pleasant  and  novel  for  the  provincial  girl, 
who  for  safety's  sake  masquerades  as  the  Comtesse  des  Roches,  an 
officer's  widow.  Saint-Fal,  a  discreet  and  gallant  gentleman,  does  all 
he  can  to  further  the  love-affair  of  the  hero  and  heroine.  The  young 
Marquis  back  from  Lorraine  is  more  in  love  than  ever.   The  course  of 

true  love  is  disturbed  by  a  certain  Due  de ,  who  is  infatuated  with 

the  '  Comtesse,'  and  takes  her  to  the  play.  The  young  Marquis  is  in  the 
audience  and  is  furiously  jealous  of  the  attentions  of  the  Due.  He  rejoins 
his  regiment  and  rushes  off  to  the  German  front,  leaving  a  bitter  note 
for  Jeannette.  The  real  Comtesse  des  Roches  suddenly  makes  her  ap- 
pearance, and  Jeannette  is  obliged  to  move  to  Paris. 

During  this  time  the  old  Marquis  has  been  paying  marked  attention 
to  the  bogus  countess.  He  shadows  her  to  Paris  and  asks  her  to  become 
the  Marquise,  even  after  a  full  confession  by  Jeannette  as  to  her  identity 
and  origin.  The  girl  accepts  joyfully :  it  seems  as  if  her  dream  is  at  last 
realised.  To  her  horror  it  dawns  on  her  that  the  old  gentleman  has  been 
proposing  not  his  son,  but  himself.  Accompanied  by  Barbe,  her  faithful 
servant,  she  sadly  takes  refuge  in  her  native  hamlet.  No  one,  not  even 
her  parents,  recognise  the  little  Jeannette  of  long  ago  in  this  beautifully 
dressed  and  distinguished  lady.  Old  Mme  B.,  however,  is  struck  by  her 
resemblance  to  her  erring  daughter. 

The  young  Marquis,  who  had  been  wrongly  reported  killed  at  the 
front,  seeks  forgiveness  and  proposes  a  secret  marriage,  but  Jeannette 
remains  obdurate.  The  old  Marquis,  prostrated  by  grief  and  fury  at 
Jeannette's  departure,  falls  seriously  ill.  His  son  hastens  to  him,  only 
to  be  told  that  nothing  can  save  the  old  man  but  the  sight  of  Jeannette. 
The  old  Marquis  conjures  his  son  to  persuade  her  to  come  back  and 
keep  her  promise  of  marriage.  Otherwise  he  will  die.  Torn  between 
love  and  filial  affection,  the  young  man  pleads  for  his  father.  Sick  with 
loathing  at  the  idea,  Jeannette  yet  consents  to  sacrifice  her  life's  happi- 
ness at  her  lover's  request.    She  signs  a  marriage  contract  and  is  prepared 


F.  C.  GREEN  313 

to  go  on  with  the  ceremony.  The  denoument  comes  as  a  surprise  to  the 
reader  as  to  the  lovers.  The  old  Marquis  casts  aside  his  rdle  of  sick  man 
and  tells  them  that  he  was  only  testing  the  quality  of  Jeannette's  love 
for  his  boy.    They  are  happily  married. 

Such  is  the  plot  of  La  Paysanne  parvenue.  De  Mouhy's  theme  is 
very  vaguely  that  of  Marivaux  in  his  Paysan  parvenu,  but  the  treat- 
ment is  quite  original.  There  is  no  other  point  of  contact  between  these 
two  novels,  and  it  can  only  have  been  the  similarity  of  title  which  led 
the  writer  of  the  article  in  Larousse  to  speak  of  La  Paysanne  parvenue 
as  a  'pendant'  to  Le  Paysan  parvenu.  The  same  writer  gives  1735  as 
the  date  of  de  Mouhy's  novel.  Assuming  this  to  be  correct,  de  Mouhy's 
Paysanne  must  have  been  published  before  the  five  parts  of  Marivaux's 
Paysan  parvenu  (1735-1736).  It  is  worth  remarking  that  de  Mouhy  is 
extraordinarily  frank  as  to  his  debt  to  Marivaux's  Marianne,  a  debt  which 
is,  in  my  opinion,  exaggerated,  but  which  he  naively  and  generously 
acknowledges1. 

De  Mouhy's  work,  like  Marivaux's,  represents  the  reaction  against 
the  romance  of  the  seventeenth  century,  in  particular  the  artificial  type 
of  novel  of 'passion'  with  its  impossible  coincidences  and  factitious  local 
colour,  as  popularised  by  Madame  d'Aulnoy.  Indeed  he  makes  one  of 
his  minor  characters  owe  her  ruin  to  the  influence  of  Hy polite,  'lecture 
dangereuse  pour  la  jeunesse  et  qui  prepare  le  coeur  a  recevoir  de  tendres 
impressions.'  His  merit  as  a  novelist  lies  in  his  natural  presentation  of 
contemporary  manners,  his  gift  for  portraiture  and  a  feeling  for  nature 
quite  remarkable  for  his  time. 

The  social  picture  offered  by  Marivaux  in  Marianne  and  Le  Paysan 
parvenu  is  admittedly  excellent,  but  it  is  vague  and  blurred  because  of 
the  author's  predilection  for  a  psychological  analysis  bordering  on  the 
metaphysical.  There  is  more  incident  in  Le  Sage,  but  his  magnificent 
observational  powers  are  too  much  at  the  service  of  satire.  De  Mouhy 
appeals  rather  to  the  curiosity  of  the  average  reader,  and  his  mirror 
reflects  an  average,  probable  sort  of  life ;  which  is,  after  all,  the  cachet  of 
the  novelist  of  manners.  His  peasant  girl  goes  to  Versailles  and  is  agog 
with  excitement.  She  stops  her  carriage  to  feast  her  eyes  on  these  new 
sights  and  naively  asks  Saint-Fal,  her  cicerone,  if  this,  pointing  to  the 
palace,  is  the  house  he  has  chosen  for  her.  Her  apartments,  though  not 
quite  so  magnificent,  fill  her  with  delight,  and  with  the  eager  curiosity 
of  a  child,  she  peeps  into  every  drawer  and  cabinet,  gloating  over  the 
contents. 

1  Tome  ii,  pp.  195-6. 


314        A  Forgotten  Novel:  'La  Paysanne  Parvenue' 

Jeannette  lives  in  the  house  of  a  certain  family  called  de  Geneval, 
and  de  Mouhy's  handling  of  this  Geneval  manage  is  in  most  happy, 
Dickensian  vein.  Madame  de  Geneval  is  handsome,  though  not  in  her 
first  bloom,  vain,  affected,  and  possessed  of  a  most  slanderous  tongue1. 
There  is  a  dinner  party  where  Madame  de  Geneval  quarrels  alternately 
with  her  guest,  an  incredibly  obstinate  officer,  and  her  husband,  an 
indulgent  little  court  official.  I  emphasise  this  aspect  of  de  Mouhy's 
work,  the  beginning  of  the  domestic  novel  of  manners  of  the  type  so 
familiar  to  us  in  the  nineteenth  century  and  first  introduced  into  France 
by  Marivaux.  The  train  of  everyday  life  under  Louis  XV  is  presented 
as  it  appeared  to  the  people  of  Versailles  in  1735.  The  king  and  his 
court  return  slowly  to  the  palace  after  a  day's  hunting.  There  is  a 
sound  of  drum  and  fife,  and  Jeannette  leans  from  her  balcony,  eager  to 
catch  a  glimpse  of  the  young  idol.  She  accompanies  Madame  de  Geneval 
to  the  park,  and  they  join  the  fashionable  throng  who  have  come  to  see 
the  king  fishing. 

The  art  of  literary  portraiture,  borrowed  from  the  novel,  was  brought 
to  a  high  pitch  of  perfection  by  La  Bruyere.  In  his  Gil  Bias  Le  Sage 
practised  it  with  what  success  the  whole  world  knows.  Marivaux  with 
his  delicate  but  sure  touch  produced  that  happy  blend  of  the  physical 
and  moral  which  made  the  success  of  his  Climal,  Jacob  and  Marianne. 
De  Mouhy  proves  himself  a  worthy  successor.  His  method  is  to  present 
first  a  vivid  physical  portrait,  the  traits  of  which  are  so  strongly  accen- 
tuated as  to  savour  of  caricature :  he  then  allows  the  moral  character  of 
his  subject  to  evolve  gradually  through  the  media  of  conversation  and 
action.  This  scrupulous  attention  to  minutiae,  the  photographic  method 
as  applied  to  the  novel,  is  characteristic.  We  seek  it  in  vain  elsewhere 
in  the  French  novel  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Marivaux,  Prevost, 
Crebillon  fils,  Tencin,  Graffigny  and  Laclos  do  not  possess  it,  and  in 
Rousseau's  Nouvelle  Heloise  it  is  used  almost  entirely  to  produce  nature 
effects,  the  one  place,  I  venture  to  say,  where  it  is  least  appropriate. 
De  Mouhy's  novel  gains  in  vraisemblance  by  the  author's  passion  for 
detailed  description2.  This  is  a  new  note  in  the  novel  of  the  period. 
How  far  we  are  already  from  the  romance  of  the  seventeenth  century 
and  the  filibusters  and  corsairs  of  Courtilz  de  Sandras  and  Le  Sage  !  Yet 
La  Paysanne  parvenue  was  written  only  in  1735. 

Before  touching  on  the  question  of  de  Mouhy's  attitude  towards 
nature,  and  lest  I  seem  to  insist  unduly  on  a  factor  which  might  seem 

1  Cp.  especially,  Tome  n,  pp.  7  f . 

2  See  especially  Jeannette's  description  of  her  room,  Tome  n,  pp.  1  ff. 


F.  C.  GREEN  315 

unimportant  to  students  of  the  English  novel,  let  me  quote  from  M.  Le 
Breton's  Le  roman  au  XVI lie  siecle.  Speaking  of  the  remarkable 
absence  in  the  eighteenth-century  French  novel  of  any  feeling  for 
external  nature,  he  says : 

Dans  le  Cyrus,  dans  la  Clelie,  dans  la  Cleopatre  et  le  Pharamond,  le  paysage  tient 
encore  moins  de  place :  il  y  est  egalement  fictif  et  convenu.  II  y  a  une  allde  de  saules 
dans  la  Princesse  de  Clews  et  un  petit  ruisseau :  la  ligne,  la  seule  ligne  du  livre  ou  il 
y  soit  fait  allusion  n'est  a  aucun  degre  descriptive.  Des  romans  de  Lesage,  de 
Marivaux,  de  PreVost  meme,  sauf  quelques  touches  rapides  dans  la  derniere  partie 
de  Manon  Lescaut  ou  dans  les  premiers  tomes  de  Cleveland,  la  nature  est  absente. 
Pour  Richardson,  son  indifference  a  cet  egard  depasse  ce  qui  se  pent  imaginer 
(p.  295). 

Turn  now  to  this  description  of  our  heroine  lost  in  a  wood : 

II  etoit  bien  avant  dans  la  nuit  lorsque  je  revins  de  ma  foiblesse ;  une  sueur 
froide  me  couvroit  le  front,  et  je  ne  me  relevai  qu'avec  peine :  le  silence  de  la  nuit, 
joint  a  l'obscurite,  me  saisissoient  d'une  secrette  horreur :  le  sinistre  cri  des  chats- 
huans,  le  hurlement  des  bdtes  fauves,  et  le  sillonnement  imprevA  des  etoiles,  faisoient 
tout  a  la  fois  des  impressions  funestes  dans  mon  ame  allarmee,  que  vais-je  devenir, 
me  disois-je  en  moi-meme  ?  ou  suis-je  1  et  ou  dois-je  aller  1  comment  echapper  au 
sort  qui  me  poursuif?  Tremblante,  incertaine  de  la  route  que  je  devois  prendre 
j'errois  sans  scavoir  ou  je  porterois  mes  timides  pas  ;  le  moindre  zephir  agitant  les 
feuilles,  m'arretoit  et  me  faisoit  tressaillir :  il  semble  que  lorsqu'on  a  peur,  on  s'excite 
soi-mSme  a  augmenter  les  sujets  de  sa  crainte ;  je  me  faisois  des  fantomes  des  moindres 
objets  que  j'entrevoyois ;  tantot  je  demeurois,  tantot  je  fuyois,  et  puis  au  moindre 
bruit,  je  me  couvrois  le  visage,  croyant  par  la  echapper  a  ma  frayeur.  En  passant, 
un  hibou  me  frappe  de  son  atle,  je  me  crois  perdue,  je  double  le  pas,  la  racine  d'un 
arbre  acroche  ma  robe,  il  me  semble  etre  arrete  par  quelqu'un,  je  jette  un  cri,  je  me 
retourne :  mais  connoissant  le  principe  de  mon  effroi,  je  me  baisse  pour  me  degager : 
le  terrain  s'effondre  sous  moi,  et  je  suis  precipitee  dans  une  fosse,    (n,  pp.  76  f.) 

One  feels  de  Mouhy's  sympathy  for  nature  throughout  this  novel,  a 
sympathy  which  finds  expression  in  the  words  of  Barbe  on  hearing  that 
she  is  to  return  to  that  '  hameau  qu'elle  aimoit  a  la  folie.'  'Quoi!  je 
pourrai  voir  les  champs,  le  lever  du  soleil,  entendre  chanter  le  rossignol 
et  l'alouette  et  filer  a  la  porte,  quelle  benediction  ! '  And  were  it  only 
for  this  innovation  de  Mouhy  deserves  consideration  in  any  serious  study 
of  the  evolution  of  the  French  novel. 

It  was  Marivaux  who  first  discovered  that  rich  store  of  '  matieres  a 
roman '  which  exists  in  the  lower  strata  of  society.  The  immortal  quarrel 
between  Dutour  and  the  cab-driver,  like  de  Vigny's  notorious  'mouchoir,' 
created  quite  a  scandal  among  the  lettered.  De  Mouhy  boldly  follows  in 
his  lead,  save  that  he  seeks  his  '  peuple '  among  the  peasants.  His 
vignettes  of  village  life  are  dainty  studies.  Jeannette's  parents  might 
have  been  Pamela's,  the  same  gratitude,  nay,  servility,  towards  the  lady 
of  the  manor,  the  same  pious  warnings  to  their  daughter  to  preserve 
her  virtue  and  not  aspire  above  her  station.  Mme  B.,  however,  is  an 
ex-lady's  maid  and  has  been  to  Paris,  so  we  cease  to  wonder  at  her 


316        A  Forgotten  Novel:  'La  Paysanne  Parvenue' 

daughter's  shrewdness.  There  are  village  lads  like  Colin,  rough  wooers 
and  quick  to  suspect  and  hate  the  '  fine  gentlemen.'  The  smouldering 
animosity  against  the  Griparts  of  the  day,  the  accursed  tax  farmers, 
finds  vent  in  violence  as  well  as  in  words.  Barbe,  the  old  peasant  cook, 
is  a  delightful  creation,  because  de  Mouhy  lets  her  gossip  on  naturally, 
interlarding  her  conversation  with  many  a  pious  invocation  and  garbled 
truism. 

To  class  de  Mouhy  as  a  mere  imitator  of  popular  contemporary  fiction, 
and  to  speak  of  his  mediocre  literary  baggage,  is  to  confess  complete 
ignorance  of  the  history  of  the  evolution  of  the  French  novel.  He  has 
certainly  borrowed  from  his  predecessors  :  it  is  obvious  he  knows  his 
Le  Sage  and  Marivaux.  But  were  not  these  novelists  also  imitators  ? 
Unfortunately  the  similarity  of  title  of  two  of  his  works  to  novels  by 
Prevost  and  Marivaux  has  exposed  de  Mouhy  inevitably  to  that  superficial 
sort  of  criticism  which  scarcely  penetrates  beyond  the  outside  covers. 
We  have  undoubtedly  in  this  man  a  novelist  who  has  rendered  a  very 
considerable  service  to  the  novel  of  manners.  His  plot — the  heroine 
who  rose  from  a  humble  station  and  gets  on — is  not  original.  Marivaux 
works  on  the  same  theme,  as  also  does  Richardson.  Yet,  as  M.  Le  Breton 
points  out,  so  did  Le  Sage  before  them.  De  Mouhy 's  originality  lies  in 
his  naturalness  and  wider  sympathy:  his  mirror  reflects  the  cottage  as 
well  as  the  chateau.  His  character  portraiture  lacks  the  glittering  per- 
fection of  a  Le  Sage,  but,  though  he  has  not  Le  Sage's  satiric  brilliancy, 
he  is  vastly  more  human.    His  is  a  greater  fidelity  to  nature. 

Jeannette  is  not  better  drawn  than  Marianne,  yet  she  is  more 
natural,  more  lovable.  Unlike  Marianne  and  Pamela,  Jeannette  is  at 
least  capable  of  thinking  of  other  people  and  talking  of  other  people, 
without  that  tiresome  mental  ricochet  back  to  herself.  She  does  not 
pass  all  her  actions  in  review  beneath  a  microscope,  nor  does  she,  like 
Pamela,  spend  her  time  shuffling  after  her  lover  on  her  knees.  De  Mouhy 
had  the  difficult  task  of  striking  the  happy  mean  between  the  calcu- 
lating little  adventuress  and  the  snivelling,  servile  servant  girl.  It  is 
a  marvel  that  he  does  steer  a  clear  passage  and  gives  us  a  heroine  who 
is  simple  and  lovable,  and  it  is  another  that  La  Paysanne  parvenue 
has  remained  so  long  ignored.  '  Give  a  dog  a  bad  name '  is  apparently 
also  true  of  books  and  critics. 

F.  C.  Green. 

Winnipeg,  Canada. 


AN  EARLY  GERMAN  ACCOUNT  OF  ST  PATRICK'S 

PURGATORY. 

The  Librarian  of  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  Dr  Smyly,  has  brought  to 
ray  notice  an  early  German  contribution  to  the  literature  dealing  with 
St  Patrick's  Purgatory1,  which  tradition  associates  with  an  island  in 
Lough  Derg2,  Co.  Donegal.  The  text  {Catalogue:  Press  A.  7.  19)  is 
printed  on  two  leaves,  as  reproduced  below,  and  is  followed  by  a  woodcut 
depicting  what  appears  to  be  the  appropriate  punishment  for  the  seven 
deadly  sins.  Abbott3  gives  the  following  description : 

Patricius  (S.),  Hiberniae  apostolus.  Uo  de  fegfeiier  sancti  patricy  in  ybernia 
//  s.l.a.t.D.  Char.  goth.  29,  32  1 1.  2  ff. 

F.  la  (after  title  as  above),  (D)As  ma  aber  griintliehen  un  on  alle  zweyf- 
//  Ends  :  f.  2a,  hett  vnd  hat  innerhalb  zwelff  jar  gelebt.  •:•  //  F.  2  b,  picture  of  souk 
in  torment. 

'  Franciscanorum  Friburgi  Brisgaui,  1648.' 

•  Sale  of  imported  books  by  Evans  :  Feb.  1832.' 

In  pencil,  '  £1.  Is.,  cost  Mr  Heber  £2.  15s.' 

Covered  with  a  fragment  of  a  vellum  MS.  containing  part  of  a  psalm  set  to  music. 

The  two  leaves  of  text  have  no  watermark,  and  they  are  bound  up 
with  covering  leaves  of  a  much  later  date.  One  of  these  precedes  the 
text  and  twelve  follow.  The  former  has  a  large  watermark — a  large 
crown  over  a  coat  of  arms.  The  centre  of  the  shield  contains  a  small 
crown  and  crossed  sword  and  baton.  The  leaves  that  follow  the  text  are 
blank,  except  the  twelfth,  which  shows  a  watermark  consisting  of  the 
capital  letters  K  R  in  a  large  ornamental  hand.  As  these  marks  do  not 
appear  in  Briquet4,  this  new  paper  is  probably  later  than  1600.  I  have 
failed  to  trace  the  source  of  either  paper,  nor  can  I  connect  the  type  with 
any  particular  press.  It  appears  to  be  of  the  variety  known  as  Schwabach 
and  the  capital  letters  suggest  a  mixed  fount,  as  there  are  two  forms  of 
S  and  D.    As  in  other  early  printed  books,  there  is  an  extra  character 

1  See,  for  example,  St  John  D.  Seymour,  St  Patrick's  Purgatory,  Dundalk,  1918. 

2  Baddeley  and  Ward,  Ireland,  Part  I,  London,  1897,  p.  177:  'Five  miles  north  of 
Pettigo  and  in  County  Donegal  is  Lough  Derg,  an  outlandish  sheet  of  water  containing  an 
island  to  which  from  the  middle  of  June  to  the  middle  of  August  pilgrims  throng  in  their 
hundreds.  It  is  called  "  Station  Island"  or  "  St  Patrick's  Purgatory,"  and  is  entirely  occupied 
by  buildings  for  the  accommodation  of  the  penitents,  who  are  conveyed  to  it  in  a  ferry- 
boat for  (kl.  St  Patrick,  says  one  account,  was  here  miraculously  favoured  with  an  ex- 
hibition of  the  pains  of  purgatory — hence  the  name.' 

3  T.  K.  Abbott,  Catalogue  of  Fifteenth  Century  Books  in  the  Library  of  Trinity  College, 
Dublin,  and  in  Marsh's  Library,  Dublin,  1905. 

4  C.  M.  Briquet,  Les  Filigranes:  Dictionnaire  historique  des  marques  du  papier,  1282- 
1600,  Paris,  1907. 

M.  L.  R.  XVIII.  21 


318     An  Early  German  Account  of  St  Patrick's  Purgatory 

for  r,  shaped  like  a  comma  with  a  final  hook  to  the  right.   It  is  repre- 
sented below  by  r. 

The  language  suggests  the  second  half  of  the  fifteenth  century  as  the 
period  of  composition  and  anywhere  between  Bamberg  and  Augsburg  as 
the  place  of  origin.  There  is  no  reason  to  disagree  with  Abbott's  inclu- 
sion of  the  work  in  his  catalogue  of  incunabula. 

Von  de  fegfeiier  sancti  patricy  in  ybernia 

[D]As  ma  aber  griintlichen  vfi  on  alle  zweyf? 
lung  wissen  vfi  mercke  mug  dz  ey  fegfeiier 
sey  vfi  eyn  helle  als  dan  dye  gancz  heylig 
geschrifft  bezetigt  So  ist  zewissen  dz  solichs  gar  tref 
5  fenliche  geoffenbaret  ist  worde  jn  dem  land  ybernia 
durch  dz  gebet  Sacti  patrici  d'  dan  durch  die  Schick 
ung  gottes  in  daz  selb  land  cristenliche  gelauben  da 
zebredigen  vfi  an  zeheben  geschickt  ward  dz  er  dan 
gar  mit  grossem  vleyB  tag  vfi  nacht  volbracht  *  vfi 

10  thet  auch  grosse  wund'werck  in  de  namen  jh'u  cristi 
Er  sagt  in  auch  von  der  grossen  pein  vfi  marter  die 
man  in  d'  helle  vn  in  de  fegfeiier  fur  die  siind  leyden 
muB  Er  verhieB  in  auch  die  ubermaBlichen  grossen 
frewd  des  paradeyB  ob  sy  de  heylige  cristelichen  ge 

15  lauben  empfienge  vfi  de  genug  teten  *  aber  dye  gros/ 
sen  wund'werck  die  trewiig  d'  grossen  pein  so  in  vo 
irer  siind  wegen  kiinftig  wer  Auch  die  verheissung 
d'  grossen  frewde  mocht  dz  grob  hurt  volck  von  irer 
irrung  nit  weysen  vfi  sprach  also  zu  sancto  patricio 

20  Du  sagst  vo  grosser  marter  vfi  pein  so  man  fur  die 
siind  leyde  muB  ■>  auch  vo  grosser  frewd  die  wir  en/ 
pfahen  wurde  ob  wir  an  xrm  gelaubte  Nun  zeyge 
vnd  [read  vns]  die  selben  pein  vfi  freiid  dauon  du  sagst  dz  wir 
gruntlich  vnd'richt  werde  dz  deine  wort  war  seind 

25  so  wellen  wir  dir  volge  vfi  an  xrm  gelaube  Do  san 
ctus  patricius  daz  horet  was  er  vor  andechtig  vnd 
fleissig  gewesen  *  do  ward  er  vil  andechtiger  mit  be/ 
ten/mit  wache/mit  vaste  vfi  mit  and'n  gute  wercke 
f.  1  b.     darub  dz  er  die  vngelaubige  meschen  durch  ein  sol* 

30  chen  weg  als  sie  begertfi  durch  die  genad  gottes  zu 
cristeliche  gelauben  brigen  mocht  *  do  got  d'  almach 
tig  seine  fle)'ssige  ernst  also  sahe  vfi  erket  do  erschin 


G.  WATERHOUSE  319 

er  im  sichtberlichen  ?  vn  gab  im  de  text  d'  vier  ewage 
listen  vo  einem  stecken  de  man  noch  hetit  auf  disen 

35  tag  in  ybernia  hatt  vn  in  eret  fur  loblich  vn  wirdig 
hailtumb  als  billich  ist  *  vn  den  selben  stecken  od'  stab 
tregt  ein  erczbischof  des  selben  lads  vfi  man  nent  in 
de  stab  jh'u  Darnach  ward  sanctus  patricius  durch 
de  herren  gefurt  in  ein  wilde  wustin  vn  zeiget  im  da 

4o  ein  schetiblete  grausenliche  grub  *  vnd  sprach  also  zu 
im  Welcher  rew  vn  leyd  vmb  sein  siind  hat  vn  mit 
eine  vesten  cristelichen  gelaube  dise  grub  durch  get 
in  einem  tag  vn  in  einer  nacht  *  der  sol  wid'  dar  auB 
kume  gereyniget  vo  alien  seinen  stinde  *  aber  er  mftB 

45  groB  pein  vn  marter  sehen  so  man  fur  die  stind  ley/ 
de  mufi  auch  die  grossen  frewd  die  de  ausserwelte  be 
reyt  ist  *  aber  er  mu6  steet  vn  vest  in  de  gelauben  be/ 
leiben  Do  sanctus  patricius  das  also  sahe  vn  h§ret 
do  bracht  er  zewege  daz  ein  loblich  closter  iiber  das 

50  loch  gebawen  ward  *  dar  jiien  seid  munch  Sat  Au/ 
gustinus  ordes  ?  vn  daz  loch  ist  in  de  genaten  closter 
in  de  cchor  <■  vn  dz  lyeB  Sanctus  patricius  wol  ver/ 
machen  vn  beschliessen  also  das  nyema  freuelich  vn 
on  erlaubung  dar  ein  geen  solt  vnd  befalhe  de  prior 

55  den  schlussel  zft  dem  loch  *  Vh  zft  den  selben  zeiten  als 
Sanctus  patricius  dannocht  lebt  do  giegen  gar  vil 
hinein  die  all  gezeiigknuss  gaben  vo  d'  grossen  peyn 
vnd  marter  die  sie  nit  allein  gesehen  *  sund'  auch  em/ 
pfunden  hetten  *  Auch  von  der  grossen  frewd  der  sa,/ 

60  ligen  dar  durch  dan  das  gancz  land  ybernia  zu  cris/ 
f.  2  a.     tenlichem  gelauben  bekert  ward  *  vn  darnach  wur 

den  gar  vil  menschen  hinein  schlieffen  vnd  wie  ein/ 
er  dauon  saget  *  also  saget  der  ander  auch  ?  vnnd  das 
ward  also  eygentlich  geschryben  in  dem  genanten 

65  closter  Man  findet  auch  noch  lewt  die  leben  od'  gar 
kurtzlich  gelebt  haben  die  dar  jnnen  gewesen  seind 
Daii  es  ist  ein  karthewser  czu  wirczburg  der  ist  vor 
ein  munch  zft  heilsprunnen  gewesen  der  spricht  wie 
er  einen  Sant  Bernharts  orden  gesehen  hab  der  dar 

70  jnnen  gewesen  sey  dem  es  dan.  der  babst  der  bischof 
vnd  sein  abt  erlaubt  hett  Vnd  der  selb  munch  kam 
eins  mals  gen  heylsprun  do  hette  sie  im  geren  groB 

21—2 


320    An  Early  German  Account  of  St  Patrick's  Purgatory 

zucht  enbotten  *  Er  wolt  aber  nitt  anders  essen  dann 
brot  vnd  salcz  Doch  zft  letst  iiberretten  sy  in  das  er 

75  ein  wenig  visch  asse  die  nur  in  einem  wasser  gesot/ 
ten  waren  on  alle  wurcz  vnd  ander  gemecht  vnnd 
wan  sie  in  von  dem  fegfewer  fragten  so  erschrack  er 
alwegen  vfi  sprach  er  mocht  nit  da  von  rede  es  thet 
dann  grosse  not  Er  mocht  auch  nye  kein  frolich  ge/ 

80  berde  erzeigen  vnd  sahe  alweg  als  wolt  man  in  von 
stunden  totten  *  Vnd  wan  sy  in  fragten  warumb  er 
alweg  so  traurig  were  *  So  sprach  er  welcher  vnder 
euch  nur  den  zehenden  teyl  gesehen  het  das  ich  gese/ 
hen  hab  so  mocht  er  sey  leptag  nit  mer  frolich  wer/ 

85  den  Der  selb  munch  ward  auch  durch  gunst  seines 
abts  ein  einsidel  in  einem  wald  do  er  daii  ein  streng 
hert  leben  furet  *  vnnd  gedacht  alwegen  an  de  gros/ 
sen  jamer  den  er  in  dem  genanten  fegfewer  gesehen 
hett  vnd  hat  jnnerhalb  zwelff  jar  gelebt* 

The  three  earliest  accounts1  of  St  Patrick's  Purgatory  belong  to  the 
late  twelfth  century,  viz., 

1.  Jocelin  of  Furness :  Vita  Sancti  Patricii,  clxxi  and  clxxii  ; 
written  in  1185-6,  first  published  at  Antwerp  in  1514  (1516?)  and 
reprinted  in  Messingham's  Florilegium,  1624,  and  in  Colgan's  Trias 
Thaumaturga,  1647. 

2.  Giraldus  Cambrensis:  Topographia  Hibernica,  Distinctio  II,  cap.  5 ; 
written  1186-8. 

3.  Henry  of  Saltrey :  De  Purgatorio  Sancti  Patricii ',  written  ca. 
11 86 preprinted  in  Colgan's  Trias  Thaumaturga,\Q^l '.  Henry's  text, with 
substantial  and  unjustifiable  alterations,  was  incorporated  by  Roger  of 
Wendover  (d.  1235)  in  his  Flores  Historiarum  under  the  year  1153. 
Messingham  reprints  in  his  Florilegium  a  composite  account  of  the 
Purgatory  compiled  from  Henry  of  Saltrey,  Roger  of  Wendover,  and 
David  Rothe,  bishop  of  Ossory  (1573-1650).  This  account  re-appears  in 
Migne's  Patrologia,  CLXXX,  1855.  The  only  satisfactory  reprint  is 
therefore  that  of  Colgan. 

Jocelin  makes  the  barest  allusion  to  the  Purgatory,  locating  it  on 
a   mountain    called   Cruachan-aigle   (now    Croaghpatrick,  Co.    Mayo). 

1  Another  De  Purgatorio  Sancti  Patritii  is  attributed  by  Trithemius  (Chronicon  Hir- 
saugiense,  1690,  pp.  403-4)  to  David,  an  Irish  monk  who  became  a  famous  teacher  in 
Wiirzburg  and  in  1110  chaplain  to  the  Emperor  Henry  V.   This  account  is  lost. 

2  Not  ca.  1150,  as  in  the  Dictionary  of  National  Biography.  See  St  John  D.  Seymour, 
op.  cit. 


G.  WATERHOUSE  321 

Although  he  resided  for  a  time  in  Co.  Down,  probably  at  Inniscourcy, 
he  appears  to  have  been  quite  ignorant  of  the  traditional  association  of 
the  Purgatory  with  Lough  Derg,  Co.  Donegal.  Giraldus  Cambrensis 
fixes  it  on  an  island  in  a  lake  in  Ulster.  Having  travelled  in  Ireland  in 
1183  and  1185-6,  he  appears  to  have  been  better  informed  than  Jocelin, 
though  he  had  evidently  no  personal  knowledge  of  the  place. 

Neither  of  these  accounts  attracted  any  particular  attention.  The 
great  publicity  which  St  Patrick's  Purgatory  achieved  in  the  Middle 
Ages  is  due  entirely  to  an  obscure  Cistercian  monk  of  Saltrey,  Hunt- 
ingdonshire, of  whom  nothing  further  is  known. 

The  fantastic  story  of  the  Knight  Owen1,  who  is  supposed  to  have 
entered  St  Patrick's  Purgatory  in  the  reign  of  King  Stephen,  has  been 
translated  into  various  languages.  It  occupies  Chapters  iv-xx  of 
Henry's  work.  Chapters  I— ill  provide  a  somewhat  disconnected  intro- 
duction, and  the  final  Chapters  xxi-xxv  deal  with  the  transmission  of 
Owen's  story,  its  credibility  and  acceptance.  The  German  text  under 
discussion  is  partly  a  paraphrase  and  partly  a  translation  of  Chapter  I, 
which  runs  as  follows  : 

Incipit  Narratio. 

I.  Igitur  Magnus  S.  Patricias,  qui  a  primo  est  secundus2  qui  dum  in  Hibernia 
verbum  Dei  praedicaret,  atque  miraculis  gloriosus  coruscaret,  studuit  infideles  homi- 
num  illius  patriae  animos  terrore  torrnentorum  infernalium  a  malo  revocare,  et 
paradisi  gaudiorum  promissione  in  bono  confirmare ;  dicebant,  ad  Christum  nunquam 
se  conversuros,  nee  pro  miraculis,  quae  videbant  per  eum  fieri,  nee  per  eius  prae- 
dicationem,  nisi  aliqui  eorum,  et  tormenta  ilia  malorum,  et  gaudia  bonorum  possent 
intueri,  quatenus  rebus  visis  certiores  fierent,  quam  promissis.  Beatus  vero  Patri- 
cius  Deo  devotus,  etiam  tunc  pro  salute  populi  devotior  in  vigiliis,  jeiuniis,  et 
orationibus,  atque  operibus  bonis  effectus  est.  Et  quidem  dum  talibus  pro  salute 
populi  intenderet  bonis,  pius  dominus  Iesus  Christus  ei  visibiliter  apparuit,  dans  ei 
textum  Evangeliorum,'  et  baculum  unum,  qui  usque  hue  pro  magnis,  et  pretiosis 
reliquiis  in  Hibernia,  ut  dignum  est,  veneratur.  Idem  autem  baculus,  pro  eo  quod 
Christus  Iesus  ilium  dilecto  suo  Patricio  contulit,  Baculus  Iesu  cognominatus  est : 
Quicunque  vero  in  patria  ilia  fuerit  Archiepiscopus,  haec  habet,  scilicet  textum, 
et  baculum,  quasi  pro  signo  summi  Praesulatus  illius  patriae.  Sanctum  vero 
Patricium  Dominus  in  locum  desertum  adduxit,  et  unam  fossam  rotundam, 
intrinsecus  obscuram  ibidem  ei  ostendit,  dicens  ;  Quisquis  veraciter  poenitens,  vera 
fide  armatus,  fossam  eandem  ingressus,  unius  diei,  ac  noctis  moram  in  ea  faceret,  ab 
omnibus  purgaretur  totius  vitae  suae  peccatis  sed  et  per  Mam  transiiens,  non  solum 
visurus  esset  tormenta  malorum,  verumetiam,  si  in  fide  constanter  eqisset,  gaudia 
beatorum.   Sicque  ab  oculis  eius  Domino  disparente,  spirituali  iucunditate  repletus 

1  For  an  English  version  see  T.  Wright,  St  Patrick's  Purgatory,  London,  1844. 

2  Colgan  explains  that  before  the  great  St  Patrick  (d.  463  ?)  there  was  another  St  Patrick, 
who  died  in  457;  also  that  St  Palladius  (d.  431)  was  likewise  called  Patricius.  '  Secundus  ' 
may  therefore  be  correctly  applied  to  the  patron  Saint  of  Ireland.  Another  explanation 
may  be  found  in  the  old  dispute  about  the  date  of  St  Patrick's  death  (463  or  493),  which 
resulted  in  the  invention  of  a  St  Patrick  Senior  to  suit  the  earlier  date.  The  compiler  of  a 
Middle  Dutch  version,  Die  hijstorie  van  Sunte  Patricius  vegevuer  (ed.  Endepols,  Groningen, 
1919)  evaded  the  difficulty  by  reading  Paulo  for  primo  and  translated  :  '  Die  grote  patricius 
die  men  seecht  den  anderen  na  den  apostel  Sunte  pauwels.' 


322     An  Early  German  Account  of  St  Patrick's  Purgatory 

est  B.  Patricius,  tarn  pro  Domini  sui  apparitione,  quam  pro  fossae  illius  ostensione, 
per  quam  sperabat  populum  ab  errore  conversurum  :  statimque  in  eodem  loco  Eccle- 
siam  construxit,  et  B.  Patris  Augustini  Canonicos,  vitam  Apostolicam  sectantes,  in  ea 
constituit :  fossam  autem  praedictam,  quae  in  caemiterio  est  extra  frontem  Ecclesiae 
Orientalem,  muro  circumdedit,  et  ianuas,  serasque  apposuit,  ne  quis  earn  ausu  teme- 
rario,  et  sine  licentia  ingredi  praesumeret,  clavem  vero  custodiendam  commendavit 
Priori  Ecclesiae  eiusdem.  Ipsius  autem  B.  Patricii  tempore,  multi  poenitentia  ad- 
ducti  fossam  ingressi  sunt,  qui  egredientes  et  tormenta  se  perpessos,  et  gaudia  se 
vidisse  testati  sunt,  quorum  relationes  iussit  B.  Patricius  in  eadem  Ecclesia  notari. 
Eorum  ergo  attestatione,  coeperunt  alii  Beati  praedicationem  suscipere ;  et  quoniam 
homo  a  peccatis  purgatur,  locus  ille  Purgatorium  S.  Patricii  nominatur  ;  locus  autem 
Ecclesiae  Reglis1  dicitur. 

The  first  twenty-five  lines  of  the  German  text  appear  to  be  an 
expansion  of  lines  1-7  of  the  Latin.  The  next  section,  lines  25-65  are 
a  fairly  close  rendering  of  the  remainder  of  the  Latin,  but  the  con- 
cluding anecdote  of  the  Bernardine  (Cistercian)  monk  is  from  an 
independent  source,  though  even  here  there  is  a  point  of  contact 
between  the  two.    Henry's  second  chapter  concerns  an  aged  prior : 

Post  obitum  autem  S.  Patricii  erat  Prior  quidam  in  eadem  Ecclesia,  vir  quidem 
sanctae  conversationis,  ita  decrepitus,  ut  prae  senectute  non  haberet  in  capite,  nisi 
tantummodo  dentem  unum.... 

Eius  enim  cibus  erat,  sal,  et  panis  siccus  :  potus  autem  aqua  frigida.... 

The  German  '  Er  wolt  aber  nitt  anders  essen  dann  brot  vnd  salcz ' 
is  perhaps  only  a  coincidence. 

There  is  one  striking  difference  between  the  Latin  and  the  German 
which  suggests  that  the  latter  is  an  indirect,  not  a  direct  translation 
from  the  former.  Henry  of  Saltrey  says,  '  fossam  autem  praedictam, 
quae  in  caemiterio  est  extra  frontem  Ecclesiae  Orientalem,'  whereas  the 
German  account  places  the  Purgatory  in  the  choir  of  the  monastery. 

G.  Waterholtse. 
Dublin. 

1  Probably  for  Irish  redes,  a  cell. 


Note  :  Since  the  above  was  written,  I  have  been  able  to  examine 
the  facsimiles  (especially  Nos.  205  and  227)  in  K.  Burger's  Monumenta 
.Germanice  et  Italice  Typographic!,  (Berlin,  1893-1913),  and  I  am  satisfied 
that  the  text  under  discussion  was  printed  at  Augsburg  about  1489  by 
either  Peter  Berger  or  Johann  Schonsperger. 


WILHELM  MULLER'S  POETRY  OF  THE  SEA. 

The  development  of  sea-poetry  in  Germany  prior  to  the  appearance 
of  Muller's  Muscheln  von  der  Insel  Rurjen  (1826)  and  Heine's  Nordsee 
(1826-7)  has  not  been  adequately  investigated.  The  lists  only  include 
the  most  obvious  names ;  P.  S.  Allen,  for  instance,  mentions  Brockes, 
F.  L.  Stolberg,  Boie,  Goethe,  Tieck  and  Heine ;  and  to  these  A.  Pache 
adds  E.  von  Kleist  and  S.  Gessner1.  Gessner,  Kleist,  Brockes  and  Boie 
may  be  excluded  at  once,  for  their  poetry  shows  no  true  appreciation  of 
the  sea;  indeed,  one  doubts  whether  three  at  least  of  them  had  ever 
seen  it.  Tieck's  contribution  to  sea-poetry  is  one  beautiful  poem,  Livorno, 
which  depicts  an  Italian  sea-scape.  The  inclusion  of  Goethe's  name  is 
justified  by  the  two  poems  Gluckiiche  Fahrt  and  Meeresstille,  and  by 
some  fine  passages  in  the  Second  Part  of  Faust.  In  fact,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  Heine  and  Miiller,  F.  L.  Stolberg  is  the  only  poet  of  those  who 
have  been  mentioned  who  shows  a  genuine  understanding  for  the  sea. 
Ossianic  effects  take  the  place  of  local  colouring  and  render  his  presenta- 
tion unrealistic,  but  he  was  the  first  to  discern,  however  inadequately, 
that  each  sea  has  its  own  individuality2.  But  Stolberg  is  not  an 
indispensable  link  in  the  development  of  German  sea-poetry.  More 
important,  are  certain  later  and  now  forgotten  poets  associated  with  the 
Island  of  Rligen. 

Interest  in  this  Baltic  island  had  been  growing  since  the  first  half 
of  the  eighteenth  century.  The  inhabitants  gradually  awakened  to  the 
charm  of  their  surroundings,  and  the  island  began  to  attract  visitors 
from  the  German  mainland,  who  were  warm  in  their  praise  of  its  beauty. 
This  may  be  partly  explained  by  the  general  trend  of  the  time:  the 
return  to  nature  after  the  artificiality  of  the  rococo.  It  was  also,  no 
doubt,  due,  as  Biese  points  out,  to  the  improvement  of  the  road  from 
Sagard  to  Stubbenkammer : 

So  wurde  auch  die — damals  noch  schwedische — Insel  Riigen  mit  ihren  blauen 
Buchten  und  Bodden,  mit  ihren  herrlichen  Buchenwaldern  und  stattlichen  Kreide- 
felsen,  deren  blendendes  Weiss  mit  dem  Griin  des  Laubes  und  dem  Blau  des  Meeres 
einen  hochst  malerischen  Farbenkontrast  bildet,  immer  mehr  das  Ziel  naturbegeis- 

1  P.  S.  Allen  in  Journal  of  English  and  Germanic  Philology,  in  (1901),  p.  46  ;  A.  Pache, 
Naturgefuhl  und  Natursymbolik  bei  H.  Heine,  Hamburg,  1904,  p.  41. 

2  Cp.  Die  Meere  (C.  and  F.  L.  Stolberg,  Gesammelte  Werke,  Hamburg,  1827,  i,  p.  177). 


324  Wilhelm  Mutters  Poetry  of  the  Sea 

terter  Reisender,  besonders  nachdem  der  Weg  von  Sagard  nach  dem  romantischen 
schonen  Stubbenkammer  bequemer  hergerichtet  war1. 

Attention  was  first  directed  to  the  geological  structure  and  the 
vegetation  of  the  island,  to  its  quaint  old  customs  and  historic  remains. 
Histories,  geographies  and  general  accounts  of  Rtigen — which  had  an 
early  predecessor  in  the  Laudes  Rugiae  of  P.  Lemnius  (1597) — appear 
from  1770  onwards,  many  of  them  being  only  of  value  in  so  far  as  they 
bear  witness  to  the  growing  interest  in  the  island.  The  best  of  these 
works  is  J.  J.  Griimbke's  Neue  und  genaue  geographisch-statistisch-histo- 
rische  Darstellungen  von  der  Insel  und  dem  Furstenthume  Riigen,  Berlin, 
1819,  a  book  which  can  still  be  read  with  some  satisfaction,  for,  although 
most  of  the  information  it  gives  is  statistical  and  technical,  Griimbke's 
descriptions  are  not  without  poetic  feeling.  The  work  seems  to  have 
been  widely  known  by  contemporary  German,  and  especially  Pomeranian 
poets ;  Arndt,  Kosegarten  and  Karl  Lappe  were  probably  acquainted 
with  it,  and  E.  Hoffmann  and  M tiller  certainly  were2. 

The  interest  of  the  scientist  in  Riigen  was  soon  followed  by  poetic 
appreciation  of  its  natural  beauty  and  picturesque  scenery.  Kosegarten 
was  the  first  Pomeranian  to  sing  of  the  island  where  he  passed  the 
greater  part  of  his  life  ;  but  his  poetry  does  not  convey  a  very  convincing 
impression  of  his,  no  doubt,  sincere  love  for  Riigen,  and  we  search  his 
poems  in  vain  for  a  more  realistic  presentation  of  the  sea  than  that 
contained  in  the  line:  'Wie  brtillt  das  Meer!  Wie  saust  der  Wald3!' 
However,  some  passages  in  his  prose  works,  the  style  of  which  is  not 
marred  by  Ossianic  influence,  show  that  he  was  not  blind  to  the  beauty 
of  his  home.  Here  he  writes  of  Riigen  in  a  simple,  straightforward 
way4. 

The  most  gifted  member  of  this  group  of  Pomeranian  poets  was  Karl 

Lappe,  whose  works  are  now  almost  completely  forgotten.    H.  Petrich 

has  endeavoured  to  explain  the  unmerited  oblivion  into  which  he  has 

fallen : 

Diesergleich  einem  gesprengten  Granit,  deren  die  norddeutsche  Tiefebene  rnanche 
hat,  ohne  Anschluss  an  einen  anderen  Dichter,  steht  auf  sich  selber.  Keine  der 
iiblichen  Kapiteluberschriften  unserer  Litteraturgeschichten  zwingt,  seinen  Namen 
zu  nennen.   Darf  man  sich  wundern,  wenn  er  verschwiegen  bleibt5? 

But  even  Petrich  does  not  realise  Lappe's  importance  as  a  sea-poet,  an 

1  A.  Biese,  Die  Entwicklunq  des  NaturgefUhls  im  Mittelalter  und  in  der  Neuzeit,  Leipzig, 
1888,  p.  356. 

2  E.  M.  Arndt,  Gedichte,  Frankfurt  a.M.,  1818,  i,  pp.  12,  46,  71 ;  E.  Hoffmann,  Wan- 
derlieder,  herausg.  von  Fouque,  1827,  p.  77;  W.  Miiller,  ed.  J.  T.  Hatfield,  Gedichte,  p.  285. 

3  Poesien,  Leipzig,  1802,  p.  200. 

4  Rhapsodien,  Leipzig,  1794,  n,  p.  126. 

5  H.  Petrich,  Pommersche  Lebens-  und  Landesbilder,  Hamburg,  1880,  p.  326. 


MARGARET    E.  A.  RICHARDSON  325 

importance  which  must  be  emphasised,  for  he  is  certainly  Muller's  most 

distinguished  forerunner. 

These  Pomeranian  poets  were  nearly  all  closely  connected  by  ties  of 

friendship  or  family  relationship.     Lappe  passed  several  years  of  his 

youth  in  the  house  of  Kosegarten,  who  may  thus  have  helped  to  awaken 

in  him  a  love  of  the  sea.    When  Kosegarten  died,  he  expressed  his 

admiration  for  him  in  the  lines : 

Der  alte  Schwan  der  Lieder, 
Erstummt  ist  sein  Gesang.   . 
Doch  in  sein  Grab  hiunieder 
Steigt  jeder  neue  Klang, 
Die  Asche  froh  zu  regen. — 
Wer  Riigens  Lob  erhebt, 
Soil  dem  ein  Bliimchen  legen, 
Der  una  mit  Ruhm  urnwebt1. 

But,  indebted  as  Lappe  may  have  been  to  the  older  poet,  his  lyrics 
strike  a  distinctly  new  note.  They  are  free  from  the  extravagance  and 
melancholy  of  Ossian.  His  sea-descriptions  are  descriptions  of  a  par- 
ticular sea,  and  not  merely  a  vague  idea  of  the  sea  in  general.  He 
reproduces  the  characteristics  of  the  Riigen  coast  by  the  introduction 
of  local  colour  and  detail.  No  object  of  the  shore  is  too  minute  to 
escape  his  notice.  A  piece  of  amber,  a  star-fish,  or  even  a  sea-fly,  has 
its  place  in  his  poems.  But  he  was  by  no  means  insensitive  to  the 
grander  aspects  of  the  sea  ;  for  the  same  poet  who  wrote  An  ein  Marien- 
tvurmchen  auf  Arkonas  hochster  Spitze,  could  also  exclaim: 

Dem  Staubgebornen  beut'  das  Erdenrund 
Zwei  Bilder  hoher,  tiefer  Schonheit  dar, 
Den  blauen  Himmel  and  das  blaue  Meera. 

He  loved  the  bold  contrasts  of  the  Riigen  coast :  the  wrhite  dunes,  the 

blue  sea  and  the  green  meadow.    Like  Heine,  he  tried  to  interpret  the 

language  of  the  waves  : 

O,  sagt  mir,  Steine 
Am  Meeresrande, 
Mit  griinen  Locken 
Zierlich  gekammt : 
Was  spricht  die  Welle, 
Die  urn  euch  krauselt3? 

In  fact,  the  poem  in  which  these  lines  occur,  Die  Rede  der  Wellen,  is  a 
forerunner  of,  and  was  probably  an  immediate  model  for  Heine's  poetry  of 
the  North  Sea.  The  picture  of  the  poet,  '  der  stolze  Mensch,  der  Yiel- 
gewandte,  der  tiefe  Forscher,  der  Allgelehrte,'  listening  to  the  song  of 
the  waves  and  trying  in  vain  to  understand  its  meaning,  at  once  recalls 

1  K.  Lappe,  Sommtliche  poetische  Werke,  Rostock,  1840,  i,  p.  127. 

1  Lappe,  ed.  cit.,  in,  pp.  87,  219.  3  Ilrid.,  p.  197. 


326 


Wilhelm  Midlers  Poetry  of  the  Sea 


Heine's  poem  Fragen.  A  comparison  of  the  following  passages  seems  to 
me  to  place  an  indebtedness  of  Heine's  sea-poetry  to  Lappe  almost 
beyond  question : 


Lappe. 
Nur  wenn  am  Ufer 
Ein  Dichter  wandelt... 
In  Phantasien 
Der  Ahnung  sinnend 
Erkennt  er  staunend 
Bekannte  Tone, 
Wie  Freundesstimmen, 
Wie  einstgehortes 
Verschollnes  Wort. 

Heriiber  tonen 
Die  Wellenstimmen, 
Bald  schauertragend, 
Bald  sehnsuchtweckend, 
Wie  Kriegestone, 
Wie  Liebesfliistem, 
Wie  Prophezeihung 
Von  sel'gen  Welten, 
Wie  Todesruf. 

O  du  Wunderreich  der  Klange, 
Wann  der  Meersfluth  Harfe  wallt ! 


Heine. 
Und  die  weissen,  weiten  Wellen, 
Von  der  Fluth  gedrangt, 
Schaumt    und    rauschten    naher    und 

naher— 
Ein  seltsam  Gerausch,  ein  Fliistern  und 

Pfeifen... 
Dazwischen     ein     wiegenliedheimliches 

Singen — 
Mir  war,  als  hort'  ich  verschollne  Sagen1. 

Mein  Rufen  verhallt  im  tosenden  Sturm, 

Im  Schlachtlarm  der  Winde. 

Es  braust  und  pfeift  und  prasselt  und 

heult, 
Wie  ein  Tollhaus  von  Tonen  ! 
Und  zwischendurch  hor'  ich  vernehmbar 
Lockende  Harfenlaute, 
Sehnsuchtswilden  Gesang, 
Seelenschmelzend  und  seelenzerreissend, 
Und  ich  erkenne  die  Stimme2. 


Lappe's  prose  sketches  and  essays  contain  some  delicately  painted 

pictures  of  the  shore.    I  quote  from  Die  Begegnungen  (Ein  Schnellromari) : 

Es  war  ein  schoner  Nachmittag  im  Spatsommer,  und  die  Tromper  Wiek  lag  wie 
ein  glatter  Spiegel  zwischen  dem  blauen  Jasmund  und  den  weissen  Kiisten  Wittows 
ruhig  gebreitet.  Kaum  krauselte  sich  auf  dem  glattgewaschenen  Sande,  den  leise 
schwarze  Streifen  bezeichneten,  ein  kurzer  Wellenschlag,  in  dem  stelzfiissige  Strand- 
laufer  nach  Meerinsekten  herumtrippelten 3. 

In  view  of  such  delicate  descriptions  of  sea  and  shore  in  Lappe's  verse 

and  prose,  it  would  seem  as  if  he  might  have  some  share  of  the  distinction 

which  Biese  claims  for  Heine  : 

Seit  der  Gudrun  rauschte  nur  selten  in  der  deutschen  Dichtung  das  deutsche 
Meer  ;  nur  wenige,  freilich  gar  schwer  wiegende  schone  Zeilen  weiht  Goethe  im 
zweiten  Theile  des  Faust  dem  Meer,  und  so  hat  Heine  das  Verdienst,  insbesondere 
der  Nordseedichtung  Eingang  in  die  nationale  Poesie  verschaft't  zu  haben4. 

As  poets  of  the  sea,  Kosegarten  and  Lappe  have  practically  nothing 
in  common.  The  difference  between  them  is  far  greater  than  that 
between  Lappe  and  Muller,  for  both  these  poets  aimed  at  presenting 
the  sea  in  a  realistic  way,  however  varying  the  measure  of  their  success. 


1  Lappe,  in,  pp.  197  f. ;  Heine,  ed.  by  E.  Elster,  i,  p.  164  (Abenddammerung) ;  cp.  also 
Der  Schiffbriichige  (pp.  181  ff.). 

2  Lappe,  in,  pp.  196  f.,  i,  p.  143;  Heine,  p.  173  (Sturm). 

3  Poetische  Werke,  iv,  p.  168. 

4  A.  Biese,  Lyrische  Dichtung  und  neuere  deutsche  Lyriker,  Berlin,  1896,  p.  58. 


MARGARET   E.  A.  RICHARDSON  327 

But  their  poems  show  wide  differences  in  technique ;  Lappe's  are  typical 
products  of  the  eighteenth  century,  while  Muller's  are  definitely  romantic. 
Lappe  was  essentially  a  subjective  poet,  while  Miiller  shrank  from  re- 
vealing his  own  personality ;  he  preferred  to  identify  himself  with  sailors 
and  fishers.  Faithful  to  the  Volkslied  tradition, he  reduces  the  descriptive 
and  reflective  elements  to  a  minimum,  nature  being  only  present  as  a 
decoration  or  background  :  whereas  in  Lappe's  poems  nature  plays  a 
more  active  role.  There  are  also,  as  one  would  expect,  marked  differences 
in  the  diction  of  the  two  poets.  Muller's  style  is  as  direct  and  simple  as 
that  of  his  models ;  Lappe's  is  often  prolix  and  rambling. 

Muller's  sea-poetry  is  contained  in  two  collections,  Lieder  aus  dem 
Meerbusen  von  Salerno  and  Muscheln  von  der  Insel  Rilgen.  The  latter 
is  much  the  more  important ;  in  fact,  his  reputation  as  a  poet  of  the 
sea  is  largely  based  on  this  cycle  of  poems,  which  was  the  literary  fruit 
of  his  short  sojourn  in  Rtigen  from  July  31  to  August  9,  1825 1.  His 
themes  are  seldom  original.  Grumbke's  work,  which  Miiller  cites  in  his 
explanatory  notes,  is  the  source  of  several  of  the  poems,  and  there  is 
hardly  a  fact  in  them  relating  to  characteristics  of  the  island  or  its 
people,  which  that  writer  does  not  mention.  Griimbke,  for  instance, 
writes : 

Der  Seeadler,  oder  Fischaar  halt  sich  an  den  Kiisten  auf,  der  Steinadler  horstet 

in  den  Spalten  des  Arkonaischen  Kreideufers Arkona.    Hier  ist  der  ausserste 

Endpunct  von  Deutschland  nach  Norden  und  gross,  kiihn  und  stark,  wie  einst  die 
Altvordern  des  Landes  waren,  ist  diese  Ufergranze2. 

And  Muller : 

Auf  Arkona's  Berge 
Ist  ein  Adlerhorst, 
Wo  vom  Schlag  der  Woge 
Seine  Spitze  borst. 

Spitze  deutschen  Landes, 
Willst  sein  Bild  du  sein  ? 
Riss'  und  Spalten  splittern 
Deinen  festen  Stein 3. 

Both  Griimbke  and  Muller  use  Arkona  symbolically,  the  former  to 
express  the  past  greatness  of  Riigen's  inhabitants,  the  latter  as  the  cliff 
on  which  Germany  in  her  weakness  is  wrecked4.  The  first  verse  of  Der 
Seehund  is  a  version  of  the  beginning  of  a  popular  poem  quoted  by 
Griimbke 5. 

1  Miiller  travelled  in  company  with  Furchau,  the  author  of  an  epic  entitled  Arkona, 
which  I  have  been  unable  to  see. 

2  Griimbke,  op.  cit.,  i,  pp.  126,  50. 

3  Gedichte,  bearbeitet  von  J.  T.  Hatfield,  Berlin,  1906,  p.  282. 

4  Griimbke,  i,  p.  72;  Muller's  Gedichte,  pp.  270  ff. 

5  Griimbke,  i,  p.  125. 


328  Wilhelm  Mutter's  Poetry  of  the  Sea 

The  poems  of  Muscheln  von  der  Insel  Rugen  may  be  divided  into 
three  groups:  those  in  which  some  natural  object  is  used  as  an  illustration 
of  a  human  experience  (Die  Mewe,  Der  Feuer stein,  Eiersteine,  Die  Steine 
und  das  Herz,  Himmel  und  Meer,  Der  Schiffer  auf  dem  Festlande,  Der 
Seehund,  Vineta,  Der  Adler  auf  Arkona);  those  modelled  on  the 
Volkslied  (Der  Gang  von  Wittow  nach  Jasmund,  Einkleidung,  Brduti- 
gamswahl,  Die  Braut) ;  and  a  reflective  poem  (Muscheln). 

There  is  a  marked  similarity  of  form  in  the  poems  of  the  first  and 
largest  group.  Each  consists  of  three  parts :  the  natural  phenomenon, 
the  human  experience  and  the  contrast.  Die  Mewe  may  be  taken  as 
typical.  The  sailor's  mistress  tells  of  the  strange  comradeship  of  the  seal 
and  the  gull;  how  the  bird,  like  a  trusty  sentinel,  watches  for  signs  of 
approaching  danger,  while  the  seal  sleeps  on  the  soft,  damp  sand.  This 
suggests  to  the  girl  her  relations  to  her  lover.  When  he  is  exposed  to 
the  perils  of  the  sea,  she,  like  the  vigilant  bird,  would  accompany  him 
and  protect  him.  Then  common  sense  checks  her  imagination :  she  has 
no  wings  and  cannot  play  the  part  of  the  gull.  The  construction  of  these 
poems  was  probably  suggested  by  English  models,  where  the  parallelism 
of  man  and  nature,  followed  by  a  moral  deduction,  was  equally  marked. 
The  following  lyric  of  Moore's,  which  is  to  be  found  in  a  collection  of 
English  poetry  published  at  Altona,  and  familiar  to  Miiller1,  is  typical : 

See  how,  beneath  the  moonbeam's  smile, 
Yon  little  billow  heaves  its  breast, 
And  foams  and  sparkles  for  a  while, 
And  murmuring  then  subsides  to  rest. 

Thus  man,  the  sport  of  bliss  and  care, 
Rises  on  Time's  eventful  sea ; 
And  having  swelled  a  moment  there, 
Thus  melts  into  eternity. 

Another  of  Moore's  lyrics,  To  the  Flying-fish*,  resembles  Muller's  still 
more  closely  in  the  element  of  narrative.  Here,  too,  the  subject  requires 
an  introductory  note  of  explanation  such  as  we  find  in  similar  cases  in 
Miiller.  But  he  avoids  the  didactic  point  of  Moore's  poem,  his  poems  of 
this  type  being  mainly  love-lyrics,  in  which  a  definite  experience  is 
associated  with  a  definite  person.  Miiller  felt,  too,  that,  if  there  is  too 
close  a  correspondence  between  nature  and  the  human  experience,  the 
latter  fails  to  hold  the  reader's  interest ;  he  makes  the  contrast,  rather 
than  the  similarity,  the  climax  of  his  poems.  The  lover's  mistress  has  a 
skin  as  white  as  chalk;  her  flushed  cheeks  resemble  the  pale  cliffs  of 

1  F.  J.  Jacobsen,  Brief e  an  eine  deutsche  Edelfran  iiber  die  neuesten  englischen  Dichter, 
Altona,  1820,  p.  59.    See  p.  329,  note. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  62. 


MARGARET    E.  A.  RICHARDSON  329 

Jasmund  bathed  in  the  rosy  sunlight.  But  he  remembers  that  chalk  is 
brittle  and  contains  hard  flints,  whereas  the  loved  one's  heart  is  true 
and  kind. 

Miiller  was  particularly  attracted  by  Moore,  whose  poems  have  the 
grace  and  melodiousness  characteristic  of  his  own ;  he  ranked  him  with 
the  greatest  lyric  poets1.  But  his  literary  essays  indicate  an  extensive 
knowledge  of  English  poetry,  and  although  we  have  no  evidence  that  he 
was  familiar  with  Scott's,  it  is  difficult  to  believe  that  the  latter's  Maid 
of  Isla  had  not  some  influence  on  Die  Mewe.  The  Maid's  lover  is  com- 
pared with  the  frail  skiff,  battling  with  wind  and  waves  to  reach  home, 
and  the  gull  fighting  its  way  to  its  craggy  nest : 

Oh,  Maid  of  Isla,  from  the  cliff, 
That  looks  on  troubled  wave  and  sky, 
Dost  thou  not  see  yon  little  skiff' 
Contend  with  ocean  gallantly  ? 

Now  beating  'gainst  the  breeze  and  surge, 
And  steep'd  her  leeward  deck  in  foam, 
Why  does  she  war  unequal  urge  1 — 
Oh,  Isla's  maid,  she  seeks  her  home. 

Oh,  Isla's  maid,  yon  sea-bird  mark, 

Her  white  wing  gleams  through  mist  and  spray, 

Against  the  storm-cloud,  lowering  dark, 

As  to  the  rock  she  wheels  away ; — 

Where  clouds  are  dark  and  billows  rave, 
Why  to  the  shelter  should  she  come 
Of  cliff,  exposed  to  wind  and  wave  ? — 
Oh,  maid  of  Isla,  'tis  her  home* ! 

Scott's  poem  lacks  the  antithetic  close  which  makes  Miiller's  so  effective; 
but  it  is  similarly  objective. 

The  most  beautiful  and,  as  far  as  form  is  concerned,  the  most  perfect 
lyric  of  this  group  is  Vineta.  All  three  poets  of  the  sea,  Lappe,  Miiller 
and  Heine,  were  attracted  by  the  legend  of  the  submerged  city,  and  each 
interprets  it  differently.  The  sad,  sweet  bells  of  Vineta  rang  up  to  Lappe 
a  warning  of  the  futility  of  human  power  and  splendour;  but  they 
touched  no  chord  in  his  own  heart.  It  was  his  son-in-law  Nernst,  the 
author  of  one  of  the  numerous  accounts  of  Riigen,  who  seems  to  have 
first  read  a  deeper  and  more  poetic  meaning  into  the  saga.  For  him 
Vineta  embodied  the  rosy  fantasies  of  his  youth,  which  had  since  been 
obscured  by  the  greyness  of  reality. 

1  Cp.  his  Vermischte  Schriften,  v,  pp.  249-261,  especially  p.  259 :  '  Die  Irish  Melodies 
konnen  nur  von  einem  dem  lyrischen  Geiste  des  Irlanders  verwandten  Dichter  ubertragen 
werden;  und  zwar  wird  diese  Ubertragung,  wenn  sie  nicht  bloss  Worteund  Formen  wieder- 
geben  will,  sehr  frei  sein  mussen.  Wir  machen  auf  einige  Proben  einer  solchen  freien 
tjbersetzung  von  Schmidt  von  Liibeck  aufmerksam,  welche  Jacobsen  in  seinen  "  Brief  en 
liber  die  neuesten  englischen  Dichter"  mitgetheilt  hat.' 


330  Wilhelm  Miiller  s  Poetry  of  the  Sea 

Ach  !  es  ist  untergegangen  das  Eden  der  ausschweifenden  Knabenfantasie  ! 
tJber  das  bliihende  Vineta,  das  der  unerfahrne  J  tingling  so  zuversichtlich  auf  den 
leichten  Sand  der  Zukunft  grtindete,  schlagt  das  kalte  Gewasser  der  Wirklichkeit 
zusammen,  und  begrabt  es  in  seine  tiefsten  Tiefen. . . .  Nur  zuweilen  siebt  er  noch, 
wie  der  Ostseeschiffer  bei  Vineta,  die  Strassen  der  Wonnestadt,  stosst  auf  die  Ring- 
mauern  derselben,  und  ist  in  Gefahr  zu  scheitern  ;  bort  wobl  gar  die  Glocken  der- 
selben,  dumpf  zusammen  weinen,  und  ihm  ist's,  als  lauteten  sie  ihm  schon  zu  Grabe1. 

To  Miiller  Vineta  brought  a  different  message.  The  turrets  of  the 
sunken  city,  glimmering  at  sunset  with  a  fatal  fascination  %  under  the 
water,  were  to  him  memories  of  a  lost  love.  When  he  hears  the  bells  of 
Vineta  faintly  pealing,  it  is  as  if  angels  call  to  him  to  leave  the  world  of 
reality  and  enter  the  old  city  of  romance.  His  poem,  which  dates  from 
the  happiest  period  of  his  life,  is  suffused  with  the  afterglow  of  his  love 
for  Luise  Hensel,  and  has  that  subtle  sweetness  which  clings  to  the 
remembrance  of  a  passion  from  which  time  has  taken  the  sting  of  dis- 
appointment. It  is  one  of  the  few  subjective  poems  Miiller  ever  wrote ; 
for  once  he  casts  off  his  disguise  of  sailor  or  peasant  and  reveals  his  true 
self. 

Heine's  picture  of  Vineta  in  Seegespenst,  written  during  the  summer 
of  1825,  could  not  have  been  suggested  by  Midler's  poem,  which  first 
appeared  in  1826.  Although  written  independently  of  each  other,  See- 
gespenst and  Vineta  are  not  unlike  in  their  conclusions :  both  poets  all 
but  yield  to  the  sweet  persuasion  of  the  bells  and  abandon  the  world  for 
the  old  wonder-town.  Later,  Heine  quoted  a  verse  of  Mliller's  poem  in 
the  following  passage,  which  is  clearly  written  under  its  influence: 

Man  sagt,  unfern  dieser  Insel,  wo  jetzt  nichts  als  Wasser  ist,  batten  einst  die 
schonsten  Dorfer  und  Stadte  gestanden,  das  Meer  babe  sie  plotzlich  alle  tiber- 
scbwemmt,  und  bei  klarem  Wetter  sahen  die  Schiffer  noch  die  leuchtenden  Spitzen 
der  versunkenen  Kirchthurme,  und  mancber  habe  dort  in  der  Sonntagsfruhe  sogar 
ein  frommes  Glockengelaute  gehort.  Die  Geschichte  ist  wahr  ;  denn  das  Meer  ist 
meine  Seele — 

Eine  schone  Welt  ist  da  versunken, 

Ibre  Trummer  blieben  unten  stebn, 

Lassen  sich  als  goldne  Himmelfunken 

Oft  im  Spiegel  meiner  Traume  sehn. 
Erwachend  bore  icb  dann  ein  verhallendes  Glockengelaute  und  Gesang  beiliger 
Stimmen — Evelina 2 ! 

The  originality  of  the  Muscheln  von  der  Inseln  Rilgen  lies  in  setting 
rather  than  in  theme  or  technique.  Miiller  grafted  the  sea-poem  on  to 
the  German  Volkslied,  where  the  sea  is  rarely  mentioned ;  he  introduced 
the  sea  as  background  into  poems  modelled  on  the  popular  lyric,  the 
shore  taking  the  place  of  the  green  meadow,  the  white  dunes  of  the 
mountains,  the  gull  of  the  nightingale. 

1  K.  Nernst,  Wanderungen  durch  Rilgen,  herausg.  von  L.  T.  Kosegarten,  Dusseldorf , 
1800,  p.  69. 

2  Die  Nordsee,  in  (Samtliche  Werke,  ed.  E.  Elster,  in,  p.  102). 


MARGARET    E.  A.  RICHARDSON  331 

True  to  the  spirit  of  the  Volkslied  is  Der  Gang  von  Wittow  nach 

Jasmund.     As  the  landscape  in  the  former,  so  here  the  sea-scape  is 

depicted  in  a  few  pregnant,  suggestive  words : 

Verdammte  lange  schmale  Heide  !- 
Zu  beiden  Seiten  brummt  das  Meer, 
Versteckt  in  einem  Aschenkleide, 
Senkt  sich  der  Himmel  tief  und  schwer. 

Nature  and  man  are  in  harmony.     The  contrast  between  the  barren, 

desolate  heath  of  Jasmund,  where  the  good-for-nothing  lover  is  obliged 

to  hew  stones,  and  fruitful,  smiling  Wittow,  where  his  mistress  awaits 

him,  may  be  easily  paralleled  in  the  German  Volkslieder. 

The  two  '  Maskenlieder,'  Brautigamswahl  and  Die  Braut,  differ  in 

theme  and  technique  from  the  other  poems  of  this  group.    The  subject 

is  the  same  as  that  of  Miiller's  earlier  cycles,  Die  schone  Mullerin  and 

Die  Winterreise,  the  despair  of  an  unfortunate  lover;  but  conception  and 

treatment  are  now  more  original.    Formerly  the  girl's  inconstancy  was 

the  cause  of  the  catastrophe ;  in  these  poems  the  merciless  sea  brings 

about  the  final  calamity.   Brautigamswahl  tells  how  the  sailor's  mistress 

awaits  the  return  of  her  lover ;  Die  Braut,  how,  after  her  lover's  death, 

she  is  forced  by  her  mother  to  accept  another  suitor1.    The  motive  of  the 

sailor  drowned  at  sea  may  possibly  have  been  suggested  by  English 

poems  such  as  Black-eyed  Susan2,  a  ballad  that  had  been  frequently 

translated,  by  Boie  and  others,  into  German.    Few  of  Miiller's  lyrics 

have  the  emotional  depth  of  these  two  poems;  the  bitterness  of  the 

closing  verse  of  Die  Braut  almost  recalls  Heine  : 

In  die  Kirche  soil  ich — nun,  ich  will  ja  kommen, 
Will  mich  fromm  gesellen  zu  den  andern  Frommen. 
Lasst  mich  am  Altare  still  voriiberzieben, 
Denn  dort  ist  mein  Platzchen,  wo  die  Witwen  knieen. 

The  Muscheln  von  der  Inset  Riigen  takes  its  name  from  the  intro- 
ductory poem :  Muscheln,  which  strikes  the  keynote  of  the  cycle. 
Miiller's  muse  is  a  shy  fisher-maiden  who  is  overawed  by  the  wonders 
of  the  sea.  As  long  as  the  storm  rages  she  cowers  in  a  fisherman's  hut, 
exciting  the  mirth  of  her  companions,  who  make  light  of  her  terror  and 
continue  plaiting  their  baskets  unperturbed.  But  after  the  storm  has 
abated  and  the  sea  is  smooth  again,  she  ventures  barefoot  over  the  damp, 
soft  sands,  and  gathers  dainty  shells  for  a  wreath.    As  the  fisher-girl  her 

1  In  this  poem  Miiller  repeats  a  motive  he  had  used  in  Die  schone  MUllerin,  namely, 
that,  when  the  lover  is  drowned,  and  the  waves  flow  over  him,  the  girl's  kerchief  shall 
cover  his  face.  The  same  motive  was  used  later  by  J.  Mosen  in  his  Halund  der  Junge 
(Gedichte,  Leipzig,  1843,  p.  231). 

2  The  influence  of  this  ballad  is  plainly  discernible  on  Miiller's  poem,  Liebchen  iiberall 
[Gedichte,  p.  170). 


332  Wilhelm  Mutter's  Poetry  of  the  Sea 

shells,  so  the  poet  loved  the  tiniest  objects  of  the  shore;  he  was,  like 

Lappe,  more  often  inspired  by  these  than  by  the  sea  itself.    Like  this 

fisher-maid,  who  comes  from  inland,  Mliller  preferred  the  sea  in  its 

calmer  moods.    His  genius  was  not  of  a  bold,  daring  kind,  and  the  wilder, 

more  daemonic  aspects  of  nature  did  not  attract  him.    He  was  too  happy 

and  contented  to  detect  the  note  of  tragedy  in  the  song  of  the  waves ; 

that  could  only  be  heard  by  a  Heine  who  himself  had  been  wrecked  by 

the  storms  of  life.    At  the  same  time,  Muscheln  is  one  of  the  few  poems 

in  which  there  is  a  suggestion  of  the  freedom  and  the  vastness  of  the 

ocean.   Its  breadth  and  grandiosity  dwarf  the  other  lyrics  of  this  group. 

Nature  is  not,  as  in  the  poems  modelled  on  the  Volkslied,  introduced 

merely  as  background  or  illustration ;  the  poet  aims  at  presenting  the 

sea  itself,  and  the  human  element  is  of  secondary  importance.    The  poem 

is  symmetrically  constructed,  each  strophe  depicting  a  contrasting  mood 

of  the  sea.   It  has  much,  too,  in  common  with  Heine's  Nordsee :  the 

masterly  personification  of  the  waves,  the  contrast  between  storm  and 

calm,  and  the  similar  staffage,  ship,  fisher-girls  and  hut.    The  opening 

picture  of  the  ship  fighting  with  wind  and  waves  well  bears  comparison 

with  a  poem  like  Heine's  Gewitter : 

Es  braust  das  Meer,  die  Wogenhaupter  schaumen, 
Die  Brandling  stiirmt  die  Burg  des  Felsenstrandes, 
Und  mit  dem  grossen  Orlogschiffe  treiben 
Die  Wind'  und  Wellen  ihre  wilden  Spiele, 
Wie  Kinder  mit  dem  leichten  Federballe1. 

Mliller's  interpretation  of  the  sea  in  these  poems  is  fresh  and  breezy  as 
the  sea  itself;  in  its  essential  realism  it  is  totally  unlike  that  of  the 
earlier  Romantic  poets.  They  preferred  to  see  it  in  the  subdued  melan- 
choly of  a  misty  Turneresque  sea-scape,  or  it  was  for  them  a  treasure- 
house  of  fantastic  things,  the  abode  of  nixies  and  mermaids;  a  refuge 
from  the  philistinism  of  the  world,  it  was  always  beckoning  them  to 
descend  into  its  cool  depths. 

The  Lieder  cms  dem  Meerbusen  von  Salerno,  which  belong  to  an 
earlier  date  than  the  Muscheln  von  der  Insel  Riigen,  have  much  less 
originality  and  do  not  call  for  much  comment.  They  present  a  complete 
contrast  to  the  Muscheln  in  tone  and  colouring.  Instead  of  the  cold, 
grey-blue  scenery  of  the  north  we  have  here  the  glowing  colours  of  the 
South  Italian  sea-scape;    the  almost  excessive  realistic  detail  of  the 

1  Cp.  Goethe's  Seefahrt  : 

Vor  seinem  starren  Wiithen 
Streckt  der  Schiffer  klug  die  Segel  nieder, 
Mit  dem  angsterfiillten  Balle  spielen 
Wind  und  Wellen. 


MARGARET    E.  A.  RICHARDSON  333 

northern  poems  gives  place  to  a  background  altogether  lacking  in  indi- 
viduality and  definition.  Compared  with  the  Rugen  songs,  those  of  the 
Italian  collection  are  trivial  and  superficial ;  there  is  no  probing  into  the 
emotions.  Their  leit-motif  is  the  trifling  dalliance  of  fisher-lad  and  fisher- 
maiden,  who,  with  a  levity  unknown  to  the  stolid,  naive  characters  of 
Des  Knaben  Wunderhorn,  regard  love  as  a  pastime,  an  opportunity  for 
the  display  of  wit  and  repartee. 

The  southern  atmosphere  of  the  Lieder  aus  dem  Meerbusen  von 
Salerno  is  created  rather  by  the  introduction  of  motives  drawn  from 
Italian  folk-song  than  by  local  colour.  Particularly  characteristic  of  the 
canto  popolare  is,  for  instance,  the  close  association  of  the  sea  with  love. 
The  heart  sails  over  the  waters  like  a  skiff: 

E  in'  hai  lassato  e  1'  hai  fatto  il  dovere. 
Di  te  non  mi  dovevo  innamorare  : 
Ero  nel  mare,  e  vedevo  le  vele  ; 
Vedevo  lo  mio  amore  navigare  ; 
Ero  nel  mare,  e  vedevo  lo  foco  ! 
II  nostro  amore  era  per  durar  poco. 
Ero  nel  mare  e  vedevo  la  fiamma. 
Vedevo  il  nostro  amor,  fuoco  di  paglia1. 

The  same  idea  recurs  in  M  tiller's  poems : 

Nur  mein  Herz  will  nimmer 
Mit  zur  Ruhe  gehn. 

In  der  Liebe  Fluthen 
Treibt  es  her  und  hin, 
Wo  die  Stiirme  nicht  ruhen, 
Bis  der  Nachen  sinkt2. 

Es  schwimmen  auf  den  Wogen 
Viel  Schiffe  gross  und  klein  : 
Ich  kann  nicht  mit  euch  fahren, 
Mein  Nachen  sank  mir  ein3. 

Auf  diesem  Liebesmeere 
Wo  wird  die  Ruhstatt  seiu  1 
Entweder  an  deinem  Herzen, 
Ach,  oder  im  Grabe  mein4? 

In  keeping  with  the  spirit  of  the  Italian  folk-song  is  the  motive  that 
the  heart  leaves  the  lover's  body  in  order  to  reach  the  object  of  its 
affections : 

Giro  e  rigiro,  e  non  posso  trovare, 

Misero  !  quel  cor  mio,  che  1'  ho  perduto. 

N  ho  dimandato  a  certi  marinari 

Se  mai  per  sorte  1'  avesser  veduto5. 

1  Canti  popolari,  raccolti  e  illustrati  da  N.  Tommaseo,  Venice,  1841,  i,  p.  328. 

2  Die  Meere  (Gedichte,  p.  239). 

3  Schifferreigen  (Ibid.,  p.  242).  *  Doppelte  Gefahr  (p.  243). 
5  Canti  popolari,  i,  p.  111. 

M.L.R.XVIII.  22 


334  Wilhelm  Midler's  Poetry  of  the  Sea 

Similarly,  in  Das  ftotte  Herz  the  fisher-boy  describes   his    heart   as 

following  his  mistress's  skiff  through  the  waves  : 

Fischerin,  du  kleine, 

Schiffe  nicht  alleine 

In  das  grosse  Meer  ! 

Hinter  dir  hergezogen 

Kommt  schon  mein  Herz  durch  die  Wogen1. 

A  recurrent  motive  of  this  group,  which  is  possibly  also  of  Italian 

'origin,  is  the  reflection  of  rosy  cheeks  in  water  or  wine ;  and  we  find  it 

again  in  a  later  cycle,  Die  schone  Kellnerin  von  Bacharach2.    On  the 

other  hand,  the  idea  in  Die  glilckiiche  Fischerin  of  the  fish  striving  to  be 

»caught  when  the  fisher-maid  is  near,  which  might  well  have  come  from 

some  Italian  folk-song,  occurs  in  a  German  Volkslied  in  Hagen  and 

Biisching's  collection : 

Wenn  Hannchen  sanft  am  Ufer  runt, 
Da  fischt's  sich  noch  einmal  so  gut  ; 
Da  drangt  ins  Netz  sich  gross  und  klein, 
Als  wollt'n  sie  alle  gefangen  sein3. 

On  the  whole,  the  Italian  influence  on  Mtiller — and  it  was  probably 
more  extensive  than  is  generally  recognised4 — was  not  favourable  to 
Miiller's  development  as  a  lyric  poet ;  it  tempted  him  to  substitute  for 
his  own  sincere  and  unvarnished  emotion,  an  insincere  artificiality, 
which  often  reminds  us  unpleasantly  of  the  anacreontic  poetry  of  the 
previous  century. 

Margaret  E.  A.  Richardson. 

Swansea. 


1  Gedichte,  p.  239.     Mtiller  repeats  this  motive  in  two  poems  in  the  Muscheln  von  der 
Insel  Riigen,  namely,  Die  Mewe  and  Die  Steine  und  das  Herz. 

2  The  motive  also  appears  in  Rtickert's  Sicilianen  (Gesammelte  Gedichte,  Erlangen, 
1836-38,  ii,  p.  314),  which  supports  the  view  that  it  may  be  of  Italian  origin. 

3  Sammlung  deutscher  Volkslieder,  Berlin,  1807,  p.  137. 

4  P.  S.  Allen,  in  the  article  already  quoted,  suggests  some  Italian  borrowings  in  poems 
outside  the  present  cycle. 


MISCELLANEOUS  NOTES. 

Notes  on  Chaucer. 
I. 

Ne  of  phisyk,  ne  termes  queinte  of  lawe. 

(Shipman's  Prologue,  B.  1189.) 
In  his  Oxford  edition  of  Chaucer  Professor  Skeat  prints  this  line  : 
Ne  phy sices,  ne  termes  queinte  of  lawe,  and  his  note  (p.  731)  is  as  follows: 
'Most  MSS.  phislyas)  Sloane,  phillyas ;  Ln.  [Lansdowne  851]  fisleas; 
read  physices,  i.e.  physices  liber.'  But  in  his  edition  of  Chaucer,  The 
Prioresses  Tale  etc.  (Clarendon  Press,  1906),  apparently  for  metrical 
reasons,  he  adopts  the  reading  :  Ne  of  phisyk,  and  appends  two  notes,  as 
under:  (1)  'Tyrwhitt  reads  of  phisike;  the  MSS.  have  the  unmeaning 
word  phislyas ;  Sloane  MS.  phillyas.'  (2)  'I  do  not  know  that  Tyrwhitt 
had  any  authority  for  reading  of  phisike  here,  but  it  recommends  itself 
to  one's  common  sense  at  once,  as  nothing  can  be  made  of  the  readings 
of  the  MSS.'  Skeat's  proposal  to  read  ne  of  phisyk  seems  to  have  been 
generally  accepted;  see,  e.g.  the  Globe  edition  of  the  Works,  and 
Pollard's  edition  of  the  Tales  (Macmillan,  1907). 

I  write  this  from  a  mofussil  station  in  India,  with  but  a  scanty 
library  of  authorities  at  hand.  Nevertheless  may  I  be  permitted  to 
suggest  that  the  MSS.  readings  here  may  be  retained  as  not  meaning- 
less after  all  ?  May  they  not  represent  the  Anglo-French  filaz  =  files  or 
cases  ? 

The  meaning  fits  well  the  context.    The  Sergeant  of  the  Lawe  was 

an  official,  not  to  say  an  officious,  person — 

In  termes  hadde  he  caas  and  domes  alle 

That  from  the  tyme  of  King  William  were  falle 

— one  who,  we  may  infer,  had  been  boring  the  company  with  the  legal 

jargon  of  his  'files.'   The  Host,  when  asking  him  for  his  tale,  seems  to 

hint  as  much  in  his  rallying  way  :    the  '  forward '  is  a  legal  affair,  a 

' cas';  the  Host  himself  is  delivering  the  'jugement.'   Then,  after  the 

tale  (from  the  Anglo-Norman  French)  is   duly  told,  occurs,  in    The 

Shipman's  Prologue,  the  interruption  of  the  Persone.   But  the  Shipman 

will  have  none  of  his  '  predicacioun ' — his  tale  will  be  on  different  lines, 

and  something  startling. 

22—2 

/ 


336  Miscellaneous  Notes 

But  it  shal  nat  ben  of  philosophye, 

Ne  (of  ?)  phillyas,  ne  termes  queinte  of  lawe  ; 

Ther  is  but  litel  Latin  in  my  mawe. 

He  is  neither  preacher  nor  lawyer.    Skeat  himself  glosses,  in  the  Oxford 

edition,  phisyk  as  =  Latin  physice  =  natural  philosophy.   But  this  is  not 

the  usual  Chaucerian  meaning.    Cf.  e.g.  Knightes  Tale,  A.  2759-60 : 

And  certeinly,  ther  nature  wol  nat  wirche, 
Far-wel,  phisyk  !  go  ber  the  man  to  chirche  ! 

As  for  the  possibility  of  retaining  the  MSS.  forms,  see  N.E.D.  under 
Jilace,  an  obsolete  law  term,  from  A.F.  fllaz.  Other  early  forms  are 
filas,  fylas.  An  example  is  given  of  filas  (=  file)  under  date  1434.  See 
also  under  filacer,  with  variants  filazer,  felyssour,  philaser  =  a  former 
officer  of  the  courts  of  Westminster,  who  filed  original  writs,  etc.,  and 
issued  processes  thereon.  The  y  in  the  suffix  -yas  may  be  taken  as 
marking  the  length  of  the  syllable ;  ya  to  represent  A.F.  a  is  found  (see 
e.g.  N.E.D.  under  haras,  A.F.  haraz).  And  as  for  the  forms  phislyas,fisleas, 
may  we  not  consider  the  first  s  in  each  case  as  inserted  to  mark  length 
also,  on  the  analogy  of  words  like  isle,  disner,  where  the  s,  though  grown 
silent,  was  sometimes  retained  in  spelling  as  a  sign  of  length  ? 

II. 

In  termes. 

(Prologue,  1.  323.) 

If  the  interpretation  of  '  phislyas '  suggested  in  my  previous  note  be 

accepted,  may  we  not  thereby  establish  the  right  rendering  of  this 

phrase  also,  as  =  '  in  legal  jargon/  i.e.  in  Anglo-French  or  Latin  law 

phraseology  ?   The  emphasis  is  surely  on  the  pedantry  or  '  quaintness ' 

of  the  records,  on  their  preciousness ;  their  preciseness  and  finish  are 

gathered  from  the  rest  of  the  couplet.    The  latter  sense  would  have  been 

better  given  by  the  use  of  the  singular,  'In  terme,' — as  in  the  words  of 

the  Host  (C.  311) : 

Seyde  I  nat  wel  ?    I  can  nat  speke  in  terme  ; 

whereas  the  plural  use  in  Chaucer  always  suggests  clerkly  jargon  of 

some  sort.   There  are  many  instances  of  this :  I  quote  only  one  {The 

Romaunt  of  the  Rose,  A,  of  Coveityse) : 

[that]  maketh  false  pledoures, 
That  with  hir  termes  and  hir  domes 
Doon  maydens,  children,  and  eek  gromes 
Hir  heritage  to  forgo. 

That  there  still  seems  to  be  uncertainty  in  translating 

In  termes  hadde  he  caas  and  domes  alle 


Miscellaneous  Notes  337 

has  been  suggested  to  me  by  reading  Mr  A.  W.  Pollard's  note  in  his 
edition  of  The  Prologue  (Macmillan,  1920),  where  he  cites  the  usual 
interpretation  of  '  exactly,  precisely ' ;  he  also  prints  an  alternative 
rendering.  Neither  of  these  appears  to  me  to  bring  out  the  obvious 
meaning.  Nor  does  Professor  Skeat's  '  He  was  well  acquainted  with  all 
the  legal  cases,'  etc. 

R.  C.  Goffin. 
Gauhati,  Assam. 

The  Word  'Abloy'  in  'Sir  Gawayne  and  the  Green  Knight.' 

Mrs  Wright,  in  her  Note  under  the  above  heading  on  p.  86  above, 
has,  I  think,  found  the  true  meaning  of  the  word  abloy.  I  should  like  to 
suggest  that  it  is  not  adapted  directly  from  the  French  past  participle, 
but  is  an  example  of  the  poet's  habit  of  occasionally  omitting  -ed  in  the 
pret.  and  p.p.  of  weak  verbs  (see  a  Note  on  this  point  in  M.L.R.,  vol.  XIV, 
p.  413).  The  p.p.  outfleme  (rhyming  with  queme,  etc.),  Pearl  1177,  is 
perhaps  the  most  striking  example  of  this  peculiarity.  Another  instance 
in  rhyme  may,  I  think,  be  found  in  Pearl  1061,  'Kyrk  J>er-inne  wat} 
non  3ete,'  referring  to  the  Heavenly  Jerusalem.  This  is  glossed  by 
Professor  Osgood  and  Sir  Israel  Gollancz  as  '  yet,'  but  the  sense  is  not 
good,  and  %et  is  found  four  lines  later  rhyming  with  e,  while  %ete  rhymes 
with  e.  I  should  therefore  translate  it  as  'granted,  bestowed';  from 
O.E.  geatan,  getan,  with  omission  of  -ed.  This  would  give  the  required 
rhyme,  and  a  better  sense. 

Mabel  Day. 

London. 

'  The  Owl  and  the  Nightingale,'  11.  385,  389-90. 

j>ar  a3te  men  (bo)>)  in  worre, 


ich  fol3i  }>an  a}te  manne, 

an  flo  bi  ni3te  in  hore  banne.  (C  text.) 

Professor  Atkins  in  his  recent  edition  of  the  poem  makes  the  following 
comment :  '  The  idea  is  possibly  reminiscent  of  that  O.E.  epic  convention 
according  to  which  the  raven,  the  wolf  and  the  eagle  are  represented  as 
hovering  around  the  scenes  of  battle.'  The  only  passage  adduced  in  sup- 
port of  this  suggestion  consists  of  some  ambiguous  lines  in  the  Old 
Norse  Sigrdrifumdl. 

A  clearer  parallel  is  furnished  by  the  following  stanzas  from  the 
Danish  Folkevise  '  Kong  Sverker  den  unge.'  The  quotation  is  from 
Grundtvig's  Danmarks  gamle  Folkeviser,  Tredje  Del.  Nr.  136. 


338  Miscellaneous  Notes 

Stanzas  9,  10  (Version  A). 

De  vor  vel  xvinm  mendt, 
der  de  aff  Danmarck  foer  hen  : 
der  kam  icke  till-bage  igien 
uden  tree  oc  tryssuer  fern. 

Emellem  bierge  oc  dale 
der  gielder  baade  ugle  oc  0rn  : 
der  grseder  saa  mangen  encke, 
oc  halff  flere  faderl0sse  b0rn. 

Versions  B  and  C  repeat  the  first  two  lines  of  this  second  stanza,  sub- 
stituting the  word  '  raven '  for '  eagle.' 

Here  then,  in  an  unequivocal  passage,  the  owl  is  found  in  the  com- 
pany of  the  eagle  and  the  raven,  hovering  over  the  field  of  battle.  Only 
the  wolf  is  needed  to  complete  the  epic  group. 

Margaret  Ashdown. 
London. 

'  The  Knight  of  the  Burning  Pestle,'  Act  v,  11.  193-5. 

One  of  the  few  unidentified  snatches  of  song  in  The  Knight  of  the 

Burning  Pestle  is : 

Come  no  more  there  boyes,  come  no  more  there : 

For  we  shall  neuer  whilst  we  hue,  come  any  more  there, 

sung  by  old  Merri-thought  in  the  fifth  act,  p.  93,  11.  193-195  of  H.  S. 
Murch's  edition  (Waller's  edition,  VI,  p.  226 ;  Mermaid  Series,  p.  405). 

In  Pepys's  Collection  of  Ballads,  Vol.  IV,  p.  213,  there  is  a  song 
entitled  '  The  Seaman  s  Frolick :  or,  A  Cooler  for  the  Captain.  To  a  new 
Tune ;  or,  Come  no  more  there,  etc'  The  opening  lines  are :  '  Captain 
Robert  is  gone  to  sea  |  and  I  lov'd  him  well,  and  I  lov'd  him  well,  |  With 
all  his  merry,  merry  company  ther's  them  can  sing  and  say.'  There  is, 
moreover,  a  refrain  from  which  the  tune  is  taken : 

And  shall  we  never,  never  while  we  live 

Come  no  more  there,  (?) 
We'l  come  no  more  there  brave  boys, 

We'l  come  no  more  there  : 
And  we  shall  never,  never,  while  we  live 

Come  no  more  there. 

Presumably  the  refrain  belongs  to  an  older  ballad,  and  was  simply 
annexed  by  the  writer  of  The  Seaman's  Frolick.  The  ballad  is  com- 
paratively recent,  being  No.  226  of  Thackeray's  list,  and  should  probably 
be  dated  circa  1665.  There  is  also  a  copy  in  the  Dance  Collection,  n, 
p.  197.    Ebsworth  printed  it  as  an  extra  on  p.  xciii  of  Vol.  vni  of  the 

Roxburghe  Ballads. 

A.  E.  H.  Swaen. 
Amsterdam. 


REVIEWS. 

On  the  History  of  the  English  Present  Inflections,  particularly  -th  and  -s. 
By  Erik  Holmq vist.  Heidelberg:  Carl  Winter.  1922.  xvi+194pp. 

The  object  of  this  able  dissertation,  by  a  pupil  of  Prof.  Ekwall  of 
Lund,  is,  in  the  first  place,  to  determine  the  origin  of  the  substitution 
of  -s  for  the  primitive  -J?1  wherever  it  occurred  in  verbal  inflexions,  which 
was  in  progress  in  the  Northumbrian  English  of  the  late  tenth  century, 
and  was  fully  carried  out  in  the  northern  dialect  before  a.d.  1300 ;  and, 
secondly,  to  trace  the  history  of  -th  and  -s  as  verbal  endings  in  other 
than  northern  dialects. 

With  regard  to  the  origin  of  the  Northumbrian  substitution  of  -s  for 
-5,  Mr  Holmqvist  summarily  rejects  the  view  of  Sweet,  that  '  the  change 
seems  to  be  organic,  as  there  do  not  seem  to  be  any  analogical  influences 
at  work.'  His  objection  is  that  the  supposed  sound-change  is  without 
parallel  in  the  recorded  history  of  English,  and  that  the  tenth-century 
writings  in  which  -s  alternates  with  -S  in  verbs  have  always  -S  in  nouns 
such  as  fostreS,  innaft,  monaS.  I  am  not  sure  that  this  argument  is  quite 
conclusive  ;  but  the  sole  evidence  for  Sweet's  theory  lies  in  the  difficulty 
of  accepting  the  only  possible  alternative  explanation,  which  is  that  the 
-s  is  due  to  the  analogy  of  the  second  singular ;  and  if  this  difficulty  can 
be  removed  the  analogical  explanation  will  be  entitled  to  preference.  In 
the  form  which  this  explanation  has  hitherto  assumed,  it  is  open  to 
obviously  strong  objections.  It  has  been  usual  to  suppose  that  the  -s 
first  passed  from  the  second  singular  to  the  third  singular,  and  thence 
to  the  plural.  The  author  rightly  maintains  that  it  is  psychologically 
very  unlikely  that  the  third  singular  should  have  been  assimilated  to  the 
second  singular,  which  was  so  much  less  frequent  in  use ;  and  he  dis- 
poses conclusively  of  the  supposed  parallel  that  has  been  found  in  the 
history  of  the  Scandinavian  languages.  His  own  hypothesis  is  certainly 
much  more  attractive.  He  believes  that  the  ending  of  the  second  sin- 
gular first  influenced  the  second  plural,  just  as  in  Latin  the  prehistoric 
indicative  *agite  (=  ayere)  became  agitis  through  the  analogy  of  agis ; 
and  that  the  -s  afterwards  superseded  the  -3  in  the  plural  generally,  and 
last  of  all  in  the  third  singular.  He  proposes  to  test  the  truth  of  this 
hypothesis  by  a  statistical  examination  of  the  three  sets  of  glosses — the 
Lindisfarne  and  the  Rushworth  glosses  on  the  gospels,  and  the  glosses 
on  the  Durham  Ritual — which  are  the  sources  of  our  knowledge  of  the 
Northumbrian  of  the  late  tenth  century.  In  each  of  these  texts  we  find 
a  curious  vacillation  between  -5  and  -s,  such  that  from  simple  inspection 
of  any  one  of  them,  without  actual  counting  of  instances,  we  could  not 

]  In  Northumbrian  MSS.  of  the  tenth  century  written  -$ ;  in  M.E.  often  -th. 


340  Reviews 

say  whether  the  writer  has  more  frequently  followed  the  older  or  the 
newer  fashion.  Mr  Holmqvist  assumes  as  a  self-evident  proposition  that 
the  relative  frequency  of  -s  will  be  greatest  in  its  oldest  function,  next 
greatest  in  the  next  oldest,  and  least  in  the  newest.  To  me  this  pro- 
position does  not  seem  at  all  self-evident.  However,  it  may  have  better 
justification  than  I  have  been  able  to  perceive ;  at  any  rate  there  is  no 
doubt  that,  if  the  author's  principle  be  valid,  his  statistics  do  afford  a 
brilliant  confirmation  of  his  (intrinsically  very  probable)  theory.  In  each 
of  the  Lindisfarne  gospels  the  percentage  of  -s  is  markedly  greater  for 
the  plural  than  for  the  third  singular,  and  also  greater  for  the  second 
plural  than  for  the  third  plural.  Further  (except  in  Mark,  where  the 
balance  is  slightly  on  the  other  side),  the  percentage  is  smaller  for  the 
third  singular  than  for  the  third  plural.  These  are  striking  results,  and 
the  actual  figures  are  even  more  telling  than  the  summary,  for  the  differ- 
ences of  percentage  are  nearly  all  very  considerable.  The  statistics  of 
the  Northumbrian  part  of  Rushworth,  and  of  the  Rushworth  Luke 
separately,  tell  the  same  story.  If  Mr  Holmqvist's  method  be  sound,  he 
has  proved  his  case ;  and  even  if  it  be  not  so,  his  new  theory  appears  much 
more  satisfactory  than  those  which  have  hitherto  been  propounded. 

The  author's  statistics  reveal  the  curious  fact  that  in  the  Lindisfarne 
Matthew  the  ending  -s  is  four  times  as  common  as  -5,  while  in  Luke  the 
proportion  is  precisely  reversed ;  in  John  the  proportion  of  -s  to  -5  is 
twice  as  great  as  in  Luke,  and  in  Mark  a  little  more  than  twice.  This 
inequality  leads  Mr  Holmqvist  to  doubt  the  truth  of  the  common  opinion 
that  the  whole  of  the  Lindisfarne  gloss  is  by  one  hand.  He  may  be  right ; 
the  question  certainly  calls  for  investigation.  But  diversity  of  authorship 
is  not  the  only  conceivable  explanation  of  the  phenomenon.  We  might 
suppose  that  the  gospels  were  glossed  in  the  order  Luke,  John,  Mark, 
Matthew ;  the  increasing  frequency  of  -s  would  then  reflect  the  growing 
currency  of  the  innovation.  Or,  again,  it  is  possible  that  the  glossator, 
being  familiar  with  both  the  flexional  forms,  may  in  the  course  of  his 
work  have  changed  his  mind  more  than  once — owing  to  change  in  his 
surroundings — on  the  question  which  of  them  was  more  suitable  for  use 
in  writing.  Moreover,  it  is  not  absolutely  certain  that  the  Lindisfarne 
glosses  were  not  copied  from  some  earlier  glossed  MS.,  or  even  from 
more  than  one.  Perhaps  the  results  of  future  inquiry  on  this  point  may 
alter  the  complexion  of  the  whole  problem. 

The  discussion  of  the  origin  of  the  ending  -s  in  tenth-century  Nor- 
thumbrian occupies  only  the  first  of  the  ten  chapters  of  which  the 
dissertation  consists.  The  interest  of  this  first  chapter  has  seemed  to 
me  to  justify  an  extended  notice.  Of  the  remainder  of  the  work,  treating 
of  the  later  history  of  -s  and  -th  in  the  present  indicative,  it  may  be 
sufficient  to  say  that  it  is  careful  and  methodical,  and  contains  much 
that  will  be  useful  to  students  of  historical  grammar.  If  Mr  Holmqvist's 
inquiries  have  not  been  very  fruitful  of  positive  general  conclusions,  that 
is  due  mainly  to  the  imperfection  of  the  accessible  evidence;  though  it 
might  have  been  better  if  he  had  not  omitted  to  deal  with  the  history 
of  the  plural  in  -en  (and  the  modern  uninflected  plural),  with  which  the 


Reviews  341 

history  of  the  other  plural  endings  is  intimately  involved.  It  is  worth 
mention  that  the  author  incidentally  gives  good  reasons  for  rejecting  the 
current  opinion  that  The  Earliest  English  Prose  Psalter  is  in  the  West 
Midland  dialect. 

Henry  Bradley. 
Oxford. 

Zum  Nebenakzent  beim  altenglischen  Nominalkoynpositum.   Von  Bruno 
Borowski.   Halle :  M.  Nieineyer.    1921.   162  pp. 

The  general  rule  for  the  accentuation  of  noun-compounds  in  Old 
English  is  that  the  principal  accent  falls  on  the  stressed  syllable  of  the 
first  component  word,  and  the  secondary  accent  on  that  of  the  second.  It 
is  generally  recognised  that  this  rule  has  important  exceptions,  and  that 
when  a  binominal  compound  receives  the  addition  of  a  third  element  its 
accentual  rhythm  usually  undergoes  change.  The  conditions  of  incidence 
of  the  secondary  accent  in  noun-compounds,  however,  have  not  hitherto 
been  fully  investigated.  Dr  Borowski's  discussion  of  the  subject  is  ex- 
traordinarily complete,  and  extends  to  various  related  problems  of  morpho- 
logy. His  inquiry  is  based  almost  wholly  on  the  phenomena  observable 
in  the  prose  texts,  such,  e.g.,  as  change  of  vowel-quality  in  unstressed 
syllables,  presence  or  absence  of  thematic  or  connecting  vowels,  contrac- 
tions, and  the  like ;  metrical  evidence  being  appealed  to  only  in  the 
second  place.  Perhaps  few  of  his  conclusions,  so  far  as  they  are  new,  are 
quite  indisputable ;  but  he  shows  a  commendable  sense  of  the  insecurity 
of  most  of  the  accessible  evidence ;  and,  in  any  case,  the  careful  collec- 
tion and  analysis  of  the  data  has  its  value.  One  of  the  most  ingenious, 
but  at  the  same  time  least  convincing  of  his  suggestions  is  that  in  pre- 
historic O.E.  the  compounds  of  those  i  stems  that  were  oxytone  in 
pre-Germanic  may  have  had  a  '  Nebenton '  on  the  i  of  the  first  element, 
as  well  as  a  stronger  '  Nebenakzent '  on  the  second  element.  The  facts 
seem  to  admit  of  a  simpler  explanation.  Another  point  that  invites 
question  is  that  the  author  assumes,  without  argument  or  answer  to 
objections,  that  -an  must  be  classed  with  -or  and  -um  as  a  heavy  ending, 
capable  of  attracting  the  secondary  accent  to  itself.  As  Dr  Borowski  is  an 
alumnus  of  Leipzig,  it  is  not  surprising  that  he  has  something  (though 
in  fact  very  little)  to  say  about  results  of  '  Schallanalyse,'  vouched  for 
by  the  usual  avrbs  e</>a.  The  attitude  of  the  Leipzig  school  on  this 
matter  is  disquieting  to  many  who  have  no  lack  of  reverence  for  one  of 
the  greatest  of  living  scholars.  Considering  the  great  difficulties  of  the 
investigation,  this  essay  contains  a  surprising  number  of  new  results 
that  are  at  least  entitled  to  respectful  consideration.  The  ability  which 
it  displays  justifies  very  high  expectations  with  regard  to  the  author's 
future  work. 

There  is  an  odd  slip  in  the  list  of  '  Corrections  and  Additions.'  The 
reader  is  bidden  to  correct  '  Plantinus-Gloss '  into  '  Plautinus-Gloss.' 
Second  thoughts  are  not  always  best ! 

Henry  Bradley. 

Oxford. 


342  Revieivs 

The  Owl  and  the  Nightingale.  Edited  with  Introduction,  Texts,  Notes, 
Translation  and  a  Glossary,  by  J.  W.  H.  Atkins.  Cambridge : 
University  Press.    1922.    xc  +  231pp.    16s. 

This  volume  is  likely  long  to  hold  the  field  as  the  most  elaborate 
edition  of  a  remarkable  poem,  and  therefore  as  a  landmark  in  English 
literary  history.  With  the  more  strictly  philological  side  of  Professor 
Atkins's  work  I  am  frankly  unable  to  deal  as  it  deserves ;  I  can  only  here 
record  an  impression  of  the  same  minute  and  conscientious  care  which  is 
traceable  in  the  rest  of  the  volume,  and  of  occasional  notes  which  are 
enlightening  even  to  the  unphilological  mind ;  e.g.  that  on  the  rhyme 
Rome — dome  (11.  745-6).  The  majority  of  readers  will  probably  be  most 
interested  in  that  which  has  most  interested  me — the  elaborate  intro- 
duction of  89  pages,  the  vocabulary,  and  the  translation  which,  for  the 
first  time,  enables  even  the  man  in  the  street  to  judge  of  the  general 
effect  of  this  poem  and  its  place  in  medieval  literature. 

Here  I  am  not  ashamed  to  confess  a  strong  sense  of  personal  en- 
lightenment. Never  having  read  the  poem  easily  and  fluently  before, 
I  had  never  done  it  justice;  and  I  have  met  others,  eager  students  of 
medieval  English  in  general,  who  found  it  difficult  to  accept  the  poem 
at  the  valuation  current  among  better-equipped  critics,  but  who  (let  us 
hope)  may  now  follow  a  similar  line  of  conversion.  Yet,  even  now,  that 
conversion  may  not  be  complete.  Professor  Ker  has  indeed  described  this 
poem  as  'the  most  miraculous  piece  of  writing... among  the  medieval 
English  books.'  Professor  Atkins  himself,  on  pp.  lxxiii,  lxxiv  and  lxxxix 
of  his  introduction,  speaks  of  it  as  'one  of  the  finest  achievements  in 
English  medieval  literature. .  .a  piece  of  art  amazingly  put  together,'  'the 
expression  of  a  unique  personality... that  the  work  gives  proof  of  genius 
as  well  as  the  highest  art  is  a  fact  that  will  be  conceded  by  all  who  know 
the  poem.'  But  we  may  ask  ourselves :  Will  these  judgments  hold  their 
ground  fifty  years  hence,  or  do  they  still  smack  of  the  enthusiasm  of  a 
comparatively  new  discovery  ?  We  would  suggest  one  simple  test ;  Pro- 
fessor Atkins  says,  coming  to  details :  '  The  arguments  are  marshalled 
in  effective  fashion,  and  the  reader  need  never  be  in  doubt  as  to  where 
the  main  issue  lies.'  But  is  this  praise  consistent  with  the  fact,  so  em- 
barrassing to  the  generality  of  students,  that  no  two  editors  have  yet 
agreed  as  to  what  exactly  either  Owl  or  Nightingale  is  driving  at  ? 
Many  readers  may  look  upon  it  as  one  of  Professor  Atkins's  best  titles  to 
our  gratitude  that  he  has  gone  far  more  fully  into  this  subject  than  his 
predecessors,  and  formulated  a  more  detailed  and  intelligible  theory  of 
the  author's  drift;  but  we  should  not  here  be  so  grateful  if  we  had  not 
a  good  deal  to  be  thankful  for.  Is  it  hypercritical  to  suggest  that,  even 
when  we  are  dealing  with  1200  a.d.,  we  must  deduct  a  good  deal  from 
the  literary  value  of  a  poem  which  tells  its  own  tale,  in  many  ways,  so 
obscurely  ?  For  there  is  no  question  here  of  inherent  metaphysical  diffi- 
culties or  heights  of  mystic  speculation ;  if  Professor  Atkins  is  right 
(and  I  think  he  is)  it  was  a  comparatively  simple  thesis  that  each  bird 
had  to  develope.    Personally,  I  rise  even  from  this  present  edition  with 


Reviews  343 

the  feeling  that  we  have  here  an  author  writing  under  the  domination 
of  literary  conventions  which  were  often  false  and  wearisome — that  a 
great  deal  of  what  is  best  in  him,  though  admirable  under  the  circum- 
stances, does  not  really  take  a  very  remarkable  place  in  the  general 
pageant  of  world-literature — in  other  words,  that  he  is  a  far  more 
interesting  figure  to  the  literary  historian  than  to  the  reader  in  search 
of  good  and  stimulating  poetry.  If  a  modern  peasant  gave  us  to-morrow 
the  modern  equivalent  of  the  cuckoo-song  or  Blow,  Northern  Wind,  we 
should  be  charmed;  if  he  gave  us  another  Owl  and  Nightingale  in 
modern  English,  would  he  secure  anything  like  the  same  success  ? 

Again,  is  the  poem  really  comparable  to  another  of  its  own  time, 
Reynard  the  Fox  ?  When  the  editor  writes  that  the  author  of  The  Owl 
and  the  Nightingale  '  has  made  use  of  popular  material,  out  of  which  was 
subsequently  to  emerge  the  great  animal  epic  of  the  Middle  Ages,'  have 
We  not  here  a  serious  anachronism  ?  We  have  evidence  that  the  Reynard 
cycle  was  popular  at  least  as  early  as  1112 ;  it  was  probably  familiar 
even  to  the  grandfather  or  great-grandfather  of  our  English  poet ;  and 
I  cannot  but  think,  even  after  the  great  help  which  Professor  Atkins  has 
given  us,  that  the  greater  popularity  of  Reynard  is  in  rough  proportion 
to  its  greater  literary  merit. 

G.  G.  Coulton. 

Cambridge. 


The  Tragedy  of  Sir  John  Van  Olden  Bamavelt.  Edited  by  Wilhelmina 
P.  Frijlinck.  Amsterdam  :  H.  G.  van  Dorssen;  London:  H.  Milford. 
8vo.     1922.     clx  +  119pp.     7s.  6d. 

This  valuable  edition  of  a  fine  play  first  brought  to  light  by  Mr  A. 
H.  Bullen  is  a  doctoral  dissertation  of  the  University  of  Amsterdam.  It 
aims  at  giving  an  exact  reproduction  of  the  MS.  (B.M.  Add.  18,653)  and 
includes  the  many  passages  which  Sir  George  Buc  caused  to  be  deleted. 
These  were  not  given  in  Mr  Bullen's  edition.  In  a  very  full  Introduction 
the  editor  discusses  the  date  and  stage-history  of  the  play,  its  sources 
(including  some  now  pointed  out  for  the  first  time),  the  distribution  of 
the  scenes  between  Fletcher  and  Massinger  to  whom  the  authorship  has 
been  given  by  pretty  general  agreement,  the  play's  place  in  dramatic 
history,  its  value  from  an  aesthetic  and  an  historical  point  of  view,  the 
translations  which  have  been  made  of  it,  etc. 

Miss  Frijlinck  gives  to  Massinger  Act  I,  Scs.  1,  2,  Act  II,  Sc.  1,  Act  in, 
Scs.  2,  5,  Act  iv,  Scs.  4,  5,  Act  v,  Sc.  1  (except  11.  2659-2699),  the  rest 
to  Fletcher,  except  Act  ill,  Sc.  3,  which  she  thinks  may  be  by  a  third 
hand.  This  distribution  agrees  in  the  main  with  that  arrived  at  by  other 
critics. 

Some  observations  of  my  own,  so  far  as  they  go,  also  confirm  it.  I 
made  a  list  of  lines  with  a  heavy  hypermetrical  syllable  (e.g.  1.  490 :  '  I 
dare  not  terme  them  equall  and  but  waigh  well ').  Such  examples  are 
also  found  in  11.  1047,  1081,  1111,  1136,  1561,  1813,  2004,  2907.  All 
these  lines  fall  into  scenes  assigned  to  Fletcher.    I  also  noted  cases  in 


344  Reviews 

which  a  word  in  -tion  has  this  termination  a  dissyllable  in  a  medial 
position  (e.g.  1.  115:  'what  action  of  his  renownd  in  which').  Such 
examples  are  also  found  in  11.  646,  2102,  2223,  2246,  2613.  All  these 
lines  fall  into  scenes  assigned  to  Massinger.  The  word  '  turnop '  is  used 
in  11.  848,  1472,  2844,  'man'  (verb)  in  11.  456,  1850,  the  word  'shot' 
=  'aimed'  in  11.  365,  1009.   All  these  lines  are  assigned  to  Fletcher. 

Miss  Frijlinck's  Notes  are  too  much  devoted  to  illustrating  common 
Elizabethan  expressions,  and  often  ignore  real  difficulties  of  the  text.  I 
add  notes  on  a  few  lines. 

1.  162.    'as  I  vse  this,  I  waigh  you.'   Query,  'as  I  vse,  thus'  etc. 

1.  212.  '  Pagan '  = '  whore.'  The  N.E.D.  quotes  two  examples  of  this  use,  one  from 
Shakespeare  and  one  from  Massinger.    The  present  line  is  assigned  to  Massinger. 

1.  343.  This  line  seems  to  require  the  addition  of  the  word  '  sencibly,'  whatever 
becomes  of  the  next. 

1.  607.  The  form  ' Shellains '  = ' shellums '  ('schema')  prepares  us  to  find  other 
misreadings  in  the  MS. 

1.  725.    'vnto  this  [g...t]  height.'   The  missing  word  seems  to  be  'giant.' 

I.  727.    '  this  popular  S[ar]ke.'   The  word  is  probably  '  Snake,'  not  '  Sharke.' 

II.  807,  808.  'theis  new  Arminians  theis  hissing  tosts.'  I  doubt  if  the  word 
'  tosts '  contains  any  imputation  of  drunkenness.  I  think  it  only  suggests  heat.  The 
Arminians  are  firebrands.  Cp.  1.  1010,  and  '  Hotte  as  a  toste'  quoted  in  the  N.E.D. 
from  Heywood's  Proverbs. 

1.  821.  The  reference  in  '  long  tayles'  is  probably  to  the  dress  of  English  ladies, 
not  to  their  talk.    Cp.  N.E.D.  '  tail '  i,  3. 

1.  849.  To  the  English  gentlewoman  'conjure  up'  suggests  conjuring  up  the 
devil. 

I.  957.    '  heavy  Marches.'   Query,  '  heavy  Marchers.' 

II.  1017-1020.  The  sense  of  these  lines  is  not  made  any  clearer  by  Miss  Frijlinck's 
paraphrase. 

1.1200.    'but  would.'   Query,  ' but  t'would.' 

1.  1260.    'prepard.'   Query,  'prepare.' 

1.  1476.    'from.'    Query,  'for.' 

1.  1540.  'ere  I  turne  Slave  to  stick  their gawdy  triumphes.'  Query,  'slick.'  The 
passages  quoted  in  favour  of  '  stick '  are  not  convincing,  nor  do  1  find  any  better 
support  for  'stick'  in  the  N.E.D. 

1.  1603.  Miss  Frijlinck's  explanation  of  'fry'  is  clearly  right.  In  the  light  of 
1.  1603  one  may  even  wonder  if  it  is  not  a  corruption  of  '  fire,'  and  was  first  written 
'  frie.'   One  would  expect  Grotius'  words  to  be  quoted  unchanged. 

1.  1667.  'a  gowne  man'  surely='a  civilian.'  See  N.E.D.  under  'gownsman.' 
The  note  explains  'gowne'  as  =  ' gone.' 

1.1777.    'Cast.'   Obviously,  '  Cart.' 

1.  1796.  'has  mett  his  preist'  =  'has  met  his  deathsman,'  'has  only  a  minute  or 
two  to  live.'  The  N.E.D.  quotes  Kyd,  Span.  Trag.:  '  Who  first  laies  hand  on  me  He 
be  his  Priest.' 

1.  1835.    'goes.'   Query,  'saies.' 

1.1847.    'nor.'   Obviously, ' not.' 

1.  1856.    '  broke  the  beds  of  Mutenies.'   Query,  '  the  bands.' 

1.  2278.  '  freely  to  be  dischargd.'  Perhaps  not  '  to  be  paid '  but  '  to  be  remitted 
or  excused.' 

1.  2324.  Miss  Frijlinck  means  apparently  to  say  that '  to'  (not  'of')  ought  to  be 
'  by.'    Perhaps  'to '  may  stand  if  it  is  taken  with  '  warranted.' 

1.  2452.    It  seems  as  if  a  line  was  missing  after  this  line  and  another  after  2454. 

I.  2683.    The  word  '  Sir '  seems  to  belong  to  the  next  speech. 

II.  2686,  2687.  'more  I  beseech  yo1'  hono1'8.  Or.  take  yor  pleasure.'  Query,  'now  I 
beseech  yor  hono™  take  yor  pleasure.' 

11.  2726,  2727.    '  whip  your  Edipoll  as  clenly  of  and  set  it  on  againe ' — '  Edipoll ' 


Reviews  345 

is  a  humorous  substitution  for  'poll.'  I  see  no  reason  for  altering  it  to  '  Dodipoll.' 
1  Edipol '  was  familiar  to  all  who  knew  Plautus. 

11.  2738,  2739.  '  Pompeis  head.  Har.  the  head  of  a  Pumpion.'  There  is  the  same 
play  on  words  in  Love's  Labours  Lost,  v,  2,  503,  507. 

1.  2750.    '  a  hanging  cause,'  'a  cause  long  pendent.' 

Miss  Frijlinck  makes  a  slip  in  the  Introduction,  p.  Ixxii,  when,  com- 
menting on  11.  655,  656 :  '  when  the  hot  Lyons  breath  burnes  vp  the 
feildes,'  she  calls  it  '  a  striking  metaphor  taken  from  animal  life.'  The 
Lion  in  question  is  of  course  the  constellation  Leo  which  the  sun  enters 
about  July  22. 

The  Introduction,  as  is  natural  in  an  English  book  produced  abroad, 
has  a  certain  number  of  misprints  or  misspellings.  This  need  not,  how- 
ever, shake  our  faith  in  the  accuracy  of  the  text,  especially  as  in  this  the 
editor  has  had  the  invaluable  co-operation  of  Dr  W.  W.  Greg. 

G.  C.  Moore  Smith. 

Sheffield. 


The  Influence  of  Milton  on  English  Poetry.  By  Raymond  Dexter 
Havens.  Cambridge,  Mass. :  Harvard  University  Press ;  London  : 
H.  Milford.    1922.    8vo.   xii+722pp.   37s. 

One  can  well  believe  that  Professor  Havens  has  spent  fifteen  years 
of  his  life,  even  with  the  help  of  a  skilled  assistant  for  six  years  of  the 
time,  over  this  monumental  work.  The  book  extends  to  722  pp.  and 
implies  an  amount  of  reading  that  is  quite  prodigious.  The  author 
speaks  of  his  work  with  a  rare  modesty,  but  it  is  a  most  valuable  con- 
tribution to  the  history  of  our  literature  in  the  eighteenth  century. 
Part  I  deals  with  the  attitude  of  the  eighteenth  century  towards 
Milton  :  Parts  II  and  III  to  the  influence  exerted  on  poetry  by  Paradise 
Lost  and  the  shorter  poems.  More  than  a  hundred  closely-printed  pages 
are  then  given  to  Appendices  (A :  Parallel  passages  in  Pope,  Thomson, 
Young,  T.  Warton,  Cowper,  Wordsworth,  Keats,  which  suggest  borrow- 
ing from  Milton;  B:  Poems  in  Non-Miltonic  blank  verse  1667-1750; 
C :  Poems  descriptive  of  places,  not  known  to  be  Miltonic ;  D :  Rimed 
technical  treatises)  and  Bibliographies  (I — III  of  poems  influenced  by 
Milton's  various  works,  IV  of  eighteenth  century  sonnets).  These 
Appendices  and  Bibliographies  are  extraordinarily  valuable.  The  main 
part  of  the  book  is  not  exactly  light  reading :  too  many  works  of  small 
value  are  introduced  to  us  as  having  some  echoes  of  Milton's  language : 
it  is  however  characterised  by  sound  judgment  and  is  in  excellent 
English  (if  we  can  tolerate  an  occasional  Americanism  such  as  '  aside 
from,'  '  back  of,'  'almost  none,'  'back  and  forth,'  'belongs  with,'  'rooming 
together,'  '  a  college  youth ').  The  tone  is  curiously  cool :  if  Dr  Havens 
was  ever  fired  with  enthusiasm  for  his  author,  the  feeling  seems  to  have 
passed :  '  The  wide-spread  enthusiasm  for  Milton's  early  productions 
and  the  frequent  use  made  of  them  seem  strange  to  most  of  us  who 
enjoy  the  poems,  but  without  rapture'  (p.  436).  But  those  literary 
students  who  make  their  way  through  this  great  volume  will  be  well 


346  B,eviews 

rewarded.  It  will  probably  be  a  surprise  to  them  to  find  that  Pope 
shows  a  knowledge  of  every  one  of  Milton's  poetical  works  which  is  not 
to  be  paralleled  in  his  age :  that  the  early  eighteenth  century  which 
read  and  imitated  Paradise  Lost  was  strangely  ignorant  and  unapprecia- 
tive  of  the  minor  poems  :  that  Paradise  Lost  owed  much  of  its  vogue  to 
its  religious  and  biblical  character :  that  the  Graveyard  School  of  Poetry 
sprang  into  existence  with  no  debt  to  II  Penseroso :  that  Sonnets  were 
produced  in  vast  numbers  between  the  time  of  T.  Warton  and  that  of 
Bowles.  Dr  Havens'  analysis  of  the  late  eighteenth  century  schools  of 
sonneteering,  and  especially  of  the  sonnets  of  Bowles,  Coleridge,  Lamb 
and  Wordsworth,  is  perhaps  the  strongest  part  of  his  book.  He  shows 
most  strikingly  how  Wordsworth's  Sonnets  of  Liberty  and  Independence 
stood  out  from  all  that  had  gone  before  them. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  while  Dr  Havens  treats  his  set  subject  ex- 
haustively, he  goes  far  outside  it  and  illuminates  many  places  that  have 
lain  in  darkness.  One  may  regret  that  on  p.  546  he  prints  a  modern 
sonnet,  the  only  such  sonnet  that  he  does  print,  which  if  it  could  ever 
have  been  excused  as  war-propaganda,  ought  by  this  time  to  have  been 
consigned  to  oblivion. 

G.  C.  Moore  Smith. 

Sheffield. 


L'CEuvre  de  Swinburne.   Par  Paul  de  Reul.    Brussels:  Robert  Sand; 
London:  H.  Milford.    1922.    Svo.    502  pp.    15s. 

The  early  fame  of  Swinburne  was  followed,  as  is  well  known,  by  a 
period  of  steadily  declining  public  interest.  This  is  the  probable  ex- 
planation of  the  rarity  and  general  slightness  of  the  critical  studies 
hitherto  devoted  to  one  of  the  most  astonishing  literary  apparitions  of 
our  time.  Swinburne,  among  the  most  precocious  of  modern  poets, 
comparatively  early  in  his  career  gave  the  impression  that  he  had  no 
more  to  say,  and  that  the  significance  of  what  he  had  said  already  was 
exhausted;  even  his  unfailingly  eloquent  music  went  to  a  tune  which 
everyone  imagined  he  knew  by  heart.  It  made  little  difference  that 
most  of  the  old  grounds  of  offence  had  disappeared.  From  1870  he  left 
behind  him,  as  Mazzini  bade  him,  the  love-frenzy  of  the  first  Poems  and 
Ballads;  in  poetic  method  Tristram  of  Lyonesse  is  poles  apart  from 
Anactoria  or  Laus  Veneris.  If  he  remained  a  republican,  and  was  con- 
fident that  his  Arthurian  Story  of  Balen  had  '  licked  the  Mort  a" Albert,' 
he  no  longer  chastised  his  country;  and  the  stern  reproaches  of  Perinde 
ac  Cadaver  had  given  place  to  the  rabid  quasi-patriotism  of  his  Boer 
War  Sonnets.  In  spite  of  all  this,  while  Meredith,  his  contemporary, 
and  Browning,  his  senior  by  a  quarter  of  a  century,  continued  to  chal- 
lenge keen  comment  and  discussion,  Swinburne's  position  was  that  of 
one  who  no  longer  presented  any  critical  problem,  a  man  of  genius 
certainly,  but  one  whose  formula  had  long  been  found. 

We  do  not  forget  the  four  or  five  short  studies,  by  Woodberry,  Mr 
Drinkwater,  and  some  others,  which  have  appeared  since  Swinburne's 


Reviews  347 

death.  But  it  remains  the  distinction  of  a  Brussels  professor  to  have 
produced  the  first  comprehensive  and  penetrating  study  on  an  adequate 
scale.  M.  Paul  de  Reul  brings  to  his  task  both  the  trained  method,  the 
critical  insight,  and  the  power  and  felicity  of  exposition  to  which  a 
series  of  French  exponents  of  our  modern  poets  have  accustomed  us.  In 
this  case  Swinburne's  well-known  affinities  and  affiliations  to  certain 
French  poets  made  an  obvious  opportunity  for  a  French  critic,  and  still 
more  for  one  whose  French  culture  is  free  from  the  bias  of  French 
nationality.  It  is  easy  to  exaggerate  the  degree  of  real  affinity  which 
underlay  Swinburne's  rapturous  exaltation  of  Hugo.  M.  de  Reul  well 
points  out  that  their  common  traits  are  of  a  kind  at  once  most  obvious 
and  least  imitable — the  gift  of  verse-music  which  made  both  of  them 
disdain  vers  libre,  and  accept,  transform  and  regenerate  the  traditional 
metres,  and  the  mastery  of  speech  which  brought  upon  both  the  charge 
of  having  more  words  than  ideas.  And  the  younger  and  more  modest 
of  the  two  felt  the  spell  of  their  common  endowment.  In  the  '  modesty ' 
of  Swinburne  his  critic  finds  the  sign  of  a  basic  difference  of  character : 
'Hugo  confronts  the  universe,  projects  his  shadow  on  the  infinite,... 
plays  consciously  the  Triage  or  votes!  Hugo  pontifie,  Swinburne  s'aban- 
donne;  Swinburne's  gift  of  veneration  strikes  deeper,  in  fact,  than  his 
iconoclasm.  Nor  did  he,  even  in  his  towering  flights  of  anti-theologism, 
strike  the  note  of  sham  sublimity  which  brought  upon  Hugo  the  cruel 
allusion  to  '  Jocrisse  en  Patmos.' 

We  can  only  refer  to  the  excellent  pages  devoted  to  vindicating 
Swinburne's  stylistic  independence.  In  style  and  verse,  when  all  is 
said,  Swinburne  goes  his  own  way,  not  Hugo's.  We  find  amplification, 
rhapsodic  enumeration,  but  not  the  'alternate  bursts  of  light  and 
darkness,'  which  betoken  Hugo.  '  La  phrase  de  Victor  Hugo  se  decoupe 
en  gestes  larges,  libres,  et  successifs;  la  phrase  periodique  de  Swinburne 
embrasse  tout  ce  qu'y  jette  la  passion  du  moment.'  And  M.  de  Reul  adds 
the  important  and  far-reaching  psychological  observation  that  Hugo's 
imagination  was  visual,  Swinburne's  auditory.  One  outer  sign  of  this 
was  their  different  habits  of  composition.  Hugo  did  not  recite  his 
verses,  but  wrote  them,  '  and  often  illustrated  them  on  the  margin  as 
if  he  needed  to  fix  the  image  in  order  to  find  the  corresponding  word. 
Swinburne... hated  writing.'  Yet  one  may  question  whether  Hugo  had 
not  the  auditory  imagination  too,  certainly  in  larger  measure  than 
Swinburne  had  the  visual;  his  grandest  passages  master  us  by  their 
orchestration  and  their  visionary  splendour  at  once. 

M.  de  Reul  honours  Swinburne,  as  becomes  a  good  critic,  'on  this 
side  idolatry.'  And  through  the  greater  part  of  his  book  he  is  occupied 
with  interpreting,  step  by  step,  the  entire  work  of  the  poet  for  foreign 
readers,  to  whom  it  presents  obvious  difficulties.  But  he  has  his  quarrel 
with  some  English  preconceptions  (not  to  call  them  prejudices)  too,  and 
he  brings  to  bear  upon  them  a  mastery  of  the  poet's  text  which  most 
of  us  may  envy.  He  qualifies,  in  particular,  with  much  force,  the  current 
dogma  that  Swinburne  had  '  few  ideas.'  So,  again,  even  Morris  declared 
that  Swinburne's  poetry  had  always  seemed  to  him  founded  '  more  upon 


348  Reviews 

literature  than  on  nature.'  And  how  plausible  this  is  when  we  find  it 
as  hard  to  get  away  from  the  signs  of  his  immense  literary  culture,  as 
from  Milton's  ?  Yet  M.  de  Reul  justly  insists  that  Swinburne's  native 
temperament  was  as  potent  as  his  culture.  Under  certain  conditions,  as 
in  the  presence  of  sea  and  sky,  this  is  unmistakable,  and  here  his 
feeling  is  '  more  direct  and  more  instinctive  than  in  any  other  poet  that 
we  know.'  But  even  elsewhere  our  critic  finds  'a  primitive  and  elemental 
lyric  energy  under  the  mass  of  adventitious  vegetation.'  At  most  we 
may  demur  that  this  image  puts  the  antithesis  too  crudely,  since  we 
never  catch  the  '  lyric  energy '  really  detaching  itself  from  the  cultured 
rhythms  which  it  uses  or  transforms. 

Nor  will  he  allow  that  there  is  anything  '  un-English '  in  Swinburne. 
Foreign  critics  have  in  the  past  sometimes  attenuated  our  national 
heritage;  they  have  made  Shakespeare  German,  and  Chaucer  French. 
But  in  a  striking  volume  recently  published,  M.  L.  Cazamian  declared 
Shelley  (whose  John  Bull  lineage  might  well  be  in  doubt)  to  be  not 
only  English  but  specifically  '  the  English  Romantic'  And  with  equal 
emphasis  M.  de  Reul  protests  against  the  injustice  done  to  the  richness 
of  English  culture  by  '  imprisoning  it  in  a  puritan  and  bourgeois  tradi- 
tion which  individuals  of  genius  always  found  strength  and  will  to  break 
through.'  Not,  it  should  be  noted,  that  our  critic's  line  is  by  any  means, 
at  bottom,  to  traverse  the  '  Puritan '  point  of  view.  His  admirable  dis- 
cussion of  the  First  Series  of  Poems  and  Ballads  strikes  deeper  than 
that.  He  points  out  how  small  is  the  proportion  of  '  sensual '  writing  in 
the  immensely  varied  poetry  of  this  collection,  how  short-lived  this 
interest  was  in  Swinburne,  and  how  frequently  the  sensual  motives  are 
transcended  in  the  same  poem,  as  when  Sappho's  love  frenzy  in  Anactoria 
passes,  like  the  poet's  grief  in  Adonais,  into  a  vision  of  pantheist 
immortality. 

We  can  only  notice  in  one  word  M.  de  Reul's  fascinating  account  of 
his  visit  to  Swinburne,  in  April  1907.  It  has  a  certain  definite  biographi- 
cal interest  on  account  of  some  reported  sayings  of  the  poet's,  as  also, 
perhaps,  in  view  of  his  impression,  decidedly  expressed,  that  Maupassant, 
Mr  Gosse,  and  others,  have  exaggerated  his  'physical  singularity/ 
A  criticism  ascribed  to  Mr  Gosse  (p.  125),  which  excited  Swinburne's  huge 
amusement,  apparently  rests  upon  error.  Throughout  this  interview  the 
hero-worshipper  and  the  punctilious  scholarly  observer  are  in  continuous 
alliance,  at  times  with  comical  effect,  as  when  the  record  of  Swinburne's 
French  talk  is  interrupted  by  a  bracketed  note  that  he  pronounced  fait 
'  with  an  English  diphthong.'  But  the  alliance  is  typical  of  the  organic 
union  of  poetic  imagination  and  insight  with  scientific  precision  and 
method  in  this  notable  Belgian  contribution  to  our  literary  history.  Let 
us  add  as  illustration  of  the  latter,  that  (in  honourable  contrast  with 
much  French  work  of  our  time)  it  is  defaced  by  no  trace  of  international 
rancour.    Goethe  is  adduced  more  than  once  with  illuminating  effect. 

C.  H.  Herford. 

Manchester. 


Reviews  349 

Essays  and  Studies  by  Members  of  the  English  Association.  Volume  vni. 
Collected  by  G.  C.  Moore  Smith.  Oxford  :  Clarendon  Press.  1922. 
8vo.    167  pp.    7*.  6d. 

The  eighth  volume  of  Essays  and  Studies  equals  its  predecessors  in 
quality,  and  perhaps  surpasses  them  in  variety  of  its  material.  It  indi- 
cates very  finely  the  many-sidedness  of  what  is  comprehensively  called 
the  study  of  '  English.'  Dr  Grundy  provides  a  most  useful  glossary  of  the 
special  senses  of  some  sixty-one  terms  of  frequent  occurrence  in  Anglo- 
Saxon  charters,  and  the  growing  band  of  place-name  hunters  will  be 
most  grateful  for  it :  Mr  Cowling  edits  the  fifteenth  century  mock-heroic 
Felon  Sew,  with  a  full  textual,  literary  and  historical  apparatus ;  whilst 
Dr  McKerrow  discusses  English  Grammar  and  Grammars  in  the  light 
of  common  sense  and  reason.  Indeed,  of  this  group  of  what  we  may  call 
the  philological  contributions,  Dr  McKerrow's  paper  is  the  most  generally 
useful.  If  every  teacher  of  English  would  read  it,  there  would  be  an  end 
to  the  stupid  prejudice  against  the  teaching  of  grammar  which  is  ruining 
our  English  studies  from  the  bottom  upwards.  The  other  four  essays  are 
concerned  with  literature ;  again  however  they  illustrate  the  variety  of 
the  interests  involved,  and  thus  reveal  the  skill  with  which  the  editor 
has  planned  the  volume.  Professor  Ker  briefly  discusses  the  literary 
mind  of  Hazlitt,  and  it  is  enough  to  say  that  he  does  it  as  only  he  can 
do  it.  Mr  Hamilton  Thompson  indicates  the  chief  lines  which  have  been 
pursued  by  mystical  poets  in  English  verse,  and  he  does  so  very  con- 
siderably better  than  has  been  done  before,  mainly  because  his  knowledge 
of  medieval  literature  and  theology  gives  him  the  right  starting  point : 
particularly  valuable  is  his  treatment  of  the  religious  lyrists  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  and  most  of  all,  his  putting  of  the  sensuous  imagery  of 
Crashaw  in  its  right  light.  Dr  Smart's  essay  on  Tragedy  is  the  most 
ambitious  paper  in  the  volume,  and  perhaps  because  of  that,  the  least 
satisfactory.  It  cannot  of  course  be  expected  that  in  such  brief  space  he 
can  convince  us  that  he  has  plumbed  the  depths  of  the  profoundest  of 
all  aesthetic  enquiries,  particularly  as  his  point  of  view  is  in  many  ways 
heterodox.  Brevity  precludes  fine  distinctions ;  yet  they  may  be  vital. 
Dr  Smart  seems  to  us  to  confuse  tragedy  and  the  tragic :  but  whether 
his  identification  of  the  two  is  a  confusion  or  a  set  purpose,  it  appears 
to  involve  the  criticism  of  Aristotle,  and  to  a  less  extent,  of  Hegel  from 
standpoints  not  really  relevant  to  their  propositions.  The  acquired  bias 
goes  further,  and  prevents  a  fair  understanding  of  Aristotle's  argument, 
as  for  instance,  his  opposition  to  the  saint  as  hero  of  tragedy.  Yet 
Dr  Smart's  paper  has  substantial  value :  he  is  wise,  if  not  merciful,  on 
the  German  criticism  of  Shakespeare  in  the  nineteenth  century.  And 
doubtless,  it  is  the  restricted  space  allotted  to  his  essay  which  gives  the 
impression  that  Dr  Smart  thinks  of  Shakespeare,  not  as  a  growing  mind, 
but  as  a  fixed  system.  The  best  paper  in  the  volume  is  Professor  Her- 
ford's  '  Romanticism  in  the  Modern  World ' :  it  is  a  cause  in  which  he 
writes  with  conviction,  and  the  recent  American  attacks  on  the  strong- 
holds of  romance  find  him  its  most  adequately  equipped  and  most  fervent 

m.l.r.  xviii.  23 


350  Reviews 

defender.  Not  that  his  victory  is  due  to  his  fervour  alone  :  yet  by  it,  his 
reason  becomes  '  impassioned/  and  his  logic  is  elevated  to  a  plane  which 
enables  it  to  grapple,  as  his  opponents  have  not  grappled,  with  the 
ultimate  issues  of  romance. 

H.  B.  Charlton. 
Manchester. 

Madame  de  La  Fayette.   Sa  vie  et  ses  Oeuvres.   Par  H.  Ashton.    Cam- 
bridge: University  Press.    1922.    viii  +  292pp.    25s. 

It  is  hard  to  realize  that  this  judicious  and  important  study,  written 
in  excellent  and  idiomatic  French,  is  the  work  of  a  foreigner;  the  author 
is  in  any  case  a  '  Francais  de  formation  savante.'  In  the  first  of  the  two 
short  prefaces,  dated  April,  1914,  when  the  book  was  being  printed  in 
Belgium,  Dr  Ashton  disclaims  having  even  attempted  to  fulfil  the  pro- 
mise of  the  title,  which  indicates  rather  what  he  had  originally  intended 
than  what  he  had  been  able  to  accomplish.  He  calls  it  a  collection  of 
materials  rather  than  a  finished  literary  study.  There  is  however  much 
new  matter,  which  has  been  carefully  collected  and  sifted,  and  which 
will  be  of  great  value  to  all  working  in  the  same  ground.  The  student 
of  the  Sorbonne  and  the  reader  in  the  great  French  libraries  betrays 
himself  at  every  turn,  and  we  learn  incidentally  that  it  was  the  lectures 
of  M.  Chamard,  professeur  a  la  Faculte  des  Lettres,  Paris,  himself  at 
work  on  the  same  subject,  who  inspired  the  original  idea  of  the  study. 

In  the  Life  much  had  to  be  done  afresh.  The  book  of  M.  Hausson- 
ville  (1896)  was  a  guide,  but  the  sources  had  not  been  sufficiently 
indicated,  and  were  not  easy  to  discover.  Much  still  remains  uncertain ; 
considerable  additions  however  have  been  made  in  this  work  to  our 
knowledge  of  Madame  de  La  Fayette's  life  through  the  study  of  such 
documents  as  the  collection  of  her  letters,  mostly  addressed  to  Menage, 
belonging  to  the  late  M.  Feuillet  de  Conches. 

It  seems  clear  from  extracts  from  the  baptismal  registers  of  Saint 
Sulpice,  the  originals  of  which  perished  in  the  Commune,  that  Madame 
de  La  Fayette  was  born  in  1634,  and  in  the  parish  of  Saint  Sulpice, 
pace  M.  Doumic,  who  in  his  Histoire  de  la  Litterature  Francaise,  24th 
edition,  p.  293,  gives  the  place  as  Havre.  The  father  of  Madame  de  La 
Fayette,  M.  de  La  Vergne,  subsequently  held  a  command  at  Havre,  and 
this  fact  appears  to  have  been  the  source  of  the  mistake,  which  is  found 
in  other  works.  The  home  into  which  Marie-Madeleine  Pioche  de  La 
Vergne  was  born,  and  in  which  she  lived  for  the  greater  part  of  her  life, 
was  a  house  at  the  corner  of  the  rue  Ferou  and  the  rue  de  Vaugirard, 
near  then,  as  it  is  now,  to  the  public  gardens  of  the  Luxembourg,  in  the 
part  of  the  Quartier  Saint  Germain  which  was  the  Passy  of  the  seven- 
teenth century.  Here  it  was  that  the  life-long  friendship  with  Menage 
was  begun,  at  first  through  the  great  man's  lessons,  and  we  learn  that 
so  great  was  her  intuitive  appreciation  of  poetry  that,  three  months 
after  beginning  Latin,  she  could  correct  Menage  and  Rapin  in  their  in- 
terpretations :  •  Vous  n'y  entendez  rien  ni  Tun  ni  l'autre.'   Yet  we  see 


Reviews  351 

from  her  letters,  the  original  spelling  of  which  is  carefully  preserved, 
that  she  never  quite  mastered  the  mysteries  of  French  orthography,  and 
would  probably  have  made  Philaminte  and  Belise  shudder.  But  higher 
education  was  looked  askance  at  in  society,  and  Madame  de  La  Fayette 
says  herself '  qu'elle  n'avoit  pas  connu  de  gens  plus  malhonetes  (sic)  que 
les  savans.'  Her  greatest  endowment,  at  least  according  to  her  gallant 
tutor,  seems  to  have  been  that  'divine  raison'  of  which  we  so  often  hear. 

Her  marriage  follows  with  a  '  mari  anodin '  of  excellent  family,  who 
seems  to  have  made  '  piteuse  mine '  the  first  time  he  presented  himself 
as  a  pretendu,  and  who  remains  a  somewhat  enigmatic  figure,  in  spite  of 
some  new  light  as  to  his  family  and  the  date  of  his  death.  (A  propos  of 
French  marriages  of  the  period,  Dr  Ashton  reminds  us  of  the  story  of 
the  young  man,  son  of  the  president  of  the  Dijon  Parliament,  who,  on 
venturing  to  enquire  of  his  father :  '  Est-il  vrai,  mon  pere,  que  vous  me 
voulez  marier  a  Mile  une  telle  ? '  received  the  wise  reply :  '  Mon  fils, 
melez-vous  de  vos  affaires.') 

The  life  that  ensued  as  wife  and  mother,  Paris  hostess,  dame  d'hon- 
neur  to  Henriette  d'Angleterre,  authoress  sub  rosa,  diplomat  (as  shown 
by  the  discovery  of  the  Turin  letters,  several  of  which  are  given  in  the 
text  and  in  an  appendix),  and  friend,  is  described  with  much  fresh 
detail.  The  letters  are  carefully  utilized ;  some  of  them  more  than  once, 
for  instance  the  one  addressed  to  Madame  de  Sabl6  after  a  first  perusal 
of  La  Rochefoucauld's  Maocimes :  '  Ha,  Madame  !  quelle  corruption  il  faut 
avoir  dans  l'esprit  et  dans  le  coeur  pour  estre  capable  d'imaginer  tout 
cela ! '  We  are  reminded  how  the  writer  undertook  to  reform  the  heart 
of  the  gloomy  pessimist,  and  how  he  in  return  '  lui  donna  de  l'esprit,' 
which  she  did  not  seem  to  lack.  This  extraordinary  friendship  is  treated 
with  delicacy  and  penetration,  on  the  lines  suggested  by  Sainte-Beuve. 
The  two  had  much  in  common,  and  became  indispensable  to  each  other. 
The  comment  of  Mile  de  Scudery  is  quoted :  '  La  crainte  de  Dieu  de 
part  et  d'autre,  et  peut-etre  aussi  la  politique,  a  coupe  les  ailes  a  l'amour. 
Elle  est  sa  favorite  et  sa  premiere  amie.'  Other  habitues  of  the  salon 
and  of  the  '  samedis '  of  Madame  de  La  Fayette  are  noted  :  Conde  and  his 
son  '  M.  le  Due,'  Racine,  Boileau,  probably  Bossuet,  Perrault,  and  always 
Madame  de  Sevigne.  We  are  made  to  see  the  hostess  leading  the 
polished  conversation  on  the  lines  of  the  'guides  mondains,'  yet  with  her 
own  special  charm,  'aimable  et  spirituelle,  d'un  esprit  enjoue,  d'un  abord 
agreable... civile,  obligeante,  et  un  peu  railleuse.' 

When  we  turn  to  the  study  of  the  works  of  Madame  de  La  Fayette, 
Ave  find  the  close  connection  with  her  life  insisted  upon.  The  Portrait 
was  much  in  vogue,  even  in  comedies  and  sermons  (Bourdaloue  and 
even  Bossuet),  and  to  study  thus  '  l'interieur  des  gens '  was  an  excellent 
apprenticeship  for  the  young  novelist.  Her  description  of  Madame  de 
Sevigne  in  the  collection  by  Segrais  had  sufficient  success  to  encourage 
her ;  while  her  style  was  due  to  her  solid  education,  her  conversational 
tone  had  been  acquired  by  her  social  experience.  Dr  Ashton  is  at  pains 
to  show  that,  though  she  knew  the  habitue's  of  the  Hotel  de  Rambouillet, 
she  laughed  at  'preciosite,'  and  with  all  her  taste  for  reading  and  reason- 

23-2 


352  Reviews 

ing  power,  had  a  certain  '  pudeur  sur  la  science '  which  prevented  her 
acknowledging  her  own  works,  as  indeed  it  behoved  a  dame  du  monde. 

With  the  exception  of  Za'ide,  the  subject  of  all  Madame  de  La 
Fayette's  works  is  the  same :  a  woman,  married  for  family  reasons  to  a 
man  she  does  not  love,  has  her  affections  engaged  by  another,  and  is 
torn  by  the  conflict  between  desire  and  duty.  (It  is  the  subject  of 
Corneille's  Polyeucte  and  of  much  of  Racine's  work.)  Like  the  other 
classics  she  makes  the  plot  natural  by  giving  it  a  general  application,  at 
the  same  time  introducing  individual  touches  drawn  from  her  own  ex- 
perience. Her  world  is  not  our  world,  but  human  hearts  are  the  same 
as  those  which  she  analysed,  and  the  moral  laws  which  confronted  them 
confront  us.  Following  Descartes,  she  shows  the  passions,  as  it  were, 
independent  of  the  individual  that  suffers  them.  Above  all,  she  is  an 
artist,  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  idealism  wrhich  is  expressed  in  all  the 
art  of  her  time ;  '  de  tres  haute  qualite  intellectuelle,'  says  M.  Lanson, 
'  sans  puissance  artistique.'  But  in  taste  which  in  its  highest  form  is 
genius,  in  her  instinct  for  '  mesure,'  in  her  intuition  and  power  of  clear 
expression  she  touches  the  heights  of  art. 

With  respect  to  the  literary  ancestry  of  La  Princesse  de  Montpensier, 
though  it  is  certainly  the  first  psychological  'nouvelle,'  not  only  the 
romances  such  as  the  Astree,  Cyrus,  Cleopdtre,  had  prepared  the  way, 
but  Mile  de  Scudery  had  applied  the  treatment  to  real  people  in  con- 
cealed '  portraits.'  The  novelty  lay  in  the  historical  names  employed,  and 
in  the  greater  truth  to  life;  but  in  general  treatment  the  Princesse  de 
Montpensier  is  the  corollary  of  the  works  which  preceded  it.  It  has  not 
yet  the  inward  conflict  of  La  Princesse  de  Cleves,  which  it  resembles  in 
delicacy  of  style  and  in  framework. 

The  Histoire  de  Madame  Henriette  d ' Angleterre  is  also  real  romance, 
a  'roman  vecu,'  with  the  same  subject;  Madame  and  Louis  XIV, 
Madame  and  her  unworthy  husband,  Madame  and  Guiche.  Begun  at 
the  desire  of  the  young  Duchess,  it  terminates  abruptly  with  her  tragic 
death,  more  movingly  told  than  even  in  Bossuet's  famous  Nuit  desastreuse. 
Did  the  rest  seem  too  frivolous  after  such  a  catastrophe  ? 

Finally,  the  treatment  of  La  Princesse  de  Cleves  offers  several  points  of 
interest.  We  could  wish  it  had  been  even  fuller.  The  sources  in  Brant6me 
are  indicated,  and  other  works  not  usually  studied  are  quoted  (e.g.  Les 
Angoisses  doulourenses  of  Helisenne),  to  show  that  La  Princesse  de  Cleves 
was  not  the  first  novel  of  this  psychological  character,  nor  the  first  to 
relate  contemporary  adventures  within  reasonable  dimensions.  But  it  is 
the  first  in  which  the  psychological  interest  is  of  more  importance  than 
the  intrigue.  We  follow  the  alternations  of  the  heroine's  feelings,  the 
conflict  not  only  between  passion  and  duty,  but  between  passion  and  the 
social  code  for  '  honnetes  gens,'  with  the  same  interest  to-day  as  readers 
of  1678  who  were  ready  to  devour  one  another  over  it.  In  a  note  on 
page  178,  the  author  records  the  triumph  of  the  book  in  1921,  when  in 
answer  to  the  question  propounded  by  the  review  Femina :  '  Quel  est  le 
plus  beau  roman  feminin  ? '  the  Princesse  de  Cleves  bore  off  the  honours 
with  591  votes,  out  of  1417  distributed  among  17  novels. 


Reviews  353 

Not  much  is  said  as  to  the  use  by  Madame  de  La  Fayette  of  history 
and  legend ;  this  has  been  left  for  others  who  are  already  at  work  on  the 
'  sources,'  her  methods  and  manner  of  using  her  documents  compared,  for 
example,  with  the  methods  of  Corneille  and  Racine.  Among  various 
points,  however,  which  are  noted  two  may  here  be  mentioned :  the  way 
in  which  the  authoress  of  the  Princesse  de  Gleves  idealizes  her  rather 
foolish  mother  in  drawing  Madame  de  Chartres ;  and  the  possible  in- 
fluence of  a  contemporary  novel  by  Madame  de  Villedieu,  Les  Desordres 
de  I' Amour.  In  this  work,  published  in  1676,  a  wife,  unfaithful  in  heart 
only,  confesses  her  weakness  to  her  husband,  who  shortly  afterwards 
leaves  her  free  by  his  death  to  follow  her  inclination.  The  most  probable 
explanation  is  that  the  two  works  had  some  common  source,  or  perhaps 
that  Madame  de  La  Fayette  had  been  indiscreet  in  speaking  of  her  book 
and  its  plot  before  its  publication. 

Mention  has  been  made  above  of  the  special  interest  attaching  to 
the  letters,  many  of  them  so  far  '  inedites.'  Dr  Ashton  speaks  of  their 
remarkable  modernity,  and  gives  Madame  de  La  Fayette  the  place  of 
the  second  French  letter-writer.  We  gather  he  is  inclined  to  put  her 
even  higher,  and  some  hope  is  held  out  that  these  letters  will  be  collected 
and  published  with  dates  before  long.  Those  relating  to  Turin,  and  the 
negotiations  with  Louis  XIV  and  his  minister  Louvois,  should  prove  of 
historical  interest.  And  all  must  share  the  regret  expressed  that  Madame 
de  La  Fayette  did  not  apparently  leave  complete  memoirs  of  the  Court 
of  her  time;  she  probably  kept  a  journal,  but  only  two  years,  1688  and 
1689,  remain  to  tantalize  us.  Though  not  meant  for  publication,  they 
are  of  high  value  for  their  observation  and  critical  judgment.  Are  we  to 
blame  her  son,  the  Abbe,  for  the  loss  of  the  rest  ?  Like  the  author  of 
this  study,  we  lay  it  down,  wishing  there  were  more  to  read  and  examine, 
and  regretting  that  we  can  never  be  personally  acquainted  with  a  cha- 
racter of  so  much  charm  and  individuality, '  vraie'  as  all  testified  (she  even 
said  her  age),  yet  able  to  keep  secrets ;  '  pratique '  (she  made  an  excellent 
will),  yet  sensitive  to  beauty  and  affection.  No  marvel  she  was  known  to 
her  friends  as  '  l'lncomparable.' 

Dr  Ashton's  study  concludes  with  a  chronological  bibliography  of 
the  works  of  Madame  de  La  Fayette,  including  translations,  extracts, 
and  the  scattered  correspondence,  also  a  list  of  thirteen  portraits ;  ten 
appendices  giving  illustrative  documents ;  a  full  bibliography  of  works 
consulted,  and  an  index  of  proper  names.  The  second  preface,  written  in 
September,  1922,  in  Vancouver,  expresses  regret  that  the  want  of  a 
suitable  library  has  prevented  this  pre-war  book  from  being  brought  in 
all  respects  up  to  date.  Further  articles  on  the  subject  are  to  appear 
shortly. 

F.  C.  Johnson. 

London. 


354  Reviews 

Francesco  Torraca,  Nuovi  studi  danteschi  net  VI  centenario  della 
morte  di  Dante.  Naples:  Federico  and  Ardia.  ]921.  8vo.  531pp. 
L.  18. 

Francesco  Torraca,  Studi  di  storia  letteraria.  Florence :  Sansoni. 
1923.    8vo.    332  pp.    L.  12. 

Studi  danteschi  diretti  da  Michele  Barbi.  Vol.  vr.  Florence  :  Sansoni. 
1923.   8vo.   167  pp.   L.  15. 

The  Divine  Comedy  of  Dante  Alighieri.  A  line-for-line  translation  in  the 
rime-form  of  the  original  by  Melville  Best  Anderson.  London  : 
Harrap.   n.d.    8vo.   xiv  +  449pp.    10s.  Qd. 

In  the  first  of  these  volumes  Francesco  Torraca  has  brought  together 
various  essays  and  reviews,  arranged  in  an  order  roughly  corresponding 
with  the  chronology  of  Dante's  life  and  works ;  beginning  with  studies 
connected  with  the  earlier  Rime  and  the  epoch  of  the  Vita  Nuova,  they 
pass,  through  the  Letters  (appreciating  Dr  Toynbee's  edition),  the 
canzone  of  the  Tre  donne,  and  '  I  precursori  della  Divina  Commedia,'  to 
particular  passages,  personages,  or  cantos  of  the  poem,  ending  with  one 
of  those  sexcentenary  discourses  upon  the  poet  which,  though  pronounced 
for  a  special  oacasion,  will  still  be  found  stimulating.  The  student  of 
the  lyrical  poems  will  be  particularly  glad  to  have  in  this  permanent 
form  the  study  of  the  tenzone  with  Forese  (which  remains  of  substantial 
value  even  after  the  publications  of  a  more  critical  text  by  Barbi  and 
Massera  respectively)  and  the  very  notable  commentary  on  the  canzone 
of  the  Tre  donne,  while  the  eloquent  lettura  of  canto  xxvi  of  the 
Purgatorio  stands  out  amon^g  the  essays  bearing  upon  the  Commedia. 
There  are  points  connected  with  the  canzone  of  the  Tre  donne  where  we 
venture  to  differ  from  the  author.  We  cannot  recognise  the  lady  of  the 
'  montanina  canzon '  in  '  il  bel  segno,'  which  distance  has  severed  from 
Dante's  sight,  and,  in  spite  of  arguments  to  the  contrary,  the  evidence, 
external  and  internal,  seems  to  us  conclusively  to  support  the  view  that 
the  poem  is  the  one  that  was  destined  for  the  penultimate  treatise  of  the 
Convivio.  In  any  case,  since  Giovanni  Livi  has  found  its  opening  lines 
transcribed  in  the  register  of  a  notary  at  Bologna  in  1310,  it  is  no  longer 
possible — notwithstanding  the  statement  of  the  anonymous  commen- 
tator of  the  Codice  Magliabechiano — to  hold  that  it  was  composed 
after  Dante's  fresh  exclusion  from  Florence  by  the  Riforma  of  Baldo 
d'Aguglione. 

The  second  volume  is  particularly  welcome.  It  includes  nine  studies, 
all — excepting  the  last  two — dealing  with  early  Italian  literature,  starting 
with  'la  phi  antica  poesia  toscana,'  the  famous  'cantilena'  of  the  Tuscan 
minstrel,  Salva  lo  vescovo  senato,  of  which  Torraca  was  the  first  to  give 
a  correct  text  and  interpret  its  signification.  Under  the  title,  Per  la 
Storia  letteraria  del  Secolo  XIII,  we  find  put  together  a  collection  of 
lecture  notes  on  special  points  concerning  some  more  obscure  writers  and 
texts  of  the  Duecento,  notably  the  'Sigillo'  of  Ser  Pietro  da  Medicina, 
Guido  Faba  (questioning  the  conclusions  of  Gaudenzi  and  the  attribution 


Reviews  355 

to  the  Bolognese  grammarian  of  the  important  Parlamenti  et  Epistole), 
Ruggieri  Apugliesi,  Fra  Pacifico  (whose  'coronation'  Torraca  would 
assign  to  1210  or  1211  at  the  hands  of  Otto  IV),  and  'II  lamento  della 
Sposa  Padovana.'  The  notes  were  written  in  1905  ;  would  the  author, 
we  wonder,  still  adhere  to  the  identification  of  Chiaro  Davanzati  with 
the  popolano  of  Santa  Maria  sopr'  Arno,  who  was  already  dead  in 
1280,  rather  than  with  his  namesake  of  the  'popolo  di  San  Frediano,' 
who  was  still  living  at  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century  ?  The 
other  essays  are,  for  the  most  part,  more  recent :  Pietro  Vidal  in  Italia, 
Fra  Guittone,  A  proposito  dell' ' Intelligenza,'  L' Entree  d'Espagne,Il  Fiore. 
The  essay  on  Fra  Guittone,  a  vigorous  defence  of  his  originality  and  his 
rightful  place  in  Italian  literature,  is  a  brilliant  piece  of  literary  criti- 
cism ;  beyond  comparison,  I  think,  the  best  study  of  that  singular  and 
impressive  poet  that  has  appeared.  More  precisely  than  Antoine  Thomas, 
the  author  would  date  the  composition  of  the  Entree  between  1298  and 
1320 ;  his  treatment  of  the  poem  is  full  and  illuminating.  In  dealing 
with  the  Intelligenza,  a  new  hypothesis  is  put  forward  as  to  the  origin  of 
ottava  rima.  Hitherto,  it  will  be  remembered,  scholars  have  differed  as 
to  whether  it  should  be  regarded  as  derived  from  the  popular  stram- 
botto,  from  a  particular  type  of  stanza  of  canzone,  or  from  a  form  of  serven- 
tese  (the  'serventese  octastico').  Torraca  now  suggests  that  'la  stanza 
gloriosa  della  poesia  narrativa  italiana'  is  formed  from  the  nona  rima 
(the  stanza  of  the  Intelligenza)  by  removing  the  last  verse,  as  in  like 
manner  the  nona  rima  itself  would  have  been  formed  by  the  suppression 
of  one  of  the  lines  of  the  decima  rima  employed  by  Ruggieri  Apugliesi 
and  others  among  the  earlier  Italian  poets :  'A  me  pare  che  appunto  da 
questo  processo  di  alleggerimento  e  di  semplificazione  sia  nata  l'ottava ; 
che,  in  altre  parole,  l'ottava  sia  figlia  della  nona  rima,  e  nipote  della 
decima '  (p.  163).  To  put  it  as  a  formula :  ABABABCCCB  passes  through 
ABABABCCB  to  ABABABCG.  But  would  not  this  theory,  as  far  as 
the  intermediate  stage  is  concerned,  assume  a  more  general  diffusion  of 
the  nona  rima  than  the  facts  seem  to  warrant  ?  In  our  present  state  of 
knowledge,  it  comes  down  to  us  from  the  Intelligenza  as  something  of 
a  '  freak '  measure. 

We  rejoice  that  Torraca  is  resoluteiy  opposed  to  the  attribution  of  the 
Fiore  to  Dante  and  scouts  the  notion  that  any  allusion  to  it  is  to  be 
found  in  the  delightful  sonnet  to  Betto  Brunelleschi :  'Messer  Brunetto, 
questa  pulzelletta.'  I  am  personally  tempted  to  associate  the  sonnet 
with  the  canzone,  'Io  sento  si  d'Amor  la  gran  possanza '  (Rime  xci),  and 
to  recognise  Betto  Brunelleschi  in  the  third  of  the  tre  men  rei  to  whom 
(as  the  second  commiato  implies)  the  poem  is  sent : 

Canzone,  a'  tre  men  rei  di  nostra  terra 
te  n'  anderai  prima  che  vadi  altrove  : 
li  due  saluta,  e  '1  terzo  vo'  che  prove 
di  trarlo  fuor  di  mala  setta  in  pria. 

And  I  would  hazard  another  hypothesis.  May  not  the  '  messer  Giano,' 
to  whom  at  the  end  of  the  sonnet  Betto  or  Brunetto  is  advised  to  have 
recourse,  be  possibly,  instead  of  Torrigiano  de'  Cerchi,  that  Maestro 


356  Reviews 

Torrigiano,  the  Florentine  physician,  who  at  one  time  taught  at  Bologna 
and  of  whom  several  sonnets  have  come  down  to  us  ? 

The  two  concluding  essays  respectively  deal  with  Petrarca's  canzone, 
Italia  mia,  and  examine  the  Latin  poems  of  Ariosto,  rectifying  some  of 
the  views  and  conclusions  of  Carducci,  with  special  reference  to  the 
classical  equipment  of  the  poet  of  the  Orlando  and  the  biographical  data 
of  his  early  life.  All  the  studies  are  valuable,  and  the  book  is  one  which 
every  student  of  Italian  literature  will  need  to  have  upon  his  shelves. 

In  the  latest  volume  of  Barbi's  always  acceptable  Studi  danteschi, 
the  piece  de  resistance  is  Vandelli's  Note  sul  testo  critico  della  'Coin- 
media,'  in  which  a  discussion  of  the  reading  and  interpretation  oiPurg.  I, 
121-123,  is  illustrated  by  an  exhaustive  investigation  of  the  practice 
followed  by  Dante  (as  far  as  this  can  be  deduced)  as  to  the  truncation 
of  the  atonic  e  at  the  end  of  words.  Minute  linguistic  points  of  this 
kind,  of  no  small  importance  in  establishing  the  critical  text,  have  been 
too  seldom  considered  by  students.  Pietro  Santini,  Sui  fiorentini  '  die 
fur  si  degni,'  elucidates  the  political  activity  of  the  citizens  held  in 
honour  by  Dante  in  canto  XVI  of  the  Inferno,  and  suggests  a  possible 
identification  of  the  mysterious  'Arrigo'  (Inf.  vi,  80)  with  the  judge 
Arrigo  di  Cascia.  The  question,  recently  revived  by  Luigi  Chiappelli,  as 
to  the  political  faction  to  which  Cino  da  Pistoia  adhered,  is  rehandled 
by  Michele  Barbi  (Cino  fu  di  parte  'bianca'?),  who,  mainly  from  a  study 
of  Cino's  lyrics,  makes  it  abundantly  clear  that  his  exile,  whether 
voluntary  or  enforced,  was  during  the  predominance  of  the  Bianchi  in 
the  city,  and  that  he  did  not  return  until  after  its  capture  by  the  Neri. 
The  point  is  obviously  important  as  bearing  upon  the  date  of  the  sup- 
posed letter  from  Dante  to  Cino,  'Exulanti  Pistoriensi  Florentinus  exul 
inmeritus,'  and  certain  of  the  sonnets  interchanged  between  the  two 
poets.  Santorre  Debenedetti  examines  Dante's  indebtedness  to  the 
authentic  and  spurious  philosophical  works  of  Seneca ;  Ireneo  Sanesi  adds 
a  contribution  to  the  historical  setting  of  the  episode  of  Sapia.  There  is 
the  usual  valuable  appendix  of  notes  and  bibliographical  matter.  We 
observe,  with  peculiar  satisfaction,  Professor  Barbi's  promise  (p.  135)  to 
deal  in  a  future  volume  of  the  Studi  with  the  sonnet,  '  Se  vedi  gli  occhi 
miei  di  pianger  vaghi'  (Rime  cv),  and  to  eliminate  our  doubts  con- 
cerning its  attribution  to  Dante. 

A  new  translation  of  the  Divina  Commedia  comes  to  us  from  America 
as  the  fruit  of  the  labour  of  twenty-one  years.  One  of  the  defects  in- 
evitable in  the  use  of  terza  rima — and,  indeed,  in  any  rhymed  version 
in  English — is  that  the  precise  meaning  of  the  original  has  too  often  to 
be  sacrificed,  or  an  unwarranted  word  added,  for  the  sake  of  the  rhyme. 
Professor  Anderson  has  been  driven  to  this  less  frequently  than  we 
should  have  feared.  His  rendering  is  generally  accurate,  readable,  and 
not  monotonous  in  movement  (his  occasional  use  of  the  English  equiva- 
lent for  the  rima  sdrucciola  is  happy),  though  there  are  halting  lines 
here  and  there.  Taken  as  a  whole,  his  work  is  a  highly  creditable  achieve- 
ment, and  needs  only  a  little  revision  in  places  to  make  it  perhaps  the 
best  translation  of  its  kind  that  we  have  in  English.    We  must  notice 


Reviews  357 

that  Professor  Anderson  has  perpetuated  a  common,  but  singularly  un- 
fortunate, misunderstanding  of  the  lines  {Inf.  xxvi,  116-117),  where 
Ulysses  exhorts  his  companions  not  to  forgo  the  experience,  following 
the  sun  in  its  course  to  the  west,  of  the  uninhabited  world:  ' l'esperienza, 
diretro  al  sol,  del  mondo  sanza  gente.'  Here  diretro  al  sol  obviously 
depends  upon  l'esperienza,  not  upon  mondo ;  but  Professor  Anderson 
renders  it  (and,  alas,  he  is  by  no  means  alone) :  '  experience  of  the  un- 
peopled world  beyond  the  sun.'  Again,  one  of  the  most  glorious  passages 
of  the  Paradiso  seems  to  us  marred,  when  by  '  che  cio  ch'  i'  dico  e  un 
semplice  lume'  is  understood  'that  what  I  say  gives  but  scant  glimpse 
thereof  {Par.  xxxiii,  90).  Dante  is  revealing  the  mystic's  vision  of  the 
unity  of  nature  in  the  'luce  etterna'  which  is  the  First  Cause,  in  which 
all  things,  included  under  terms  of  substance  and  accidents  into  which 
all  being  is  divisible,  are  so  bound  together  by  love  'that  what  I  speak 
of  is  a  simple  light.' 

London.  EDMUND  G.  GARDNER. 


Poesia  popular  y  Poesia  tradicional  en  la  Literatura  espanola.  Con- 
ferencia  leida  en  All  Souls  College  el  lunes,  dia  26  de  Junio  de 
1922,  por  Ram6n  Menendez  Pidal.  Oxford:  Imprenta  Claren- 
doniana.    1922.    36  pp.    2s. 

It  was  a  happy  thought  on  the  part  of  Professor  Ker  to  invite  the 
distinguished  Director  of  the  Centre  for  Historical  Studies  and  Professor 
of  Romance  Philology  in  the  University  of  Madrid  to  discuss  at  Oxford 
one  of  the  most  interesting  phases  of  his  literary  thought.  No  name 
nor  manner  could  be  more  likely  to  raise  Hispanic  studies  in  this  country 
out  of  the  category  of  permissible  ignorance  to  their  proper  position  in 
the  equipment  of  every  modern  humanist ;  nor  to  destroy  the  worse 
than  ludicrous  legend  that  the  principal  value  of  the  Spanish  language 
is  commercial.  Professor  Pidal  joins  universality  of  interest  to  rigid 
limitation  of  statement,  exact  documentation  to  great  literary  sensitive- 
ness, irrefutable  novelty  of  matter  to  the  most  intimate  articulation  of 
his  thought,  which  are  a  powerful  attraction  to  discipleship  and  a  deter- 
rent from  cavillation.  The  lecture  delivered  at  Oxford  is  based,  of  course, 
in  reality  upon  the  vast  collection  of  ballads,  which  the  speaker  and  a 
score  of  scholars  in  four  continents  have  been  amassing  and  classifying 
for  publication.  This,  which  has  been  the  most  considerable  object  of 
the  scholarly  energy  of  the  present  generation  of  Hispanists,  will  cer- 
tainly be  the  dominant  fact  of  the  next.  No  literature  illustrates  so 
fully  and  variously  what  is  '  popular'  in  prose  and  poetry  than  does  the 
Spanish ;  nor  anything  in  Spanish  literature  so  well  as  the  ballads. 
All  Spanish  art  has  something  of  a  collective  nature ;  and  much  of  it 
'  has  special  merits  which  please  the  public  generally,  which  cause  it  to 
be  frequently  repeated  and  last  long  in  the  appreciation  of  the  people ' 
(p.  22).  To  work  of  this  type  Professor  Menendez  Pidal  proposes  to 
apply  the  term  '  popular ' ;  the  shifting  usages  of  which  have  wrought 
much  confusion  in  ballad  criticism  since  the  Romantic  Era.    Its  vagaries 


358  Reviews 

have  caused  difficulties  to  be  made  for  the  Professor's  own  well-known 
theory:  and  so,  in  this  lecture,  he  proceeds  further — and  this  is  the 
pith  of  the  matter — to  propose  the  use  of  the  more  precise  and  apposite 
term  '  traditional '  to  describe  that  which  '  the  people  has  accepted  as 
its  own,  takes  as  part  of  its  own  intellectual  property,  and,  in  repeating, 
does  not  as  in  the  previous  instances  do  so  in  a  faithful  and  almost 
passive  manner,  but  reproduces  by  emotion  and  imagination  and  pro 
tanto  more  or  less  remakes  it,  the  people  being  regarded  as  one  part  of 
the  author'  (p.  23).  Thus,  'traditional'  literature  differs  from  indi- 
vidualistic and  artistic  by  being  not  unipersonal  but  the  creation  of 
many  authors,  from  merely  'popular'  literature  by  being  active  not 
receptive :  and  so  the  author  meets  the  objections  which  regarded  his 
former  statements  of  the  ballad  theory  as  impersonal  and  somewhat 
mechanical.  The  supreme  example  of  this  '  traditional '  multipersonal 
literature  is  the  Spanish  Romancero.  By  analysing  the  variants  of  the 
famous  ballad  of  Conde  Arnaldos,  which  has  been  so  variously  inter- 
preted by  Lockhart,  Longfellow,  Mila  and  Azorin,  and  by  alluding  to 
the  results  of  his  collation  of  the  164  versions  of  Gerineldos,  he  illus- 
trates the  work  of  erosion  performed  by  innumerable  minds  reshaping 
a  poem  in  accordance  with  the  good  or  bad  taste  or  memory  of  each, 
until  tradition  has  produced  by  contamination,  suppression,  and  trunca- 
tion a  series  of  variants  which  differ  in  notes  of  time,  place,  quality  and 
appeal,  and  yet  retain  indestructible  an  essential  unity.  He  finds  the 
same  phenomena  in  popular  songs  in  Piedmont  or  Lithuania,  in  the 
Scandinavian  viser,  in  contemporary  Spanish  coplas  and  mediaeval  vil- 
lancicos.  This  traditionalism  is  not  merely  oral :  we  get  written  tradi- 
tional literature  in  the  so-called  primitive  epic  (primitive  is  a  description 
which  Professor  Pidal  rejects),  as  when  the  Roland,  Iliad  or  Cronica 
general  de  Espana  are  found  even  in  the  last  analysis  to  show  variants, 
due  to  their  being  refunded  by  each  copyist  (p.  32).  In  the  life  and 
efficacy  of  '  traditional '  works  Professor  Pidal  recognises  two  periods : 
an  aosdic  period  of  efflorescence,  during  which  the  poetic  narrative, 
whatever  its  origin,  is  actively  propagated  by  all  classes,  and  variants 
are  due  not  merely  to  illiteracy  but  also  to  persons  of  culture  and 
artistic  competence;  and  a  rhapsodic  period  of  decadence,  in  which  'tradi- 
tion limits  itself  almost  exclusively  to  the  repetition  of  previous  crea- 
tions,' and  'the  diffusion  of  any  type  of  poetry  is  limited  more  and  more 
to  the  least  enlightened  classes '  (p.  25). 

It  is  not  possible  to  enter  into  a  discussion  of  these  propositions,  to 
which  the  above  resume  has  done  much  less  than  justice,  because  they 
rest  upon  so  large  a  store  of  unpublished  material  and  observations  of 
the  first  importance.  One  can  only  endeavour  to  bring  these  matters 
to  the  notice  of  those  specialists  whose  territory  may  be  invaded  by  the 
author's  results,  and  notably  to  those  whose  interests  lie  in  'popular' 
or  '  traditional '  poetry,  wherever  it  be  found.  The  only  possible  interim 
judgment  is  that  of  Professor  Ker:  'Those  explorations... are  part  of  the 
Humanities.'  William  J.  Entwistle. 

Manchester. 


Reviews  359 

Portuguese  Literature.    By  Aubrey  F.  G.  Bell.    Oxford:    Clarendon 
Press.    1922.   Svo.   375  pp. 

Literary  history  is  the  most  difficult  sort  of  narrative  to  make  inter- 
esting throughout  for  those  who  kno\V  the  subject,  and  for  those  who 
are  beginning  to  want  to  know.  Unlike  ordinary  civil  or  natural  history, 
it  is  perpetually  allusive,  giving  opinions  on  matters  that  are  not  before 
the  reader,  except  as  names  and  a  few  quotations.  Mr  Bell  has  done 
wonders :  he  assumes  a  certain  amount  of  acquaintance  with  the  Portu- 
guese language  and  history,  but  is  careful  not  to  impose  on  his  readers 
too  many  particulars  for  them  to  follow;  he  keeps  the  balance  very 
skilfully  between  the  general  history  of  successive  fashions,  and  the 
guiding  notes  which  encourage  and  help  enquirers  to  find  their  way  for 
themselves,  in  the  library  of  Portuguese  authors. 

Fernara  Lopez  the  chronicler  and  Gil  Vicente  the  poet  are  known 
to  be  special  favourites  of  Mr  Bell,  and  their  place  in  this  history  is  well 
filled,  and  none  the  worse  because  we  are  left  with  a  wish  for  more,  and 
turn  to  the  Hispanic  Notes  and  Monographs  for  further  information1. 
Mr  Bell's  selection  of  lyrics  from  Gil  Vicente  and  his  edition  of  four 
plays  are  well  known  to  attentive  readers  of  this  Review.  Might  he 
not  do  as  much  for  Fernam  Lopez  ?  Of  course  it  may  be  said  that  good 
story-tellers,  like  Herodotus,  Joinville,  Froissart  and  Fernam  Lopez,  are 
best  left  to  themselves  to  make  their  own  way;  still  much  may  be  gained 
in  extracts  and  illustrations :  we  should  have  been  glad  to  have  a  few 
episodes  translated,  and  also  a  little  more  about  the  personages  of  the 
story.  How  many  candidates  in  modern  history  schools  can  'give  an 
account '  of  the  Constable  of  Portugal,  Nun'  Alvarez  Pereira  ?  He  is 
not  included  yet  in  any  publisher's  '  Heroes  of  the  Nations,'  and  not 
every  reader  of  romance  knows  what  the  courage  and  common  sense  of 
Nun'  Alvarez  owed  to  the  Quest  of  the  Holy  Grail.  The  anonymous 
Coronica  do  condestabre  de  purtugal  (we  are  glad  to  know)  is  regarded 
by  Mr  Bell  as  an  early  work  of  Fernam  Lopez.  It  saves  much  trouble 
to  believe  this,  and  Mr  Bell  has  two  eminent  Portuguese  historians  to 
support  the  opinion.  Might  he  not  be  persuaded  to  give  a  fuller  descrip- 
tion of  the  anonymous  Chronicle,  a  remarkable  and  original  story  ? 

Gil  Vicente  takes  a  larger  place  than  Camoens  in  Mr  Bell's  history, 
but  none  too  much.  Camoens,  with  all  his  genius,  is  less  of  a  miracle 
than  Gil  Vicente;  he  had  the  Italian  poets,  he  had  Boscan  and  Garcilaso 
to  show  him  the  way :  Gil  Vicente,  as  Mr  Bell  remarks,  is  not  much 
better  off  than  an  English  poet  of  the  fifteenth  century.  What  Gil 
Vicente  did  with  popular  forms  of  verse,  before  the  Italian-Castilian 
influences  were  dominant,  is  one  of  the  most  cheerful  things  in  the  his- 
tory of  poetry,  and  Mr  Bell's  pages  in  this  chapter,  admirable  at  the 
first  reading,  will  be  found  to  grow  in  value  the  more  they  are  tested 
and  compared  with  the  poet's  work. 

1  Os  Lusiadas  rather  than  an  epic  is  a  great  lyrical  hymn  in  praise 
of  Portugal.'    No  understanding  reader  will  cavil  at  this  summary  ;  but 

1  Aubrey  F.  G.  Bell,  Fernam  Lopez  ;  Gil  Vicente,  Oxford,  Univ.  Press,  1921. 


360  Reviews 

many  will  wish  that  Mr  Bell  had  given  more  space  to  his  survey  of  the 
noble  heroic  poem  and  the  peculiar  talent  of  Camoens  in  historical 
narrative,  not  to  speak  of  his  curious  skill  in  '  machines,'  his  adventures 
with  the  Olympian  powers.  The  pagan  mythology  of  the  Lusiads  is 
historically  of  considerable  importance ;  the  problems  it  suggests  are 
full  of  meaning  for  Tasso,  Milton,  Dryden  and  Voltaire;  not  meaningless 
for  the  present  age,  if  it  is  at  all  concerned  with  the  mind  of  its  ancestors. 
Mr  Bell's  history  will  be  often  consulted ;  the  Bibliography  is  pub- 
lished separately  and  is  beyond  the  range  of  the  present  reviewer ;  who 
in  conclusion  turns  back  with  fresh  interest  to  read  again  Mr  Bell's  first 
chapter:  '1185-1325,  §  1  The  Cossantes' — a  description  which  no  student 
of  popular  poetry  in  any  language  should  leave  unread,  a  guide  to  the 
rich  store  of  early  lyrical  ballads  and  refrains,  in  which  kind  Portugal 
has  more  to  show  than  the  mediseval  lyric  of  France  and  Germany. 

W.  P.  Ker. 
London. 

Neue  Bausteine  zu  einer  Lebensgeschichte  Wolframs  von  Eschenbach.  Von 
Albert  Schreiber.  (Deutsche  Forschungen,  vn.)  Frankfurt  am 
Main:  Moritz  Diesterweg.    1922.    233  pp.    8vo. 

As  a  contribution  to  the  biographical  study  of  Wolfram  von  Eschen- 
bach, this  book  deserves  to  be  read  with  feelings  of  genuine  gratitude 
for  the  wealth  of  information  here  brought  to  light.  The  investigations, 
in  so  far  as  they  are  concerned  with  historical  data,  are  admirable  in 
their  thoroughness  and  sureness  of  aim,  and  the  exposition  is  clear 
and  vigorous.  While,  however,  the  ability  shown  in  the  biographical 
chapters  is  unquestionably  of  a  high  order,  the  limitations  of  the  author's 
methods  are  plainly  evident  as  soon  as,  forsaking  the  firm  ground  of 
historical  research  on  which  he  has  proved  himself  an  expert,  he  ad- 
dresses himself  to  the  more  difficult  and  delicate  task  of  following  out 
the  successive  stages  in  the  evolution  of  Wolfram's  poetic  work.  The 
latter  part  of  the  book  is  almost  entirely  occupied  with  an  elaborate  and, 
in  the  main,  fruitless  endeavour  to  explain  things  that  are  undiscoverable 
by  the  light  of  prose  and  reason. 

The  strength  of  the  book  lies  thus  in  the  care  and  efficiency  with 
which  the  historical  structure  has  been  built  up.  Much,  of  course,  remains 
open  to  question,  for  instance,  the  hypotheses  in  Chapter  v  ('  Wolframs 
Ritterschlag  durch  den  Grafen  von  Henneberg')  and  Chapter  xi  ('Wolf- 
rams Minnedienst').  But  at  this  there  is  no  need  to  cavil.  For  the 
author  does  not  profess  to  deal  only  with  undisputed  verities ;  indeed, 
the  absence  of  any  contemporary  reference  to  Wolfram's  circumstances 
rather  shuts  out  the  possibility  of  adding  to  the  limited  number  of 
facts  that  can  be  admitted  as  certain.  Obviously,  the  first  and  most 
imperative  task  of  the  biographer  is  not  to  search  bootlessly  for  new 
facts,  but  to  find  a  stronger  meaning  in  the  old  by  bringing  these 
into  intimate  relation  with  the  social  complex  to  which  they  belonged, 
investing  them  with  greater  actuality  and  force  than  heretofore.   The 


Reviews  361 

biographer  must,  of  necessity,  'by  indirections  find  directions  out'; 
he  must  begin  at  the  circumference  and  work  inwards  towards  the 
centre.  This  Schreiber  has  done ;  and  the  results  are  nowhere  lack- 
ing in  substance  and  positive  value,  even  where  they  are  most  specu- 
lative. Very  interesting  and  suggestive  is  the  train  of  causation,  which, 
with  '  min  herre  der  graf  von  Wertheim '  as  connecting  link  between 
Wolfram  and  Rupert  von  Durne,  leads  ultimately  on  the  road  to 
Provence,  and  not  only  gives  cogency  to  arguments  in  favour  of  the 
authenticity  of  Kiot,  but  also  establishes  a  link  with  Guillaume  de  Baux- 
Orange,  whose  heraldic  device  is  found  repeated  in  the  arms  of  the 
Markgraf  Willehalm,  and  to  whose  personal  influence  Schreiber  attaches 
considerable  weight.  Interesting,  too,  are  the  studies  of  local  colour  in 
connection  with  Schastelmarveil  (pp.  30-35),  Sigune's  cell  (pp.  54-56), 
Bearosche  (pp.  65-67) ;  and  the  interpretations  of  Parz.  230, 12-13  :  'so 
grdziu  fiur  sit  noch  e  sach  man  hie  ze  Wildenberc,'  and  Parz.  227,  9-15, 
'  durch  schimpf  er  nicht  zetretet  was... also  der  anger  ze  Abenberc '  may 
be  regarded  as  final.  Ch.  viii  ('  Das  Steirische  Ratsel ')  is  one  of  the 
most  immediately  fruitful  in  the  whole  book,  and  perhaps  forms  the 
most  conclusive  point  in  Schreiber's  investigations  of  historical  detail. 

Broadly  speaking,  the  results  of  the  first  nine  chapters  are  grounded 
upon  a  substantial  basis  of  well-reasoned  evidence ;  it  is  impossible  to 
recommend  these  chapters  too  highly.  It  is  otherwise  with  the  imposing 
but  fallacious  theory  advanced  under  the  title  'Des  Dichters  Werde- 
gang;  die  Entstehung  seiner  einzelnen  Werke'  (pp.  106-197).  Here, 
although  the  argument  is  cogent  and  well-knit,  the  basis  on  which  it 
rests  is  defective. 

What  adequate  foundations  are  there  for  the  following  array  of  state- 
ments :  that  Wolfram  first  composed  Books  iii-vi  of  Parzival  in 
accordance  with  Chretien's  treatment  of  the  subject,  and  while  he  had 
as  yet  no  knowledge  of  Kiot ;  that  subsequently  these  four  books  were 
re-cast,  and  the  poem  carried  to  its  conclusion  in  close  adherence  to 
Kiot's  version ;  that  the  first  two  books  were  added  considerably  later, 
after  the  composition  of  Willehalm ;  that  Titurel  was  next  taken  in 
hand  but  broken  off  before  completion,  and  that  finally  Wolfram  decided 
to  revise  Parzival  and  to  insert  two  new  episodes  ?  I  am  not  overlooking 
the  fact  that  Schreiber  supports  his  theory  by  numerous  well-stated 
arguments.  But  his  disregard  for  the  more  subtle  characteristics  of 
Wolfram's  art  renders  most  of  his  criteria  inadequate. 

No  one,  realising  the  breadth  and  depth  of  the  Parzival,  is  likely  to 
fall  into  the  error  of  supposing  that  it  was  the  work  of  a  few  months, 
struck  out  at  a  single  heat.  All  the  same,  it  was  not  '  pieced  together,' 
as  Schreiber  maintains;  the  result,  whatever  the  successive  stages  by 
Avhich  it  came  into  being,  is  not  a  '  mosaic,'  but  a  great  and  complex 
work  of  art,  the  gradual  revelation  of  one  long-sustained  poetic  ex- 
perience. The  presence  of  inconsistencies  or  of  unnecessary  repetitions, 
due  easily,  in  the  first  instance,  to  the  impulses  of  an  imagination  too 
richly  endowed,  do  not  indicate  a  revision  of  the  text  in  which  they 
occur,  but  rather  the  reverse.    No  poet  of  Wolfram's  calibre  is  wont  to 


36  2  Reviews 

insert  additional  passages  haphazard  without  re-experiencing  the  situation 
to  which  each  belongs.  Further,  supposing  that  there  may  have  been  an 
earlier  version  embedded  in  Books  iii-vi,  how  and  by  what  tokens  are 
we  to  recognise  this  substratum  ?  It  is  easy  to  search  for  and  discover 
flaws,  but  traces  of  prentice  work  are  conspicuously  absent ;  in  no  single 
book  can  one  point  to  immaturities  of  technique,  such  as  occur  freely  in 
Hartman's  Erec.  So  far  as  the  manner  of  Parzival  changes,  it  changes 
gradually  and  towards  the  end,  in  anticipation  of  the  more  luxuriant 
style  by  which  Willehalm  is  dominated. 

In  placing  the  composition  of  the  Gahmuret  section  of  the  epic  after 
that  of  Willehalm,  Schreiber  seems  to  have  lost  sight  of  certain  large 
differences  of  style,  in  the  presence  of  which  those  isolated  points  of 
resemblance  whereon  so  much  stress  is  laid,  lose  their  value.  The  style 
of  Willehalm  is,  on  the  whole,  more  discursive,  more  turgid  and  rhetorical, 
richer  in  rhyme  and  rhyme-engendered  metaphor,  than  that  of  Parzival, 
and  the  difference  is  nowhere  greater  than  between  the  two  extreme 
points,  between  the  first  two  books  of  Parzival  and  the  last  two  books 
of  Willehalm.  The  style  of  Gahmuret — as  we  may  conveniently  call  it — 
is  terse  and  pregnant,  there  is  no  great  wealth  of  allusion  and  metaphor, 
the  rhymes  are  mainly  traditional,  the  speeches  are  clear-cut  and  vividly 
dramatic,  the  concentrated  vigour  of  the  action  reminds  one  of  a  stream 
flowing  rapidly  between  high  banks.  In  the  last  two  books  of  Willehalm 
one  is  reminded  rather  of  a  wide-sweeping  river  in  full  flood.  Long 
descriptions,  long  reflective  passages,  explanations,  speeches  in  which 
the  dramatic  element  is  sacrificed  to  the  need  for  a  more  expansive 
rhetoric,  swell  the  current  of  the  action;  and  this  later  tendency  is 
shown  also  in  details  of  style  and  metre — in  the  frequent  enjambement, 
the  length  and  loose  build  of  several  of  the  sentences,  the  greater  laxity 
of  the  rhythm,  the  eccentricities  of  rhyme  and  metaphor.  There  is, 
moreover,  a  stronger  development  here  of  the  lyrical  element,  and  this 
suggests  a  transition  to  the  style  of  Titurel  rather  than  a  return  to  that 
of  Parzival. 

Not  only  does  Willehalm  differ  from  Parzival  in  style  and  technique, 
but  it  also  represents  another  and  different  kind  of  poetic  experience. 
Parzival  is  a  romance  of  adventure  and  chivalry,  Willehalm  is  an  epic 
of  relentless  warfare,  expressing  a  sterner  realism  than  is  to  be  found 
elsewhere  in  Middle  High  German  literature.  It  is  difficult,  well  nigh 
impossible,  to  imagine  a  transition  from  the  profound  sense  of  waste  and 
desolation  made  manifest  in  the  concluding  books  of  Willehalm  to  the 
unspoiled  battle-ecstasy  which  rings  out  with  so  unmistakable  a  note  of 
triumph  in  the  story  of  Gahmuret  the  Angevin. 

Lest  my  judgments  appear  too  summary,  I  would  plead  that  exi- 
gencies of  space  hinder  me  from  enlarging  on  points  with  which  it  is 
my  intention  to  deal  more  fully  elsewhere,  in  a  study  of  the  Gahmuret- 
theme. 

M.  F.  RlCHEY. 

Englefield  Green. 


Reviews  363 

Die  Rauber.  Ein  Trauerspiel  von  Friedrich  Schiller.  Edited  by 
L.  A.  Willoughby.  London  :  H.  Milford.  1922.  8vo.  x  +  245pp. 
4s.  Qd. 

'It  is  not  a  pleasant  story,  but  the  film  is  intensely  interesting.' 
Thus  was  a  new  'cinema  drama'  recently  described  in  The  Times. 
Ludwig  Tieck  in  1794,  a  dozen  years  after  the  appearance  of  Schiller's 
tragedy  Die  Rauber,  used  somewhat  similar  language  of  that  play.  '  Es 
giebt  eine  Menge  Situationen,  die  gar  nicht  anders  als  tragisch  werden 
konnen,  entweder  durch  das  Einzige,  das  in  ihnen  liegt,  oder  durch  die 
Umstande,  die  sie  begleiten;  es  giebt  hundert  Lustspiele,  in  denen  ein 
ungerathener,  ausschweifender  Sohn  erscheint,  der  seinem  Vater  Kummer 
macht,  sich  aber  endlich  mit  ihm  versohnt — diese  Situation  ist  so  gewohn- 
lich,  dass  sich  hier  gar  keine  tragische  Nothwendigkeit  findet....Man 
lasse  aber  den  angenommenen  ungerathenen  Sohn  sich  an  die  Spitze 
einer  Rauberbande  stellen,  zum  Banditen  und  Morder  werden,  so  macht 
hier  das  Ausserordentliche,  das  Einzige  die  Situation  tragisch' 
(Das  Buck  Uber  Shakespeare,  ed.  Ludeke,  p.  356).  If  a  play  has  an  in- 
teresting 'situation'  only  a  dullard  can  make  it  a  complete  failure.  It 
is  clear  from  Dr  Willoughby's  pages  that  Die  Rauber  has  rarely  seemed 
dull  to  any  but  dull  critics.  It  is  true  that  Matthew  Arnold  found  it 
'at  once  violent  and  tiresome,'  but  this  verdict  was  outweighed  by  those 
of  Carlyle,  De  Quincey  and  Thackeray.  The  real  objection  felt  by  the 
good  Victorians  was  probably  more  often  at  bottom  a  moral  one.  Dr 
Willoughby  does  perhaps  a  little  less  than  justice  to  '  the  later  English 
(and  American)  scholarly  criticism,'  but  it  is  certainly  true  that  Professor 
Robertson's  treatment  of  the  subject  lifted  the  discussion  in  England 
up  to  a  plane  scarcely  reached  before,  except  by  Carlyle,  and  enriched 
it  with  a  range  of  knowledge  which  was  not  accessible  before  the  present 
century.  It  was  natural  that  after  this  rehabilitation  should  come  at 
last  an  English  edition,  but  it  is  proof  of  courage  as  well  as  good  judg- 
ment that  the  head  of  the  German  Department  in  the  University  of 
Sheffield  should  have  produced  so  soon  after  the  war  so  ambitious  an 
edition  as  the  present.  The  Austrian  printers  have  done  their  work 
well  and  the  book  is  issued  under  the  aegis  of  Mr  Milford  at  a  price 
which  in  these  days  is  by  no  means  high.  The  whole  edition  augurs 
well  for  the  future  of  German  studies  in  this  country. 

The  text  is  that  of  the  'Trauerspiel'  printed  at  Mannheim  in  1782, 
as  reproduced  by  Goedeke,  but  collated  with  the  copy  of  the  original 
preserved  in  the  British  Museum  and  emended  in  a  very  few  places. 
Numerous  readings  from  the  'Schauspiel'  and  the  Mannheim  Acting 
Copy  are  incorporated  in  the  Notes,  which,  at  least  for  University  pur- 
poses, would  be  much  easier  to  utilise  if  they  were  printed  as  footnotes. 
The  text  of  the  Trauerspiel  has  been  chosen  largely  on  the  principle  of 
'  reverentia  pueris  debita,'  but  the  Introduction  is  chiefly  meant  for  ad- 
vanced students  and  the  Notes  hardly  give  the  reader  of  school  age  all 
the  aid  required.  The  whole  in  fact  is  a  compromise  forced  upon  the  editor 
by  the  necessity  of  appealing  to  as  many  types  of  buyer  as  possible  in  a 
country  where  German  literature  is  studied  by  but  few. 


364  Reviews 

The  Introduction  occupies  no  less  than  a  hundred  pages  and  is 
exactly  as  long  as  the  Text,  while  the  Notes  only  take  up  forty-five. 
The  Introduction  contains  a  great  deal  of  valuable  history,  some  of  which 
is,  however,  more  fitted  for  the  pages  of  a  learned  periodical  than  for  the 
marketplace  and  the  school.  On  the  other  hand  the  editor  has  delibe- 
rately omitted  'the  usual  critical  appreciation  and  study  of  the  characters/ 
He  implies  that  there  was  little  left  to  say  on  these  points,  and  this  is 
at  least  refreshingly  frank.  Instead  he  offers  us  '  the  results  of  original 
research'  regarding  'the  position  of  the  play  in  European  letters  and... 
its  bearing  to  contemporary  life  and  thought.'  His  claim  is  not  an  idle 
one ;  for  myself  I  gladly  own  to  having  met  in  these  pages  much  that 
was  fresh  to  me  and  most  readers  will  have  the  same  pleasure.  But  let 
us  hope  that  examinees  will  not  be  expected  to  retain  in  their  memories 
any  but  the  leading  facts  in  the  last  two  sections.  (These  should  be 
taken,  however,  to  include  the  delightful  title  of  the  Tory  parody,  The 
Benevolent  Cutthroat  by  Klotzboggenhagen.)  The  remarks  which  follow 
are  critical  and  supplementary,  rather  than  laudatory,  merely  because 
this  review  must  be  kept  within  definite  limits ;  they  imply  no  general 
censure  whatever. 

Haug's  '  incredible  notice,'  cited  at  page  5  is  not  from  the  Schwa- 
bisches  Magazin,  which  did  not  exist  till  1774;  it  occurs,  as  is  clear  from 
Minor's  account,  in  Haug's  '  Programmschrift '  of  1762.  This  slight  in- 
accuracy is  rather  typical  of  Willoughby's  tendency  to  be  less  interested 
in  the  antecedents  than  in  the  influence  of  Schiller's  drama.  Similarly 
he  does  not  enquire  whether  the  passages  from  Shakespeare  quoted  by 
Schiller  in  his  early  days  '  in  the  original '  were,  as  in  the  case  of  Goethe 
at  Leipzig  (cf.  the  Shakespe'are-Jahrbuch,  vol.  lv),  all  to  be  found  in 
Dodd's  Beauties  of  Shakespeare,  nor  whether  Schiller's  reading  of  Young 
included  the  tragedies  of  that  author  and  especially  The  Brothers,  with 
the  very  similar  situation,  derived  from  Livy  and  Plutarch.  The  question 
has  not,  it  seems,  been  cleared  up,  but  it  is  unlikely  on  various  grounds 
that  Schiller  had  not  seen  either  J.  H.  Schlegel's  version  of  1764  or  the 
English  original,  which  was  re-issued  in  1778.  It  was  in  this  or  the 
previous  year  that  Schiller,  Willoughby  reminds  us,  had  been  awarded 
the  '  top  note  "  very  good  "  for  English.'  (At  times  Willoughby  is  not 
very  happy  in  his  own  English,  but  in  some  cases  this  is  probably  due 
to  the  difficulty  of  correcting  proofs  with  the  printer  in  Austria.) 

Twenty  pages  are  devoted  to  the  '  Genesis '  of  the  play  and  the 
'  Sources  and  Literary  Relations.'  These  sections  are  up-to-date,  but 
not  in  all  respects  adequate.  They  do  not  put  before  us  Schubart's  brief 
tale  Zur  Geschichte  des  menschlichen  Herzens,  which  an  editor  can  hardly 
expect  his  readers  to  look  for  elsewhere,  nor  the  '  Vorrede '  of  Easter 
1781  nor  even  the  '  Ansprache  an  das  Publikum'  from  the  Mannheim 
Theater-Zettel,  which  throw  light  on  the  author's  conception  of  his  work. 
In  dealing  with  Plutarch  Willoughby  seems  to  have  missed  an  important 
article  by  Karl  Fries  in  Ilberg's  Neue  Jahrbilcher,  etc.  1898  (i).  (In  the 
note  to  p.  116,  23  there  are  two  slips:  'II'  should  be  'XI'  and  'mallam ' 
'  mallem,'  and  there  seems  to  be  no  reason  for  citing  Plutarch  in  Latin. 


Reviews  365 

Further,  the  origin  of  Aut  Caesar,  aut  nihil  is  given  by  Buchmann,  and 
if  Willoughby  rejects  the  ascription  to  Cesare  Borgia  and  Caligula,  he 
should  state  his  grounds.)  The  remarks  on  Rousseau  are  judicious,  but 
they  would  gain  by  including  a  reference  to  Texte,  who  makes  so  clear 
the  debt  of  Rousseau,  Diderot  and  Mercier  to  Lillo's  play  The  London 
Merchant,  which  was  thus  itself  a  forerunner  of  Die  Rauber. 

The  account  of  the  'robber  motif  is  excellent  as  far  as  it  goes.  But 
the  element  that  may  come  from  Josephus  requires  fuller  treatment, 
and  one  would  especially  welcome  further  details  concerning  the  exploits 
of  the  contemporary  bandits,  Hiesel  and  Hannikel.  Young  students 
rarely  realise  how  much  there  is  of  'actuality'  in  this  drama  of  the 
highways  and  hedges.  Our  editor  himself  knows  the  facts,  but  does  not 
stop  to  illustrate  them.  Spiegelberg's  recommendation  of  the  '  Spitz- 
bubenklima '  of  Graubiinden,  mentioned  at  page  18,  would  seem  much 
more  to  the  point  if  the  reader  had  before  him  the  title  of  G.  J.  Schaffer's 
Zigeunerliste  of  1787  with  its  reference  to  the  robber  bands  'in  Schwaben, 
auch  in  Bohmen '  and  the  '  zum  Theil  mit  grossen  Kosten  zu  Chur  in 
Graubiindten  abgeholten  Zigeuner-  und  Morderbande.'  In  lieu  of  these 
details,  which  Willoughby  perhaps  considered  as  vieux  jeu,  we  have  in 
the  sections  on  'Imitations  and  Translations'  and  on  the  '  Reception  and 
Criticism  of  Die  Rauber '  a  painstaking  and  on  the  whole  interesting  con- 
tribution, to  an  unusual  degree  original,  to  the  comparative  history  of 
literature.  From  these  sections  the  present  edition  mainly  derives  its 
distinctive  character ;  they  are  valuable,  but  they  have  also  involved  the 
sacrifice  of  other  subjects  of  at  least  equal  worth.  And  some  of  the  pages 
are  hardly  more  than  bibliographical  lists. 

The  Notes  are  scholarly  and  free  from  padding,  strong  on  the  philo- 
logical side  and  in  parallel  passages  from  Shakespeare  and  the  Bible. 
In  the  note  on  picht  (ii,  16)  on  page  223  the  infinitive  form  should  be 
pichen,  not  pechen.  In  the  second  line  of  note  2  on  page  72  read  1916 
for  1915.  I  omit  some  further  points  of  minor  interest;  my  general 
impression  is  that  Dr  Willoughby 's  pioneer  edition  of  Schiller's  great 
'  Jugenddrama '  will  be  indispensable  for  many  years  to  come. 

Oxford.  Marshall  Montgomery. 

A  Grammar  of  the  German  Language.  By  George  0.  Curme.  Revised 
and  enlarged  Edition.  New  York :  Macmillan  Co.  1922.  8vo. 
xii  +  623  pp. 

Since  its  appearance  in  1905  (see  Modern  Language  Review,  Vol.  in, 
pp.  187  ff.)  Professor  Curme's  German  Grammar  has  established  itself 
as  an  indispensable  handbook  for  all  English-speaking  students  of  the 
language.  Reprinted  in  1911,  1913,  1915  and  1917,  it  now  appears  in 
a  revised  and  enlarged  form  which  makes  it  doubly  welcome.  The 
number  of  pages  of  the  new  edition  gives  no  indication  of  the  extent 
to  which  it  has  been  enlarged,  as  the  new  pages  contain  something  like 
a  third  more  matter  than  the  old.  More  than  this,  'the  views  presented 
in  the  original  edition  have  been  greatly  modified,  for  seventeen  years 

m.l.r.xviii.  24 

/ 


366  Reviews 

of  further  intensive  study  under  the  beneficent  influence  of  maturer 
years  and  a  wider  range  of  observation  have  changed  the  author  and  his 
work  considerably,  at  least  he  feels  the  new  issue  as  quite  a  different 
book.   It  is  a  record  of  striking  inner  change  and  development.' 

Professor  Curme  tells  us  that  he  'has  had  but  one  aim  before  him, 
namely  to  present  the  facts  of  the  language  and  not  to  collect  facts  for 
the  purpose  of  trying  to  establish  favorite  grammatical  theories.'  Illus- 
trative examples,  drawn  from  the  most  varied  sources  with  impartiality, 
may  be  scientifically  invaluable;  but  they  justify  the  criticism  that  the 
issue  between  '  good '  and  '  bad '  usage  is  thereby  apt  to  be  obscured, 
and  the  practical  value  of  the  work  impaired.  A  book  in  German  on 
English  grammar,  which  indiscriminately  took  its  material  from  ac- 
credited men  of  letters,  ephemeral  '  best-sellers,'  and  the  daily  press, 
would  not  be  the  most  helpful  guide  to  Germans,  anxious  to  acquire 
good  English.  In  fact,  the  distasteful  colloquial  slovenliness  with  which 
Germans — and  for  that  part  other  foreigners — often  use  English,  in  the 
belief  that  they  are  thereby  making  themselves  more  English,  should 
be  a  warning  to  us.  I  cannot  help  thinking  that  Professor  Curme's 
work  would  have  been  much  enhanced  in  value,  had  he  allowed  himself 
to  take  up  a  stronger  attitude  to  the  '  good '  and  the  '  bad.'  I  should 
like  to  have  seen  him  more  definitely  on  the  side  of  the  angels  in  the 
feud  that  has  been  waged  against  'Gelehrtendeutsch'  and  the  'papiernen 
Stil,'  a  feud  that  has  made  German  so  much  more  delicate  and  ex- 
pressive a  tongue  than  it  was  even  a  generation  ago. 

Professor  Curme  accepts  North  German  usage  as  his  norm ;  and  his 
criticism  of  Alemannic  and  Bavarian  colouring  is  influenced  by  the 
North  German  attitude  to  the  language  south  of  the  Main.  I  doubt 
whether  this  is  justified;  for,  after  all,  High  German  is  High  German, 
and  not  North  German.  Like  all  artificially  imposed  languages — like 
the  'exemplary'  English  of  Inverness — the  High  German  of  the  Low 
German  north  is  a  matter  of  rules,  not  arrived  at  organically,  but 
acquired  through  generations.  This  concerns  vital  matters,  such,  for 
instance,  as  the  use  of  the  past  tenses,  where,  it  seems  to  me,  Professor 
Curme  shows  inadequate  appreciation  for  the  southern  '  Sprachgefiihl.' 

In  his  new  Preface,  Professor  Curme  tells  us  that '  he  is  now  inclined 
to  recommend  the  stage  pronunciation  rather  than  choose  North  German 
or  the  choice  pronunciation  of  any  one  section,  as  the  feeling  is  slowly 
gaining  ground  that  the  standard  of  the  stage  represents  the  best 
German  of  our  time.'  The  '  feeling '  may  be  gaining  ground ;  I  cannot 
say ;  but  the  stage  pronunciation  of  to-day  is  certainly  a  less  definite 
and  homogeneous  thing  than  it  was  a  generation  ago.  And  does  one 
not  hear  it  whispered  in  Germany  that  the  best  German  on  the  con- 
temporary stage  is  not  spoken  by  a  German  at  all,  but  by  an  Italian — 
Alexander  Moissi  ?  This  is  some  consolation  for  the  foreigner !  These 
remarks  are  not,  however,  meant  in  the  spirit  of  cavilling  against  the 
good  things  Professor  Curme  has  given  us  in  this  invaluable  book,  which 
should  be  in  the  library  of  every  teacher  and  student  of  German. 

London.  J.  G.  ROBERTSON. 


MINOR  NOTICES. 

It  is  difficult  to  imagine  an  implement  more  likely  to  further  the 
avowed  objects  of  the  English  Association  than  The  Years  Work  in 
English  Studies,  1920-21,  edited  by  Sir  Sidney  Lee  and  Dr  F.  S.  Boas 
(London  :  H.  Milford.  192  pp.  7s.  6d.).  English  students  are  gradually 
forging  the  machinery  on  which  rest  the  hopes  of  the  development  of 
their  faculty.  The  Modern  Humanities  Research  Association  issues 
annually  a  Bibliography  of  English  Language  and  Literature,  a  complete 
list  of  all  publications  touching  the  subject,  which  the  professed  scholar 
now  finds  indispensable.  But  the  task  of  the  editors  of  and  the  con- 
tributors to  The  Year's  Work  is  more  difficult  than  are  compilation  and 
classification.  They  do  not  claim  to  notice  every  book  or  article  which 
may  concern  English  studies.  They  select  the  more  important  items ; 
but  they  give  a  description  of  their  contents  and  attempt  an  assessment 
of  their  value.  No  one  but  the  specialist  wants  more.  And  even  the 
specialist  will  find  in  the  volume  not  only  the  specific  help  in  the  separate 
sections  which  are  in  the  hands  of  those  most  competent  to  pro- 
nounce in  that  particular  field,  but  he  will  also  get  that  corrective,  so 
necessary  in  the  specialist,  of  seeing  his  own  little  corner  as  a  corner  in 
an  infinitely  larger  edifice.  And  if  there  still  be  required  any  j  ustifica- 
tion  of  English  studies  as  a  liberal  education,  the  whole  scheme  of  this 
volume  will  provide  it. 

The  excellence  of  the  book  suggests  a  comment  which  is  the  more 
urgent  when  one  notes  the  bulk  to  which  the  volume  has  grown  com- 
pared with  last  year's.  There  must  be  but  a  limited  amount  of  money 
which  can  be  spent  on  bibliographies.  Yet  we  want  both  the  type  pro- 
vided by  the  English  Association  and  that  by  the  Modern  Humanities 
Research  Association.  Above  all,  we  wrish  to  see  the  critical  element 
retained.  But  in  order  to  retain  it,  must  we  not  explore  every  avenue 
for  economising  our  resources  ?  Is  not  some  arrangement  possible, 
financial  and  otherwise,  by  which  the  bibliographical  labour  and  expen- 
diture of  the  two  associations  may  be  pooled  ?  Could  not  The  Year's 
Work  retain  its  present  plan,  and  add  at  the  end  of  each  section  lists 
such  as  are  given  independently  by  the  Research  Association  ?  If  that 
were  done,  The  Years  Work  could  relegate  to  these  lists  some  of  the 
items  which  it  has  now  to  incorporate  in  the  text,  at  the  expense,  not 
of  a  descriptive  phrase,  but  more  generally  of  at  least  a  few  sentences. 
Precisely  because  we  realise  the  great  value  of  bibliographies,  we  wish 
to  waste  not  a  penny  in  overlapping  costs. 

H.  B.  C. 

Professor  P.  F.  Baum's  book,  or  thick  tract,  The  Principles  of  English 
Versification  (Cambridge,  Mass.:  Harvard  University  Press;  London: 
H.  Milford.    10s.  6d.)  contains  merely  his  notes  for  the  use  of  his  class. 

24—2 


368  Minor  Notices 

The  first  chapter  is  the  most  interesting,  being  more  general,  and  leading 
up  to  a  discussion  of  the  principles  of  ordinary  and  of  '  free  '  verse.  The 
remainder,  especially  as  the  notes  go  on,  contains  nothing  not  to  be 
found  in  any  common  manual.  T.  S.  0. 

An  attractive  volume  of  Italian  lyrics,  selected  and  translated  by 
Madame  Lorna  de'  Lucchi  (An  Anthology  of  Italian  Poets,  Thirteenth  to 
Nineteenth  Century.  London  :  Heinemann.  1922.  10s.  6d.),  is  introduced 
by  an  interesting  preface  from  the  pen  of  Professor  Cesare  Foligno. 
The  poets  represented  range  from  St  Francis  of  Assisi  to  Carducci,  and 
many  of  the  pieces  chosen — especially  among  the  more  modern — have 
not  previously  been  translated  into  English.  Madame  de'  Lucchi's 
renderings  are  not  always  impeccable  either  in  rhythm  or  in  accuracy ; 
for  instance,  she  has  obviously  misunderstood  several  passages  in  the 
'  contrasto '  of  Cielo  Dalcamo  and  missed  the  significance  of  the  opening 
stanzas  of  Manzonr's  Marzo  1821.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  some  of  her 
versions  are  admirable ;  we  would  instance  in  particular  the  0  gemma 
leziosa  of  Ciacco  dell'  Anguillaia,  Ugo  Foscolo's  Alia  arnica  risanata, 
and  the  hymn  of  Goffredo  Mameli.  The  rendering  of  Carducci's  peculiarly 
difficult  Gadore  is  at  least  a  highly  creditable  tour  de  force.  The  notes 
stand  in  need  of  considerable  revision.  E.  G.  G. 

After  the  already  classical  contributions  to  the  study  of  Dante  in 
this  country,  represented  by  Dr  Paget  Toynbee's  Dante  in  English 
Literature,  and  the  excellent  bibliography  published  by  the  British 
Academy  on  the  occasion  of  the  recent  celebration  of  the  sexcentenary 
of  the  death  of  the  poet,  one  might  wonder  whether  a  new  volume 
could  throw  more  light  on  the  subject.  Signora  Alice  Galimberti,  while 
recognizing  the  great  debt  we  owe  to  Dr  Toynbee,  states  in  the  preface 
to  her  Dante  nel  pensiero  inglese  (Florence  :  Le  Monnier.  1922.  L.  16) 
that  her  intention  has  been  in  some  ways  different  from  his.  Dr  Toynbee's 
work  is  chiefly  a  chronological  exposition,  while  Signora  Galimberti  aims 
at  giving  Italian  readers  a  more  synthetical  and  critical  study,  many  of 
the  authors  and  books  quoted  by  Dr  Toynbee  being  hardly  of  interest  to 
Italians.  She  attempts  therefore  to  give  them  '  un  "  Dante  nel  pensiero 
inglese  "  veduto  di  scorcio,  lumeggiato  nelle  figure  principali  che  gia  in 
se  suscitano  la  curiosita  e  1'  affetto  del  lettore  italiano.'  Thus,  instead  of 
giving  her  countrymen  a  translation  of  Dr  Toynbee's  vast  bibliographical 
work,  she  limits  herself  to  considering  summarily  Dante's  influence  on 
Chaucer  and  his  successors  in  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries, 
on  Spenser,  and  possibly  on  Shakespeare,  on  Milton  and  on  Pope.  She 
devotes  over  two-thirds  of  her  volume  to  the  writers  and  artists  of  the 
last  century  who  reflected  the  revival  of  interest  in  Dante,  in  Italy  and 
in  this  country  subsequent  to  the  publication  of  Cary's  translation  of 
the  Commedia,  after  Foscolo's  revolutionary  historical  criticism.  This 
part  of  the  book  may,  we  think,  prove  most  interesting  to  Italians,  as 
it  gives  a  clear  exposition  of  the  English  writers — Coleridge,  Byron, 


Minor  Notices  369 

Shelley,  Carlyle,  Roscoe,  Hazlitt,  D.  G.  Rossetti,  the  two  Brownings, 
Tennyson,  Swinburne — who  have  expressed  admiration  for  Dante  in 
their  works.  A.  C. 

In  completing  their  Historia  de  la  Liter atura  espanola  (Madrid : 
Rev.  de  Archivos.  1921-22.  2  vols.  17  pes.),  Senores  Hurtado  and  Gon- 
zalez Palencia  have  given  us  something  more  than  the  text-book  which 
its  form  and  general  design  suggest  that  it  was  intended  to  be.  We 
have  noted  some  few  errors,  notwithstanding  which,  however,  the  book 
reaches  a  higher  standard  of  accuracy  than  some  of  its  less  worthy 
predecessors.  Valuable  features  are  the  summaries,  historical  notes  and 
bibliographies — the  last  well  selected  and  up-to-date,  and,  in  spite  of 
occasional  lacunce,  very  well  suited  to  class  use.  A  larger  proportion 
of  space  might  have  been  given  to  the  nineteenth  century,  especially 
had  the  authors'  plan  allowed  them  to  lay  more  stress  on  movements 
and  less  on  men.  But  these  are  minor  criticisms  of  a  text-book  which 
advanced  students  as  well  as  beginners  will  be  glad  to  have  on  their 
shelves.  Its  greatest  merit  is  that  it  bears  the  hall-mark  of  the  practical 
teacher,  and  without  entirely  neglecting  the  claims  of  scholarship  goes 
straight  to  the  needs  of  the  class-room.  E.  A.  P. 

Miss  Elizabeth  F.  Johnson's  dissertation,  Weckherlin  s  Eclogues  of 
the  Seasons  (Baltimore:  Johns  Hopkins  University;  Tubingen:  H.  Laupp. 
1922.  67  pp.),  re-examines  in  detail  the  four  eclogues  of  that  contem- 
porary of  Opitz  whom  Herder  tried  ineffectually  to  rescue  from  oblivion. 
A  previous  dissertation,  Englands  Einfluss  auf  G.  R.  Weckherlin,  by 
W.  Bohm  (Gottingen,  1893),  had  claimed  to  find  a  strong  influence  of 
English  poetry,  in  particular  of  Spenser,  which  would  have  given  Weck- 
herlin a  new  importance  in  German  literary  history  as  a  forerunner  of 
the  great  movement  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Weckherlin  actually 
passed  a  great  part  of  his  life  in  England,  and  his  wide  culture  brought 
him  into  contact  with  the  contemporary  English  pastoral  movement ; 
such  influence  might  thus  have  been  possible.  Miss  Johnson's  aim  is  to 
test  the  authenticity  of  the  claim,  and  after  marshalling  evidence  from 
these  four  important  eclogues,  she  can  but  confirm  the  conclusion  arrived 
at  by  Professor  L.  E.  Kastner  in  an  article  in  this  Review  in  1915  (Vol.  X, 
pp.  366  ff.) :  '  The  fact  is  that  Weckherlin,  in  spite  of  his  prolonged 
sojourn  in  England,  owes  comparatively  little  to  English  literature.  He 
was  essentially  a  follower  of  the  Pleiade,  just  as  Opitz  was.'  Weckherlin 
was  no  exception  to  his  age  in  regarding  France  as  the  one  country 
worthy  of  imitation,  and  though  from  Spenser  he  might  have  learnt 
what  real  poetry  could  be,  Miss  Johnson  shows  him  pursuing  his  laboured 
imitation  of  French  rhythms,  incapable  of  learning  lightness  and  variety 
even  from  the  German  folk  poetry  from  which  in  some  measure  he 
derives  his  themes.  I.  M.  M. 

The  somewhat  general  title  of  Friedrich  Bruns'  study,  Modern 
Thought  in  the  German  Lyric  Poets  from  Goethe  to  Dehmel  (University 
of  Wisconsin  Studies  in  Language  and  Literature,  xin.    Madison,  1921. 


370  Minor  Notices 

1  dol.),  enables  him  to  group  certain  of  the  chief  German  lyric  poets  of 
the  nineteenth  century  under  the  headings  of  Romanticism,  Welt- 
schmerz,  Realism,  Pessimism,  the  New  Optimism.  Such  poets  are  passed 
by  as,  in  the  author's  opinion,  have  not  a  philosophy  of  life  (e.g.  Bren- 
tano,  Morike),  while  Heine  proves  stubbornly  refractory  to  unqualified 
inclusion  under  Weltschmerz.  The  method  pursued  is  to  give  a  short 
sketch  of  the  '  Weltanschauung '  of  each  poet,  and  to  show  the  gradual 
evolution  from  the  optimism  of  eighteenth-century  enlightenment, 
through  the  pessimism  of  Schopenhauer  to  the  conquest  of  suffering 
by  the  new  will  to  live  of  Nietzsche.  The  author  does  not  break  new 
ground.  His  book  has  the  merit  of  presenting  the  poets  he  has  selected 
against  the  spiritual  background  of  their  time.  I.  M.  M. 

The  three  most  recent  volumes  (xviii-xx)  of  the  series  of  Scan- 
dinavian Classics  (New  York :  American  Scandinavian  Foundation ; 
London:  H.  Milford;  each  lis.)  are  Gustaf  af  Geijerstam's  Book  about 
Little  Brother,  translated  by  Edwin  Bjorkman;  A  Book  of  Danish  Verse, 
translated  by  S.  Foster  Damon  and  Robert  Hillyer ;  and  Selected  Short 
Stories  by  Per  Hallstrom,  translated  by  F.  J.  Fielden.  The  two  prose 
works  are  provided  by  their  translators  with  adequate  introductions, 
which  rather  uncritically  reproduce  the  Scandinavian  standpoint,  and 
the  translations  read  smoothly.  Mr  Bjorkman  is  a  practised  translator 
from  the  Swedish ;  but  he  does  not  seem  to  be  as  successful  here  as  in 
some  of  his  other  work ;  one  is  occasionally  pulled  up  by  un-English 
words  and  phrases.  Mr  Fielden's  translation  is  distinctly  better  English ; 
but  his  choice  of  Hallstrom's  stories  inclines  too  much  to  those  on 
non-Swedish  themes.  The  unique  thing  for  us  about  Hallstrom  is  his 
wonderful,  almost  lyric  power,  as  in  the  first  story  of  Briljantsmycket, 
of  conjuring  up  the  Swedish  landscape.  Mr  Fielden  has  given  us  too 
little  of  this.  It  is  a  pity  that  books  like  these  are  sold  at  the  pro- 
hibitive price  of  two  dollars ;  they  would  surely  be  more  remunerative 
at  a  third  or  even  a  quarter  of  the  price,  which  would  also  further  more 
effectually  the  object  which  the  American  Scandinavian  Foundation 
has  at  heart.  The  Book  of  Danish  Verse  is  recommended  on  the  wrapper 
as  having  reproduced  the  original  '  with  miraculous  success.'  Only  a 
critic  who  has  no  ear  for  the  peculiar  magic  of  the  northern  lyric  could 
make  such  a  statement.  Many  of  the  renderings  in  this  volume — notably 
those  of  so  exquisite  a  lyric  genius  as  Jacobsen — are  frankly  intolerable. 
The  translators  themselves  have  had  evidently  too  little  lyric  feeling  to 
attempt  a  task  like  this.  J.  G.  R. 

With  reference  to  the  statement  in  the  review  of  Professor  F.  W. 
Schoell's  edition  of  Charlemagne  (The  Distracted  Emperor)  (p.  214), 
that  the  editor  reproduces  'not  only  the  orthography,  but  the  errors 
of  the  scribe,  even  to  the  prefacing  of  the  first  act  with  the  words 
"[Actus]  2.  Scena  2," '  Dr  W.  W.  Greg  writes  that  the  MS.  has  '[Actus]  1 
Scena  1,  and  that  here  and  in  some  other  places  Professor  Schoell  seems 
to  show  a  want  of  familiarity  with  Elizabethan  handwriting. 


NEW  PUBLICATIONS. 
March-May,  1923. 

GENERAL. 

Abel,  0.,  Die  vorweltlichen  Tiere  im  Marchen,  Sage  und  Aberglauben.  (Wissen 

und  Wirken,  viii.)   Karlsruhe,  G.  Braun.    1  M. 
Baugh,  A.  C,  N,  Foerster,  H.  C.  Lancaster,  J.  P.  W.  Crawford,  D.  B. 

Shumway,  American  Bibliography  for  1922  (Publ.  M.  L.A.  Amer.,  xxxviii, 

1,  March). 
Borinski,  K.,  Die  Antike  in  Poetik  und  Kunsttheorie,  n,  1.  Lief.   (Das  Erbe 

der  Alten,  i,  10.)   Leipzig,  Dieterich.   2  M. 
Fraser,  J.,  History  and  Etymology.    Inaugural  Lecture.    Oxford,  Clarendon 

Press.    Is.  6d. 

Grierson,  H.  J.  C,  Classical  and  Romantic.   Cambridge,  Univ.  Press.   2s.  6d. 
Griffin,  N.  E.,  The  Definition  of  Romance  (Publ.  M.  L.  A.  Amer.,  xxxviii, 
1,  March). 
Haust,  J.,  Etymologies  wallones  et  francaises.    Paris,  H.  Champion.    25  fr. 
Oettli,  P.,  Sprachliche  Entdeckerfahrten.    Wegleitung  zu  denkendem  Erfassen 
der  Sprache.    Frauenfeld,  Huber  und  Co.   5  M. 

Perrett,  W.,  Some  Questions  of  Phonetic  Theory,   vi.   The  Mechanism  of  the 

Cochlea.   Cambridge,  W.  Heffer.   2s. 
Ratcliff,  A.  J.  J.,  A  History  of  Dreams.    A  Brief  Account  of  the  Evolution  of 

Dream  Theories  with  a  Chapter  on  Dreams  in  Literature.   London,  Grant 

Richards.    7s.  6d. 

Richardson,  W.  L.  and  J.  M.  Owen,  Literatures  of  the  World.    London,  Ginn 
and  Co.    10s.  6d. 

Schnetz,  J.,  Beitrage  zur  Kenntnis  der  nichtgermanischen  Fluss-  und  Ortsnamen 

Siiddeutschlands.    Halle,  M.  Niemeyer.   50  pf. 
Suhtschek,  F.  von,  Literatur  und  Literaturwissenschaft.   Abriss  eines  kriti- 

schen  Systems.   Graz,  Leuschner  und  Lubensky.   4  M. 
Thomson,  W.,  The  Rhythm  of  Speech.   Glasgow,  Maclehose  and  Jackson.    105s. 
Thorndike,  L.,  A  History  of  Magic  and  Experimental  Science  during  the  first 

thirteen  centuries  of  our  era.   2  vols.   New  York,  Macmillan  Co. 

ROMANCE  LANGUAGES. 

Gartner,  T.,  Ladinische  Worter  aus  den  Dolomitentalern.   (Zeitschrift  fur  rom. 
Phil.,  Beihefte,  lxxiii.)   Halle,  Niemeyer.   6  M. 

Millardet,  G.,  Linguistique  et  Dialectologie  romanes.  Problemes  et  Methodes. 
Paris,  H.  Champion.   30  fr. 

Morf,  H.,  Aus  Dichtung  und  Sprache  der  Romanen.   Vortrage  und  Skizzen.  in. 
Berlin,  Vereinig.  wissensch.  Verleger.   5  M.  50. 

Thompson,  J.  W.,  The  Origin  of  the  Word  'Goliardi'  (Stud.  Phil.,  xx,  1, 

Jan.). 

Mediaeval  Latin. 

Eginhard,  Vie  de  Charlemagne.  Ed.  et  traduite  par  L.  Halphen.  (Classiques  de 
l'Histoire  de  France  au  Moyen  Age,  i.)   Paris,  H.  Champion.   7  fr.  50. 


372  New  Publications 

Sedulius,  The  Easter  Song,  being  the   First   Epic   of  Christendom.     With 

Introduction,  Verse-translation  and  Appendices  by  G.  Sigerson.    Dublin, 

Talbot  Press  ;  London,  Fisher  Unwin.    12s.  6d. 
Italian. 

Austin,  H.  D.,  Dante  Notes,  in  (Mod.  Lang.  Notes,  xxxviii,  3,  March). 
Baccolini,  A.,  Vita  ed  opere  di  L.  Savioli,  storico  e  letterato  bolognese  del  sec. 

xvin.    Bologna,  Cappelli.    L.  5. 
Bandini,  C,  Contributi  leopardiani.    Bologna,  Zanichelli.    L.  10. 
Boccaccio,  G.,  Novelle  scelte  dal  Decamerone.   Con  un  saggio  delle  narrazioni 

e  delle  ballate.    A  cura  di  G.  Rua.    Turin,  Paravia.    L.  9. 
Borzelli,  A.,  T.  Tasso  a  Napoli  nel  1592.   Naples,  Ceccoli. 

Chiappelli,  A.,  Un  epigramma  di  Filippo  di  ser  Brunellesco  contro  Donatello 

(Giorn.  stor.  delta  Lett,  ital.,  lxxxi,  3). 
Dante  Alighieri,  La  Vita  Nuova.    Ed.  by  K.  McKenzie.    London,  D.  C 

Heath.   6s. 
Dante  e  il  Friuli  (1321-1921).    A  cura  di  A.  Fiammazzo.    Udine,  G.  B.  Doretti. 
De  Salvio,  A.,  Heterodoxy  in  Dante's  Purgatory  (Publ.  M.  L.  A.  Amer., 

xxxviii,  1,  March). 
Donadoni,  E.,  Breve  storia  della  letteratura  italiana  dalle  origini  ai  nostri 

giorni.    Milan,  C.  Signorelli.    L.  8. 
Donati-Petteni,  G.,  D'Annunzio  e  Wagner.    Florence,  Le  Monnier.    L.  8.50. 
Foscolo,  U.,  L'orazione  inaugurale,  a  cura  di  G.  Dolci.  Lanciano,  G.  Carabba.  L.  4. 

Galletti,  A.,  Le  poesie  di  A.  Graf  (Riv.  d'ltalia,  March  15). 
Giudetti,  G.,  L'Amicizia,  la  Religione  e  la  Lingua  nelle  relazioni  e  carteggio  tra 

A.  Cesari,  A.  Manzoni  e  G.  Leopardi.    Reggio,  O.  Giudetti.   L.  7. 
Gozzi,  C,  Memorieinutili.    Introd.  e  note  di  D.  Bulferetti.    I.    Turin,  Unione 

Tipografico-Editrice.    L.  20. 
GuittonedArezzo,  Le  Lettere.  A  cura  di  F.  Meriano.  Bologna,  R.  Commissione 

pei  testi  di  lingua.    L.  25. 
Leopardi,  G.,  Operette  morali.  Con  introduzione  e  note  di  D.  Bianchi.  Palermo, 

Sandron.    L.  11.50. 
Malattia  della  Vallata,  G.,  Villotte  friulane  moderne,  con  un  studio  su 

Dante  in  Friuli.    Maniago,  La  Tipografica.   L.  12. 
Marradi,  G.,  Prose.    Edizione  postuma  a  cura  e  con  prefazione  di  G.  Biagi. 

Florence,  Carpigiana  e  Zipoli.   L.  8. 
Mazzini,  G.,  Scritti  scelti.    Prefazione  e  note  di  F.   Momigliano.    Florence, 

Battistelli.   L.  10. 
Momigliano,  A.,  Primi  studi  goldoniani.   Florence,  Perrella.    L.  4. 

Ortiz,  R.,  La  materia  epica  di  ciclo  classico  nella  lirica  italiana  delle  Origini, 

in  (Giorn.  stor.  della  lett.  ital.,  lxxxi,  3). 
Piccoli,  V.,  Itinerario  leopardiano.   Milan,  Treves.   L.  9. 
Portal,  E.,  LArcadia.    Palermo,  Sandron.    L.  8.50. 
Reichenbach,  G,  Un  gentiluomo  poeta  del  Quattrocento  :  M.  M.  Boiardo.   i. 

Ferrara,  Taddei.    L.  6. 
Rizzo,  T.  L.,  Sulla  guida  dei  '  Trionfi '  (Giorn.  stor.  della  lett.  ital.,  lxxxi,  3). 
Rosman,  E.,  Vocabolarietto  Veneto  Giuliano.   A  cura  della  Soc.  Fil.  Romana. 

Rome,  Maglione  e  Strini.    L.  8. 
Russo,  L.,  I  narratori.    Rome,  Fondazione  Leonardo.   L.  7. 
Spaventa  Filippi,  S.,  Alfieri.   Milan,  Ediz.  '  Alpes.'   L.  6. 
Stuparich,  G.,  Scipio  Slataper.   Florence,  'La  Voce.'   L.  15. 
Toynbee,  P.,  The  Bearing  of  the  Cursus  on  the  Text  of  Dante's  '  De  Vulgari 

Eloquentia'  (British  Academy).    London,  H.  Milford.    Is.  6d. 


■) 


New  Publications  373 


Spanish  and  Portuguese. 

Bell,  A.  F.  G.,  Luis  de  Camoes.   (Hispanic  Notes  and  Monographs ;  Portug. 

Series,  iv.)   Oxford,  Univ.  Press.   7s.  6d. 
Bolivar,  S.   Address  to  the  Venezuelan  Congress  at  Angostura.   (Cambridge 

Plain  Texts.)    Cambridge,  Univ.  Press.    Is.  6d. 
Buceta,  E.  El  entusiasmo  por  Espaiia  en  algunos  romanticos  ingleses  (Rev. 
Jil.  esp.,  x,  1,  March). 
Cabanyes,  M.  de,  The  Poems  of.   Ed.  by  E.  Allison  Peers.  (Spanish  Texts  and 

Studies.)    Manchester,  Univ.  Press.    7s.  6d. 
Cervantes  Saavedra,  M.  de,  Poesias.    La  mas  completa  collecci6n  hasta  el 

dia.    Ordenacion  y  prologo  de  E.  Martin  de  la  Camara.   Madrid,  Rivade- 

neyra.    6  pes. 
Cervantes  Saavedra,  M.  de,  Prologues  and  Epilogue.  (Cambridge  Plain  Texts.) 

Cambridge,  Univ.  Press.    Is.  6d. 
Fitzmaurice-Kelly,  Julia.  Antonio  Perez.  (Hispanic  Notes  and  Monographs, 

vi.)    London,  H.  Milford.    7s.  6d. 
Leon,  Fray  Luis  de,  Poesias  proprias  y  traducciones  de  autores  profanos  y 

sagrados.    Madrid,  Rivadeneyra.    6  pes. 
Millares  Carlo,  A.,  Feij6o  y  Mayans  (Rev.  Jil.  esp.,  x,  1,  March). 
Navarro  Tomas,  T.,  La  metafonia  vocalica  y  otras  teorias  del  seilor  Colton 

(Rev.  Jil.  esp.,  x,  1,  March). 
Par,  Anf6s,  Sintaxi  Catalana  segons  los  escrits  en  prosa  de  Bernat  Metge 

(1398).   (Zeitschrift  f.  rom.  Phil.,  Beihefte,  lxvi.)   Halle,  M.  Niemeyer. 

17  M. 
Pereda,  J.  M.  de,  Obras  completas.    xvn.    Madrid,  V.  Suarez.    5  pes. 
Saralegui  y  Medina,  Escarceos  filologicos.    Madrid,  Hernandez.   6  pes. 

French. 

(a)  Qeneral  (incl.  Linguistic). 

Bedier,  J.  et  P.  Hazard,  Histoire  de  la  Litterature  francaise.   Fasc.  1.   Paris, 
Larosse.    2  fr. 

Lanson,  G.,  Histoire  illustree  de  la  Litterature  francaise.    Fasc.   1.     Paris, 

Hachette.    8  fr. 
Nitze,  W.  A.  and  E.  P.  Dargan,  A  History  of  French  Literature  from  the 

Earliest  Times  to  the  Great  War.    London,  Harrap.    15s. 

(b)  Old  French. 

Boulenger,  J.,  Les  Romans  de  la  Table  ronde.    n,  in.   Paris,  Plon.   Each  7  fr. 
Cohen,  G.,  Le  Livre  du  regisseur  pour  le  Mystere  de  la  Passion  (Rev.  d.  d. 
Mondes,  May  15). 
Eloy  d'amerval,  Le  Liure  de  la  Deablerie.  Ed.  by  C.  F.  Ward.   (Univ.  of  Iowa 

Studies,  ii,  2.)    Iowa  City,  Univ.  of  Iowa.    8  dol. 
Kjellman,  H.,  Le  troubadour  Raimon-Jordan,  vicomte  de  Saint-Antonin.   Paris, 
H.  Champion.    15  fr. 
Knomlton,  E.  C,  Nature  in  Old  French  (Mod.  Phil.,  xx,  3,  Feb.). 
Krapps,  A.  H.,  The  Origin  of  the  '  Geste  Rainouart '  (Neuphil.  Mittcil., 
xxiv,  1-4). 
Rolandslied,  Das.    Herausg.  von  E.  Lerch.  (Romanische  Biicherei,  i.)  Munich, 

M.  Hueber. 
Roman  de  Troie  en  prose,  Le.   Ed.  par  Constans  et  Farral.   (Classiques  francais 
du  Moyen  Age.)    Paris,  H.  Champion.    6  fr. 

Tallgren,  0.  J.,  Manuscrit  gascon  trouve  en  Fiulande  (Neuphil.  Mitteil., 
xxiv,  1-4). 


374  New  Publications 

Thomas  of  Britain,  The  Romance  of  Tristram  and  Ysolt.   Transl.  from  Old 
French  and  Old  Norse  by  R.  S.  Loomis.   New  York,  E.  P.  Dutton. 

(c)  Modern  French. 

Addamiano,  N.,  Quelques  sources  italiennes  de  la  '  Deffence '  de  J.  du  Bellay 
(Rev.  litt.  comp.,  iii,  2,  April). 
Atkinson,  G.,  The  Extraordinary  Voyage  in  French  Literature  before  1700. 
(Columbia  Univ.  Studies  in  Romance  Philology  and  Literature.)   New 
Yo«k,  Columbia  Univ.  Press  ;  London,  H.  Milford.   9s. 
Balzac,  H.  de  et  Z.  Carraud,  Correspondance  inddite  (cont.)  (Rev.  d.  d. 
Mondes,  March-May). 
Barnes,  H.  E.,  A  Study  of  the  Variations  between  the   Original  and   the 
Standard  Edition  of  Balzac's  '  Les   Chouans.'     Chicago,  Univ.   Press ; 
Cambridge,  Univ.  Press.   7s. 
Batiffol,  L.,  Richelieu  a-t-il  persecute  Corneille  1    (Rev.  d.  d.  Mondts, 
April  1). 

Cabos,  A.,  Guy  du  Faur  de  Pibrac  :  un  magistrat  poete  au  16e  siecle.  Paris.  12  fr. 
Chaponniere,  P.,  Les  premieres  annees  d'exil  de  Saint-Evremond  (Rev. 

d'hist.  litt.,  xxix,  4). 
Crane,  R.  S.,  The  Diffusion  of  Voltaire's  Writings  in  England,  1750-1800 
(Mod.  Phil.,  xx,  3,  Feb.). 
Delahaye,  E.,  Rimbaud.    Paris,  Messein.    7  fr. 
Dittmann,  W.,  P.  Gringoire  als  Dramatiker.    (Roman.  Stud.,  xxi.)   Berlin,  E. 

Ebering.    9  M. 
Eckhoff,  L.,  P.  Verlaine  og  Symbolismen.    Christiania,  Steen.    10  kr. 
Faure,  G.,  J.  J.  Rousseau  a  Monquin  (Rev.  de  France,  May  1). 
Gazier,  G.,  La  jeunesse  de  Ch.  Nodier  (Rev.  d'hist.  litt.,  xxix,  4). 
Haggard,  A.  C.  P.,  Victor  Hugo  :  His  Work  and  Love.   London,  Hutchinson. 
16s. 
Hanotaux,  G.,  Fustel  de  Coulanges  et  le  temps  present  (Rev.  d.  d.  Mondes, 

March  1). 
Havens,  G.  R.,  The  Theory  of  'Natural  Goodness'  in  Rousseau's  'Con- 
fessions' (Mod.  Lang.  Notes,  xxxviii,  5,  May). 
La  Bruyere,  J.  de,  Les  Caracteres.   (Cambridge  Plain  Texts.)  Cambridge,  Univ. 
Press.    Is.  6d. 

Levi-Malvano,  E.,  Les  editions  toscanes  de  1"  Encyclopedic '  (Rev.  litt- 
comp.,  iii,  2,  April). 

Martino,  P.,  Le  naturalisme  francais,  1870-95.    Paris,  A.  Colin.    5  fr. 
Massis,  H.,  Jugements  :  Renan,  A.  France,  M.  Barres.   Paris,  Ploa.   7  fr.  50. 
Mery,  L.,  '  Atala '  et  la  Bible  (Rev.  litt.  comp.,  iii,  2,  April). 
Monglond,  A.,  Le  role  litteraire  d'un  refugie  :  Jeremie  Bitaube  et  la  '  prose 
poetique '  (Rev.  litt.  comp.,  iii,  2,  April). 
Monod,  G.,  La  vie  et  la  pensee  de  Jules  Michelet,  1798-1852.  2  vols.    Paris, 
H.  Champion.    55  fr. 

Paludan,  H.  A.,  Studier  over  Corneilles  Forhold  til  de  spanske  drama 
(Edda,  xviii,  4). 
Poinsot,  M.  C,  La  flamme  de  Chateaubriand.   Paris,  Pensee  francaise.  7  fr.  50. 
Renan,  E.  et  Henriette  Renan,  Lettres  intimes,  1842-45.    Paris,  Nelson. 
4  fr.  50. 

Sainean,  L.,  La  Langue  de  Rabelais,   n.    Paris.    Vols,  i  and  n.   60  fr. 

Schaffer,  A,  A  Chateaubriand  Rarity  (Publ.  M.  L.  A.  Amer.,  xxxviii,  I, 
March). 


New  Publications  375 

Segur,  N.,  M.  Renan  devant  l'amour.   Paris.   6  fr.  75. 

Simon,  G.,  Chez  V.  Hugo.   Les  tables  tournantes  de  Jersey.   Paris,  Conard.  6  fr. 
Tilley,  A.,  From  Montaigne  to  Moliere,  or  the  Preparation  for  the  Classical 
Age  of  French  Literature.    2nd  ed.    Cambridge,  Univ.  Press.   8s.  6a?. 
Van  Tieghem,  P.,  La  '  Priere  universelle '  de  Pope  et  le  delsme  francais  au 
18e  siecle  {Rev.  litt.  comp.,  iii,  3,  April). 
Verlaine,  P.,  Poesies  completes,   viii.    Paris,  Messein.   66  fr. 

GERMANIC   LANGUAGES. 

Kroesch,  S.,  Germanic  Words  for  'deceive.'  A  Study  in  Semantics.  (Hesperia, 
xiii.)   Gottingen,  Vandenhoeck  und  Ruprecht.   3  M, 
Wood,  F.  A.,  Morphological  Notes  (Stud.  Phil.,  xx,  1,  Jan.). 

Scandinavian. 

Are,  Islanderbuch  (Islendingaboc).  Herausg.  von  W.  Golther.  2.  Aufl.  (Alt- 
nordische  Saga-Bibliothek,  i.)   Halle,  M.  Niemeyer.    2  M. 

Belfrage,  S.,  Gustavianska  dikter  i  stilhistorisk  belysning.  Stockholm,  Geber. 
3kr. 

Book,  F.,  Essayer  och  Kritiker,  1921-22.   Stockholm,  Norstedt.   6  kr.  50. 

Danish  Verse,  A  Book  of.  Transl.  by  S.  F.  Damon  and  R.  Hillyer.  (Scan- 
dinavian Classics,  xix.)  New  York,  Amer.  Scand.  Foundation  ;  London, 
H.  Milford.    lis. 

Eddalieder,  Die.  Klanglich  untersucht  und  herausg.  von  E.  Sievers.  (Abh.  d. 
sachs.  Akademie  der  Wissenschaften,  xxxvii,  3.)  Leipzig,  B.  G.  Teubner. 
3  M.  50. 

Hallstrom,  P.,  Selected  Short  Stories.  Transl.  by  F.  J.  Fielden.  (Scandinavian 
Classics,  xx.)  New  York,  Amer.  Scand.  Foundation  ;  London,  H.  Milford. 
lis. 
Krappe,  A.  H.,  A  Romance  Source  of  the  Samson  Episode  in  the  'prSreks 
Saga'  (Mod.  Lang.  Notes,  xxxviii,  3,  March). 

Larsen,  S.,  Ebbe  Skammels0ns  Vise.   Med  kritisk  Kommentar.   Copenhagen, 

Hagerup.   8  kr. 
Mohlig,  K.,  Strindbergs  Weltanschauung.  I.  Elberfeld,  Bergland-Verlag.  2  M. 
M0ller,  N.,  Salmesprog  og  Salmetyper.   En  psykologisk  Unders0gelse  af  Re- 

formationsaarhundredets  danske   Menighedssang.    Copenhagen,   M.    P. 

Madsen.    12  kr.  50. 

Neckel,  G.,  Die  altnordische  Literatur.    (Aus  Natur  und  Geisteswelt,  782.) 

Leipzig,  B.  G.  Teubner.    1  M. 
Strindberg,  A.,  Master  Olof.   Skadespel  i  fern  akter,  tryckt  efter  forsta  manu- 

skriptet,  1872.   Stockholm,  A.  Bonnier.    1  kr.  50. 
Topelius,  Z.,  Dagbocker.   Utg.  af  P.  Nyberg.    iv.    1839-40.    Stockholm,  A. 

Bonnier.    12  kr.  50. 
Woerner,  R.,  H.  Ibsen.   2  vols.   3.  Aufl.   Munich,  C.  H.  Beck.    15  M. 

English. 

(a)    General  (incl.  Linguistic). 

Abercrombie,  L.,  Principles  of  English  Prosody,   i.    London,  M.  Seeker.    5s. 

Hoops,  J.,  Englische  Sprachkunde.   Gotha,  F.  A.  Perthes.   3900  M. 

Horn,  W.,  Giessener  Beitrage  zur  Erforschung  der  Sprache  und  Kultur  Englands 
und  Nordamerikas.   I.   Giessen,  Engl.  Seminar. 

McKnight,  G.  IL,  English  Words  and  their  Background.  New  York,  Appleton. 
10s.  6d. 


376  New  Publications 

Scripture,  E.  W.,  The  Study  of  English  Speech  by  New  Methods  of  Investiga- 
tion (from  Proceedings  of  the  British  Academy,  xi.).  London,  H.  Milford. 
3s.  6d. 

(b)  Old  and  Middle  English. 

Beowulf,  The  Song  of.    Rendered  into  English  Prose  by  R.  K.  Gordon.    (King's 
Treasuries  of  Literature.)    London,  Dent.    Is.  9d. 
Emerson,  O.  F.,  Notes  on  Old  English  (Mod.  Lang.  Notes,  xxxviii,  5,  May). 
Farnham,  W.   The  Dayes  of  the  Mone  (Stud.  Phil.,  xx,  1,  Jan.). 
Guy  of  Warwick.    Nach  Coplands  Druck  herausg.  von  G.  Schleich.    (Palaestra, 
139.)   Leipzig,  Mayer  and  Miiller.    7  M. 

Koch,  J.,  Chaucers  Belesenheit  in  den  romischen  Klassikern  (Enql.  Studien, 
lvii,  1,  Feb.). 

Kuhl,  E.   P.,  Chaucer's  'My  Maistre  Bukton'  (Publ.  M.  L.  A.  Amer., 
xxxviii,  1,  March). 

Liljegren,  S.  B.,  Four  Middle  English  Versions  of  the  Eleven  Thousand 
Virgins  (Engl.  Studien,  lvii,  1,  Feb.). 

Ludus  Coventriae  or  The  Plaie  called  Corpus  Christi.  Ed.  by  K.  S.  Block.  (Early 
Engl.  Texts  Soc,  Extra  Series,  120.)    London,  H.  Milford.    30s. 

Pepysian  Gospel  Harmony,  The.  Ed.  by  M.  Goates.  (Early  Engl.  Texts  Soc, 
Original  Series,  157.)   London,  H.  Milford.    15s. 

Prestifilippo  Trigona,  F.,  Chaucer  imitatore  del  Boccaccio.  Catania,  Stud. 
ed.  moderno.   L.  9. 

(c)  Modern  English. 

Albright,  E.  M.,  '  Ad  Imprimendum  solum '  once  more  (Mod.  Lang.  Notes, 
xxxviii,  3,  March). 

Alderman,  W.  E.,  The  Style  of  Shaftesbury  (Mod.  Lang.  Notes,  xxxviii,  4, 
April). 

Allen,  E.  S.,  Chesterfield's  Objection  to  Laughter  (Mod.  Lang.  Notes, 
xxxviii,  5,  May). 

Atkins,  E.,  The  Poet's  Poet.   Essays  on  the  Character  and  Mission  of  the  Poet 

as  interpreted  in  English  Verse  of  the  last  hundred  and  fifty  Years. 

Boston,  Marshall  Jones  Co.   2  dol.  50. 
Beatty,  A.,  W.  Wordsworth  :  his  Doctrine  and  Art  in  their  Historical  Relations. 

(Univ.  of  Wisconsin  Studies  in  Lang,  and  Lit.,  xvii.)   Madison,  Univ.  of 

Wisconsin. 

Bendz,  E.,  Joseph  Conrad,  an  Appreciation.   Goteborg,  N.  J.  Gumpert.   4  kr. 
Boas,  F.  S.,  Shakespeare  and  the  Universities  and  other  Studies  in  Elizabethan 

Drama.    Oxford,  B.  Blackwell.    12s.  6c?. 
Briggs,  W.  D.,  On  a  Document  concerning  Marlowe  (Stud.  Phil.,  xx,  2, 

April). 

Busby,  O.  M.,  Studies  in  the  Development  of  the  Fool  in  the  Elizabethan 

Drama.   London,  H  Milford.   3s.  6c?. 
Calina,  J.,  Shakespeare  in  Poland.    (Shakespeare  Association.)    London,  H. 

Milford.   6s. 

Chancellor,  E.  B.,  The  London  of  Thackeray.   London,  Grant  Richards.    15s. 
Chettle,  H,  Kind-Hartes'  Dreame,  1592.   W.  Kemp,  Nine  Daies  Wonder,  1600. 

(Bodley  Head  Quartos.)   Ed.  by  G.  B.  Harrison.   London,  J.  Lane.   3s. 
Chinard,  G.,  Jefferson  and  Ossian  (Mod.  Lang.  Notes,  xxxviii,  4,  April). 
Cooper,  T.  P.,  With  Dickens  in  Yorkshire.   With  an  introduction  by  B.  W. 

Matz.    London,  B.  Johnson.    2s. 
Cunlippe,  J.  W.,  English  Literature  during  the  Last  Half  Century.    New  ed. 

New  York,  Macmillan  Co.   2  dol.  50. 


New  Publications  377 

Eddy,  W.  A.,  Gulliver's  Travels.   A  Critical  Study.    Princeton,  Univ.  Press  ; 
London,  H.  Milford. 

Emerson,  O.  F.,  'Monk'  Lewis  and  the  'Tales  of  Terror'  (Mod.  Lang. 
Notes,  xxxviii,  3,  March). 

Emerson,  O.  F.,  Shakespeare's  Sonneteering  (Stud.  Phil ,  xx,  2,  April). 

Fausset,  H.  I'A.   Tennyson.    A  Modern  Portrait.    London,  Selwyn  and  Blount. 

8s.  Gd. 
Foerster,  N,  Nature  in  American  Literature.   New  York,  Macmillan  Co. 
Follett,  W.,  The  Modern  Novel.    New  York,  A.  Knopf. 
Gay,  J.,  The  Beggar's  Opera  and  Polly.   Editions  of  1728  and  1729.    London, 

Chapman  and  Dodd.   7s.  6d. 
Gollancz,  Sir  I.,  In  Commemoration  of  the  First  Folio  Tercentenary.  London, 

H.  Milford.    5s. 

Green,  F.  C,  R.  Fergussons  Anteil  an  der  Literatur  Schottlands.   Heidelberg, 

C.  Winter. 
Greene,  R.,  The  Thirde  and  Last  Part  of  Conny-catching.    Ed.  by  G.  B. 

Harrison.    London,  J.  Lane.    3s. 
Greenlaw,  E.,  Some  Old  Religious  Cults  in  Spenser  (Stud.  Phil,  xx,  2, 

April). 

Griffith,  R.  H.,  Alexander  Pope.    A  Bibliography,   i.   Pope's  own  Writings, 
1709-34.   Austin,  Univ.  of  Texas. 

Hearn,  Lafcadio,  Pre-Raphaelite  and  other  Poets.    Lectures.    London,  Heine- 
mann.    8s.  Qd. 

Hemminge,  W.,  Elegy  on  Randolph's  Finger.    Ed.  by  G.  C.  Moore  Smith. 

Oxford,  B.  Blackwell.   3s.  6d. 
Jameson,  R.  D.,  Notes  on  Dryden's  Lost  Prosodia  (Mod.  Phil.,  xx,  3,  Feb.). 
Jonson,  B.,  Every  Man  in  his  Humour.    Ed.  by  R.  S.  Knox.   London,  Methuen. 

2s. 

Kempling,  W.  B.,  The  Shakespeare  Memorials  of  London.    London,  Werner 
Laurie.    5s. 

Krutch,  J.  W.,  Governmental  Attempts  to  Regulate  the  Stage  after  the 
Jeremy  Collier  Controversy  (Publ.  M.  L.  A.  Amer.,  xxxviii,  1,  March). 
Lee,  Sir  S.,  The  Prefatory  Pages  of  the  First  Folio.    London,  Shakespeare 
League.   6d. 

Lowenhaupt,  W.  H.,  The  Writing  of  Milton's  '  Eikonoklastes '  (Stud.  Phil., 
xx,  1,  Jan.). 

Lubbock,  P.,  Samuel  Pepys.    Reprint.    London,  Nelson.   2s. 
McCallum,  J.  D.,  Lord  Morley's  Criticism  of  English  Poetry  and  Prose.   Prince- 
ton, Univ.  Press  ;  London,  H.  Milford.    4s.  6d. 

McCotcheon,  R.  P.,  Addison  and  the  '  Muses  Mercury '  (Stud.  Phil.,  xx, 
1,  Jan.). 

McKillop,  A.  0.,  The  Romanticism  of  William  Collins  (Sttcd.  Phil,  xx,  1, 
Jan.). 

Mais,  S.  P.  B.,  Some  Modern  Authors.   London,  Grant  Richards.    7s.  6d. 
Malone,  K.,  The  Literary  History  of  Hamlet.   I.  The  Early  Tradition.  (Anglis- 
tische  Forsch.,  lix.)   Heidelberg,  C.  Winter.   6  M.  80. 

Martin,  M.  Y,  Spenser  and  the  Greek  Pastoral  Triad  (Stud.  Phil.,  xx,  2, 

April). 

Meredith,  G.  and  Alice  Meynell,  The  Letters  of.     1896-1907.     London, 
Nonesuch  Press.    12s.  6d. 

More,  Sir  T.,  Utopia.    Translated  into  Modern  English  by  G.  C.  Richards. 
Oxford,  B.  Blackwell.    5s. 


378  New  Publications 

Nethercot,  A.  H.,  The  Literary  Legend  of  Francis  Quarles  (Mod.  Phil., 
xx,  3,  Feb.). 
Nicolaysen,  L.,  Bernard  Shaw.     Eine  philosophische  Studie.    (Phil.  Reihe, 
lxvii.)   Munich,  Rosl  und  Co.    2  M. 

Nicolson,  H.,  Tennyson.   Aspects  of  his  Life,  Character  and  Poetry.   London, 
Constable.    12s.  6d. 

Padelford,  F.  M.,  The  Scansion  of  Wyatt's  Early  Sonnets  (Stud.  Phil.,  xx, 

2,  April). 
Peck,  W.  E.,  The  Biographical  Element  in  the  Novels  of  Mary  W.  Shelley 

(Publ.  M.  L.  A.  Amer.,  xxxviii,  1,  March). 
Pioli,  G.,  P.  B.  Shelley.    Milan,  Corbaccio.    L.  15. 
Pollard,  A.  W.,  The  Foundations  of  Shakespeare's  Text.  (Annual  Shakespeare 

Lecture,  Brit.  Acad.)   London,  H.  Milford.    Is. 
J?onsonby,  A.,  English  Diaries.    A  Review  of  English  Diaries  from  the  16th  to 

the  20th  Century.    London,  Methuen.    21s. 
Rhodes,  R.  C,  Shakespeare's  First  Folio.    Oxford,  B.  Blackwell.   4s.  6d. 

Rollins,  H.  E.,  Ballads  from  Add.  MS.  38,599  (Publ.  M.  L.  A.  Amer., 

xxxviii,  1,  March). 
Rollins,  H.  E.,  The  Commonwealth  Drama :  Miscellaneous  Notes  (Stud. 

Phil.,  xx,  1,  Jan.). 
Schirmer,  W.  F.,  Der  englische   Roman   der  neuesten   Zeit.     (Kultur  und 

Sprache,  i.)   Heidelberg,  C.  Winter.   2  M. 
Shakespeare,  W.,  Much  Ado  About  Nothing.  Ed.  by  Sir  A.  Quiller  Couch  and 

J.  Dover  Wilson.    Cambridge,  Univ.  Press.   6s. 
Sim,  F.  M.,  Robert  Browning :  the  Poet  and  the  Man,  1833-46.   London,  T. 

Fisher  Unwin.    10s.  %d. 
Sisson,  C.  J.,  Le  Gout  public  et  le  Theatre  elisabethien  jusqu'a  la  mort  de 

Shakespeare.   Dijon,  Darantiere. 
Spenser,  E.,  The  Shepheards  Calender.    (Cambridge  Plain  Texts.)   Cambridge, 

Univ.  Press.    Is.  6d. 
Stewart,  G.  R.,  Modern  Metrical  Technique  as  illustrated  by  Ballad  Meter 

(1700-1920).   New  York. 
Streatfield,  G.  S.,  The  Mind  of  the  'Spectator'  under  the  Editorship  of 

Addison  and  Steele.    London,  T.  Fisher  Unwin.    7s.  6d. 
Visiak,  E.  H.,  Milton  Agonistes.    A  Metaphysical  Criticism.   London,  Philpot. 

3s.  ed. 

Ward,  B.  R.,  The  Mystery  of '  Mr  W.  H.'   London,  Cecil  Palmer.    10s.  Qd. 
Ward,  W.  C,  John  Ruskin's  Letters  to  William  Ward,  with  a  short  Biography 
of  William  Ward.   Boston,  Mass.,  Marshall  Jones.   2  dol.  50. 

German. 

(a)  General  (incl.  Linguistic). 

Behaghel,  O.,  Deutsche  Syntax,  i.  (Germanische  Bibl.,  i,  10, 1,  A.)  Heidelberg, 

C.  Winter.    14  M. 
Grimm,  J.  und  W.,  Deutsches  Worterbuch,  xi,  1,  5  (Ton — Tort).    Leipzig,  S. 

Hirzel.    2  M. 
Kluge,  F.,  Alte  und  neue  Wortgeschichten,  n  (Mod.  Lang.  Notes,  xxxviii, 

5,  May). 
Rosenbaum,  A.,  Bibliographie  der  in  den  Jahren  1914-18  erschienenen  Zeit- 

schriftenaufsatze   und   Biicher  zur   deutschen    Literaturgeschichte,    vi. 

(Euphorion,  Erganzungshefte,  xii.)   Vienna,  C.  Fromme.    15,000  M. 
Wilde,  J.,  Die  Pflanzennamen  im  Sprachschatze  der  Pfalzer.   Neustadt,  Pfalz. 

Volksbildungsverlag.   5  M. 


New  Publications  379 

(b)  Old  and  Middle  High  German. 

Bestrafte  Untreue.   Eine  allegorische  mittelhochdeutsche  Minnerede.   Herausg. 

von  J.  Wilks.    London,  Univ.  of  London  Press.    2s.  6d. 
Carmina  Burana,  Die  deutschen  Lieder  der.   Herausg.  von  F.  Ltters.    (Kleine 

Texte,  148.)   Bonn,  Marcus  und  Weber.    45  pf. 
Kienast,  W.,   Altes  Hildebrandslied,  Thidrekssaga,  und  Junges  Hilde- 

brandslied  {Arch.  f.  d.  Stud.  d.  neu.  Spr.,  cxliv,  3-4). 
Naumann,  H.,  Althochdeutsche  Grammatik.    2nd  ed.    (Sammlung  Goschen, 

727.)   Berlin,  Vereinig.  wissensch.  Verleger.    1  M. 
Rohr,  F.,  Parzival  und  der  Heilige  Gral.  Eine  neue  Deutung  der  Symbolik  der 

Graldichtungen.    Hildesheim,  F.  Borgmeyer.   8  M. 
Schirokauer,  A.,  Studien  zur  mittelhochdeutschen  Reimgrammatik.    Halle, 

M.  Niemeyer.   4  M. 

(c)  Modern  German. 

Alker,  E.,  G.  Keller  und  A.  Stifter.   Eine  vergleichende  Studie.    Vienna,  Wila 

Verlag.    4  M. 
Alker,  E.,  Ph.  Hafner.   Ein  altwiener  Komodiendichter.   Vienna,  Wila  Verlag. 

3  M. 

Bab,  J.,  Das  Wort  F.  Hebbels.    (Philosophische  Reihe,  lxx.)   Munich,  Rosl  und 

Co.   2  M.  20. 
Bach,  M.  G.,  Wieland's  Attitude  toward  Woman  and  her  Cultural  and  Social 

Relations.    (Columbia  Germanic  Studies.)    New  York,  Columbia  Univ. 

Press  ;  London,  H.  Milford.   7s. 
Bauernfeld,   E.,   Erinnerungen   aus  Alt-Wien.     Herausg.  von  J.  Bindtner. 

Vienna,  E.  P.  Tal.   8  M. 
Bittner,  K.,  Beitrage  zur  Geschichte  des  Volksschauspieles  vom  Doktor  Faust. 

(Prager  Deutsche  Studien,  xxvii.)   Reichenberg,  F.  Kraus.    4  Kc. 
Corrodi,  H.,  C.  F.  Meyer  und  sein  Verhaltnis  zum  Drama.   Leipzig,  H.  Haessel. 

3M. 
Daffis,  IL,  Inventar  der  Grimm-Schranke  in  der  Preussischen  Staatsbibliothek. 

(Mitteil.  aus  der  preuss.  Staatsbibliothek,  v.)   Leipzig,  K.  W.  Hierse- 

mann.    6  M. 
Dorrfuss,  A.,  Die  Religion  F.  Schillers.   (Veroffentlichungen  des  Schwabischen 

Schillervereins,  x.)   Stuttgart,  J.  G.  Cotta.    1500  M. 
Francke,  K.,  Die  Kulturwerte  der  deutschen  Literatur  von  der  Reformation 

bis  zur  Auf  klarung.    Berlin,  Weidmann.   9  M. 
Frenzel,  H,  Goethe  unser  Fiihrer  durch  die  Zeit  der  schweren  Not.    Berlin- 

Lichterfeld,  Deutsche  Freiheit.   4  M. 
Frey,  L.,  Adolf  Frey.    Sein  Leben   und  Schaffen.    I.     Leipzig,  H.   Haessel. 

9  M.  50. 
Grillparzer,  F.,  Geheimschriften.   Herausg.  von  A.  Sauer.   Vienna,  Gerlach 

und  Weidling. 
Grimmelshausen,  H.  J.  C.  von,  Courasche.   Herausg.  von  J.  H.  Scholte.    (Neu- 

drucke  deut.  Literaturwerke  des  16.  und  17.  Jahrh.,  246-248.)   Halle,  M. 

Niemeyer.    1  M.  80. 

Howe,  G.  M.,  The  Possible  Source  of  Kleist's  'Familie  Schroffenstein ' 
(Mod.  Lang.  Notes,  xxxviii,  3,  March). 

Immermann,  K.,  Werke.    Auswahl  in  drei  Banden.   Herausg.  von  W.  Deetjen. 

(Goldene  Klassiker-Bibliothek.)   Stuttgart,  Bong  und  Co.   27  M. 
Kohlmeyer,  O.,   Die  padagogische   Provinz   in  W.   Meisters  Wanderjahren. 

Langensalza,  J.  Beltz.   3  M. 
Lange,  W.,  H.  Laubes  Aufstieg.   Leipzig,  H.  Haessel.    7000  M. 


380  New  Publications 

Leitzmann,  A.,  Die  Quellen  von  Schillers  und  Goethes  Balladen.     2nd  ed. 

(Kleine  Texte,  lxxiii.)    Bonn,  Marcus  und  Weber.    80  pf. 
Lemke,  E.,  G.  Hauptmann.    Ein  Beitrag  zur  Charakteristik  seiner  Zeit  und 

seiner  Personlichkeit.    Hanover,  E.  Letsch.    5  M.  50. 
Loewy,   S.,   Deutsche   Theaterkunst  von   Goethe  bis  Reinhardt.    Vienna,  P. 

Knepler.    9  M. 
Ludwig,  O.,  Dramatische  Studien.  Ausgewahlt  von  R.  Petsch.  (Welt-Bibliothek, 

50-51.)    Dresden,  Deutsches  Verlagsbuchhaus.    840  M. 
Magelone,  Die  Schone.   Alteste  deutsche  Bearbeitung  nach  der  Hs.  der  preuss. 

Staatsbibliothek,  German  4°  1579.    Herausg.  von  H.  Degering.    Berlin, 

Domverlag.    25  M. 
Merker,  P.,  Der  Verfasser  des  Eccius  dedolatus  und  anderer  Reformations- 

dialoge.    Halle,  M.  Niemeyer.    10  M. 
Meyer,  R.  M.,  Geschichte  der  deutschen  Literatur.   Von  H.  Bieber  fortgesetzt. 

II.    Berlin,  G.  Bondi.    12,000  M. 
Michel,  W.,  Holderlins  abendlandische  Wendung.   Aufsatze.   Jena,  E.  Diede- 

richs.   4  M. 
Morgan,  B.  Q.,  A  Bibliography  of  German  Literature  in  English  Translation. 

(Univ.  of  Wisconsin  Studies,  xvi.)   Madison,  Univ.  of  Wisconsin.    2  dol. 
Schafpner,  P.,  G.  Keller  als  Maler.    Stuttgart,  J.  G.  Cotta.    24,000  M. 
Schollenheber,  W.  H.,  E.  T.  A.  Hoffmanns  Personlichkeit.    Munich,  Parcus 

und  Co.   2  M. 
Shears,  L.  A.,  The  Influence  of  Walter  Scott  on  the  Novels  of  Th.  Fontane. 

(Columbia  Germanic  Studies. )  New  York,  Columbia  Univ.  Press ;  London, 

H.  Milford.    7s. 
Simrock,  K.,  Dr  Johann  Faust.   Puppenspiel.   Herausg.  von  R.  Petsch.  Leipzig, 

Reclam.    90  pf. 
Stockmann,  A.,  Die  jiingere  Romantik.    Munich,  Parcus  und  Co.    5  M. 
Sudermann,  H.,  Dramatische  Werke.   6  vols.  Stuttgart,  J.  G.  Cotta.  48,000  M. 
Thalmann,  M.,  Der  Trivialroman  des  18.  Jahrhunderts  und  der  romantische 

Roman.    (Germanische  Studien,  xxiv.)    Berlin,  Ebering.    8  M.  60. 
Varnhagen,  Rahel,  Ein  Lebensbild  aus  ihren  Briefen,  1799-1832.    Munich, 

G.  Hirth.   3  M. 
Weltrich,  R.,  Schiller  auf  der  Flucht.   Herausg.  von  J.  Petersen.   Stuttgart, 

J.  G.  Cotta.    1000  M. 
Widmann,  E.,  J.  V.  Widmann.    Ein  Lebensbild.    I.    Frauenfeld,  Huber  und  Co. 

10  M. 
Zeydel,  E.  H.,  A  Criticism  of  the  German  Language  and  Literature  by  a 

German  of  the  18th  Century  {Mod.  Lang.  Notes,  xxxviii,  4,  April). 
Zurcher,  O.,  Das  Berner  Oberland  im  Lichte  der  deutschen  Dichtung.    Ausge- 
wahlt und  eingeleitet.    Leipzig,  H.  Haessel.   2  M. 


BULLETIN  OF  THE 

^Modern  Humanities  l^e search  ^Association 

July  1923  Number  19 

^  The  new  Bibliography  of  English  Language  and  Literature 
has  just  been  published  and  may  be  obtained  by  members, 
from  Professor  Allen  Mawer,  The  University,  Liverpool,  at 
3s.  3d.  per  copy.  To  Non-members  6s.  through  any  book- 
seller. 

EDITORIAL 

We  deeply  regret  to  chronicle  the  death  of  Dr  Henry  Bradley,  one  of  the 
most  famous  of  the  members  and  truest  of  the  friends  of  the  Association. 
As  the  Bulletin  was  going  to  press  when  the  sad  news  was  received  we  must 
defer  the  publication  of  a  fitting  memorial  notice  until  next  quarter.  Readers 
of  the  Modern  Language  Review  will  not  fail  to  notice  that  a  review  from  his 
pen  appears  in  the  current  (July)  number,  so  literally  may  it  be  said  that  he 
worked  till  the  last.  #  # 

# 

We  have  also  to  mourn  the  loss  of  Dr  Herman  Oelsner,  one  of  our  earliest 
members,  and  from  1910  to  1914  Romance  editor  of  the  Modern  Language 
Review,  who  passed  away  on  April  26th.  Dr  Oelsner  was  for  some  years 
Taylorian  Lecturer  at  the  University  of  Oxford,  and  in  1909  was  the  first 
holder  of  the  Taylorian  Professorship  of  Romance  Languages.  He  leaves  a 
large  circle  of  friends,  as  well  as  a  far  wider  circle  of  those  who  were  intimately 
acquainted  with  his  work,  to  mourn  his  premature  death. 


#  # 
# 


On  another  page  we  make  an  important  announcement  with  reference  to 
a  new  series  of  Studies  which  is  to  be  inaugurated  during  the  coming  year. 
At  the  foundation  of  the  M.H.R.A.,  five  years  ago,  two  of  its  principal  aims 
were  set  forth  as  being  the  publication  of  members'  work  and  the  granting 
of  financial  aid  to  those  who  without  it  were  unable  to  carry  on  their  research. 

*  # 

# 

The  Modern  Language  Review,  which  is  now  on  a  firm,  though  not  yet 
entirely  satisfactory  footing,  is  always  glad  to  consider  short  articles  of  a 
suitable  nature  submitted  by  our  members.  But  the  Association  has  in  mind 
the  needs  of  many  young  scholars,  of  whatever  nationality,  whose  unpublished 
work  is  too  lengthy  for  inclusion  in  a  journal. 

* 
Such  members  the  Association  desires  to  aid  by  taking  over  either  the 
whole  or  a  part  of  the  financial  responsibility  for  publishing  their  work.  It 
hopes  every  year  to  select  for  publication  one  or  more  manuscripts  from  those 
which  are  submitted  to  it,  and  invites  all  who  wish  to  benefit  by  the  scheme 
to  communicate  with  the  Hon.  Secretary  as  fully  and  as  soon  as  possible. 
Further  details  will  be  found  elsewhere. 


2  MODERN  HUMANITIES  RESEARCH  ASSOCIATION 

Our  third  annual  Bibliography  of  English  Language  and  Literature,  which 
has  just  appeared,  is,  like  the  second  issue,  considerably  larger  than  its 
predecessor,  and  Miss  Paues  and  her  collaborators  deserve  the  congratulations 
and  thanks  of  members,  who  we  hope  will  hasten  to  express  both  by  ordering 
their  copies.  The  1922  Bibliography  had  in  all  21 19  entries;  the  present  issue 
has  2943,  together  with  an  index  of  authors  and  a  list  of  periodicals  searched. 
We  hope  that  the  sales  this  year  will  be  equal  to  those  of  the  last  two  years 
put  together,  and  in  this  connection  remind  members  that  they  may  order  the 
192 1  and  1922  issues  together  with  that  for  1923  at  the  prices  of  is.  Sd.  and 

3s.  2d.  (post  free)  respectively. 

#  * 
# 

The  Presidential  Address  of  Professor  J.  M.  Manly,  which  will  have  been 
delivered  before  the  Bulletin  is  issued,  is  to  be  reprinted  as  a  pamphlet  and 
sent  to  all  members.  Copies  will  also  be  obtainable  by  the  general  public 
through  any  bookseller  at  is.  net. 

#  # 

# 

Early  in  the  new  session  a  Year  Book  of  the  Association,  containing  lists 
of  officers,  branches,  publications  and  members  for  the  year  1923-4,  will  be 
distributed  freely  to  all  members  as  a  separate  pamphlet,  instead  of  forming 
part  of  the  Bulletin  as  heretofore.  As  the  list  of  members  forms  a  valuable 
international  address-book  to  all  who  are  interested  in  Modern  Language 
Research,  and  as  the  other  information  given  is  not  repeated  during  the  year, 
it  is  hoped  that  all  who  receive  the  pamphlet  will  keep  it  carefully  for  reference. 

#  * 
* 

Changes  of  address  or  other  information  for  inclusion  in  the  Year  Book 
should  be  notified  to  the  Hon.  Secretary  before  July  31st. 

#  * 
# 

The  number  of  subscribers  through  the  M.H.R.A.  to  the  Modern  Language 
Review  is  now  nearly  200.  We  hope  to  receive  a  large  number  of  the  remaining 
600  subscriptions  during  the  next  month. 


The  following  members  were  elected  without  opposition  to  serve  on  the 
General  Committee  of  the  Association  during  the  year  1923-4:  Miss  B. 
Philpotts,  Miss  A.  B.  Coventon,  M.  Montgomery,  Esq.,  S.  J.  Crawford,  Esq., 
Professor  W.  E.  Collinson  and  the  Rev.  H.  J.  Chaytor. 

#  # 
* 

Miss  R.  Wilson,  who  has  been  acting  as  Assistant  Secretary  to  the 
Association  during  the  present  session,  has  been  re-appointed  to  that  post 
for  a  period  of  three  years  from  October  1st,  1923. 

#  # 

The  Hon.  Secretary  would  be  glad  if  any  members  who  have  spare  copies 
of  Nos.  2,  7  or  12  or  other  early  numbers  of  the  Bulletin  would  communicate 
with  him.  A  few  such  copies  are  particularly  desired  to  complete  sets. 

#  # 
# 

Professor  J.  J.  Stable,  M.A.,  of  the  University  of  Queensland,  Brisbane, 

Australia,  has  been  appointed  Correspondent  of  the  Association  for  Queens- 

and. 


MODERN  HUMANITIES  RESEARCH  ASSOCIATION  3 

COMMUNICATIONS  FROM  MEMBERS 

We  are  invited  to  draw  attention  to  the  meetings  of  the  Philological 
Society,  which  are  held  monthly  from  November  to  June  at  University 
College,  Gower  Street,  London.  The  next  meeting  is  arranged  for  November 
2nd,  when  Professor  Sir  Israel  Gollancz  will  deliver  an  address.  A  list  of 
later  meetings  will  be  ready  early  in  the  forthcoming  session. 


Dr  Ernest  Bernbaum,  of  the  University  of  Illinois,  U.S.A.,  sends  us,  as 
an  illustration  of  the  work  of  the  Graduate  English  Club  in  that  University, 
a  valuable  classified  bibliography  of  some  thirty  typewritten  pages,  of  pub- 
lications during  1921  and  1922  on  the  history  and  theory  of  prose  fiction. 
Each  professor  prepares  a  list  like  this  for  his  field,  and  the  more  important 
items  are  discussed  at  a  meeting. 

# 

Mr  Marcel  Clavel,  of  the  University  of  Michigan,  U.S.A.,  wishes  to 
announce  that  he  is  preparing  a  thesis  on  Fenimore  Cooper,  the  man  and  his 
work. 


GROUP  ACTIVITIES 
ENGLISH  PLACE-NAME  SOCIETY 

In  order  to  carry  out  the  work  of  the  Survey  of  English  Place-names  and 
to  publish  the  results  of  its  work  an  English  Place-name  Society  has  been 
formed.  The  minimum  subscription  to  the  Society  is  15s.  and  this  will  entitle 
members  to  the  annual  volume  published  by  the  Society.  Subscriptions  over 
and  above  that  amount  are  encouraged  in  order  to  meet  the  heavy  expenses 
of  the  work  of  the  Survey  itself,  which  is  essential  as  a  basis  for  the  published 
volumes,  the  minimum  subscription  covering  only  the  cost  to  the  Society  of 
the  actual  production  of  its  annual  volume.  The  Introductory  volume  to  the 
whole  series  will  be  published  in  the  autumn  of  1924  and  includes  chapters  on 
Methods  of  Place-name  Study  (Professor  Sedgefield),  Place-names  and  Lin- 
guistic Studies  (Professor  Wyld),  Place-names  and  Archaeology  (Mr  O.  G.  S. 
Crawford),  the  Celtic  (Professor  Ekwall),  the  English  (Professor  Stenton),  the 
Scandinavian  (Professor  Ekwall),  the  French  (Professor  Zachrisson)  and  the 
Feudal  elements  (Dr  J.  H.  Round)  in  English  Place-names,  on  Old  and  Middle 
English  personal  names  in  relation  to  Place-names  (Professor  Stenton)  and  on 
the  chief  elements  compounded  in  English  Place-names  (Professor  Mawer). 
Thereafter  the  annual  volumes  will  deal  with  the  place-names  of  a  county  or 
other  convenient  area  as  a  whole  and  concern  themselves  not  only  with  the 
interpretation  of  the  individual  names  but  with  all  those  general  conclusions, 
linguistic,  historical  and  cultural,  which  are  implicit  in  them. 

Full  particulars  with  regard  to  the  Society's  aims,  constitution  and  work, 
and  forms  of  application  for  membership  can  be  obtained  on  application  to 
the  Hon.  Secretary  (Professor  Mawer),  The  University,  Liverpool.  The 
membership  of  libraries  and  institutions  will  be  welcomed  on  the  same  terms 
as  those  for  private  membership.  Subscriptions  and  donations  may  be  sent 
to  the  Hon.  Secretary  or  the  Hon.  Treasurer  (Colonel  Sir  Charles  Close, 
K.B.E.,  F.R.S.),  Coytbury,  St  Giles'  Hill,  Winchester. 


4  MODERN  HUMANITIES  RESEARCH  ASSOCIATION 

MODERN  HUMANITIES  RESEARCH  ASSOCIATION 

PUBLICATION  OF  THE  ORIGINAL  WORK  OF  MEMBERS 

The  Modern  Humanities  Research  Association  proposes  every  year  to 
publish  one  or  more  volumes  of  a  series  of  Studies  involving  Original  Research 
to  be  contributed  by  its  members.  It  hopes  by  so  doing  to  aid  some  who  for 
financial  reasons  would  otherwise  be  unable  to  publish  the  results  of  their 
researches:  it  will  be  prepared  to  consider  suggestions  from  members  who 
are  willing  to  contribute  a  part  of  the  cost  as  well  as  from  those  who  are 
unable  to  do  so. 

The  following  conditions  have  been  drawn  up  for  the  session  1923-4: 

(1)  A  preliminary  letter  must  be  in  every  case  sent  to  the  Hon.  Secretary 
not  later  than  October  30th,  1923,  describing  the  nature  and  length  of  the 
work  in  question  and  enclosing  a  statement  from  at  least  one  person  acquainted 
with  it  as  to  its  scholarly  character.  No  manuscript  is  to  be  sent  until  definite 
instructions  to  that  effect  are  given. 

(2)  The  work  submitted  may  be  written  in  any  language,  and  no  condition 
as  to  its  nature  is  laid  down  other  than  that  it  should  come  within  the  aim 
and  scope  of  the  Association. 

(3)  Only  applications  from  members  of  the  Modern  Humanities  Research 
Association  will  be  considered. 

(4)  All  applications  will  be  submitted  to  the  Publications  Sub-Committee 
of  the  Association. 

(5)  Such  manuscripts  as  it  asks  for  will  be  judged  by  a  small  committee 
of  experts  appointed  by  the  Association. 

CAPITAL  FUND 

Members  will  realise  how  greatly  increased  is  the  importance  of  this  fund  by 
the  claims  upon  it  made  by  the  new  series  of  publications  which  the  Association 
contemplates.  They  are  therefore  urged  to  send  to  the  Hon.  Treasurer  a 
contribution,  large  or  small,  with  their  subscription  for  1923-4,  or  indepen- 
dently. Contributions  amounting  to  about  £5  per  month,  which  would  mean 
to  each  member  the  outlay  only  of  a  few  pence,  would  make  it  possible  for 
us  to  initiate  the  series  without  drawing  upon  capital. 

The  Hon.  Treasurer  has  pleasure  in  acknowledging  the  following  con- 
tributions: B.  W.  Downs,  Esq.,  £4.  4s.;  Mr  Le  Roy  Kimball,  145.;  Mr 
A.  Bell,  5s.;  Mr  J.  F.  Bense,  5s.;  Professor  G.  S.  Gordon,  5s.  Smaller  sums, 
145.  4</.   Grand  total,  £6.  7s.  \d. 

PUBLICATIONS  RECEIVED 

Publications  of  the  Modern  Language  Association  of  America.  Edited  by 
Carleton  Brown.  Vol.  xxxvm,  No.  1,  March,  1923. 

Philological  Quarterly.  Vol.  11,  No.  2,  April,  1923. 

John  Foster's  Pioneer  Interpretation  of  the  Romantic.  By  Paul  Kaufman. 
(Reprinted  from  Modern  Language  Notes.  Vol.  xxxvm,  No.  1,  January,  1923.) 

Philological  Quarterly.  Vol.  11,  No.  1,  January,  1923. 


CAMBRIDGE:  PRINTED  BY  W.  LEWIS  AT  THE  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 


Volume  XVIII  OCTOBER,  1923  Number  4 


THE   MIDDLE  ENGLISH    PROSE   PSALTER 
OF  RICHARD  ROLLE  OF  HAMPOLE. 

III.  Manuscripts  of  Rolle's  Psalter  containing  Lollard 
Interpolations  in  the  Commentary. 

In  an  earlier  article1  those  MSS.  of  Rolle's  Middle  English  Psalter 
which  contain  his  Commentary  in  a  revised  form  were  enumerated,  and 
it  was  pointed  out  .that  they  fall  into  three  groups,  of  which  Bodl.  288, 
Bodl.  877  and  Reg.  18.  C.  26  are  typical.  This  article  will  attempt  to 
determine  how  many  writers  were  responsible  for  these  various  groups, 
and  to  give  some  account  of  the  methods  of  the  revisers  of  Rolle's  work 
and  of  the  views,  religious  and  political,  set  forth  by  them. 

All  the  known  MSS.  containing  a  revised  Commentary  are  copies 
dating  from  the  fifteenth  century  or  later.  None  of  them  shows  Rolle's 
work  in  the  process  of  being  altered.  Though  there  is,  therefore,  no 
possibility  of  studying  the  methods  of  the  revisers  directly,  an  examina- 
tion of  the  different  MSS.  gives  some  indication  of  them2. 

In  Reg.  18.  D.  1,  at  the  head  of  the  text,  are  the  words : 

'  Here  bigynnej?  J>e  prologe  uppon  }>e  sauter  j>at  Richard  heremyte  of  Hampole 
translated  in  to  englyshe .  aftir  pe  sentence  of  doctours  and  resoun.' 

The  additional  matter  in  the  Prologue  and  earlier  Psalms  alters  Rolle's 
work  very  little  ;  only  an  adjective  or  adverb  or  at  most  a  qualifying 
phrase  is  added  here  and  there.  For  instance,  where  the  original 
Psalter  has  in  the  Prologue, 

'  Sothly  this  shynand  boke  is  a  chosen  sange  byfor  god3,' 
Reg.  18.  D.  1  has 

'  solely  pis  shynyng  boke  ?  seyd  deuoutli  of  hem  bat  ben  in  cleene  lyff  is  a  chosun 
song  by  fore  god.' 

It  seems  as  though  the  heading  quoted  above  were  written  in  good 
faith,  but  the  reviser  could  not  restrain  himself  from  explaining  and 
emphasising  his  author's  points. 

1  Mod.  Lang.  Rev.  xvn,  3,  July,  1922. 

2  The  treatment  of  Rolle's  English  rendering  of  the  Vulgate  is  not  considered  here. 
The  rendering  in  some  of  the  later  MSS.  containing  the  original  Commentary  shows 
attempts  to  bring  the  language  up  to  date,  and  in  a  number  the  dialect  is  altered.  (See 
MSS.  Bodl.  467,  953,  for  example.)  The  renderings  in  the  interpolated  Psalter  do  not  show 
more  alterations  than  these. 

3  Quoted  from  Bramley's  edition  of  Rolle's  Psalter. 

M.  L.  R.  XVIII.  25 


382     The  Middle  English  Prose  Psalter  of  Richard  Rolle 


At  the  end  of  the  Prologue  however  a  longer  interpolation  is  found. 

Rolle  wrote : 

'  In  expounynge  .  i  fologh  haly  doctours  .  for  it  may  come  in  some  enuyous  man 
hand  that  knawes  noght  what  he  sould  say,  that  will  say  that  i  wist  noght  what  i 
sayd .  and  swa  doe  harm  til  hym .  and  til  othere .  if  he  dispise  the  werke  that  is 
profytabile  for  hym  and  othere.' 

The  reviser's  version  is : 

'  In  expownyng  i  folewe  hooly  doctours  and  resoun  Y  reproeuyng  synne  .  aftir  }>at 
i  haue  knowyng  of  it .  as  doctours  haue  done  by  fore  me  Y  and  shal  do  aftir  me  .  as 
J>ei  haue  knowyng  J?at  synne  is  usid  f  and  tyme  askij> .  ffor  J>is  boke  may  come  in 
summe  enuyous  mennes  honde  .  or  to  some  proude  vicious  mannes  heryng  Y  \>e  whiche 
is  maad  blynd  J?orou  synne  .  and  ha)>  enuye  )?at  synne  shulde  be  knowen.  But  in  a 
wikked  man  Y  synne  may  not  be  hidde  .  ffor  al  f>at  he  doj>  Y  is  colourid  wij>  synne. 
And  suche  wolle  seyer'  }>at  i  wiste  not  what  i  seyde .  and  so  do  harme  to  hym  silf  Y 
and  to  ojjire .  3if  he  despise  \>e  worke  J?at  is  profitable  to  hym  and  to  o)?ere.  But  \>e 
moste  comfort  in  hope .  J?at  goode  men  hauejj  of  trew}>e  Y  is  )>at  yuel  men  despisif>  her 
wordis  and  her  workis.' 

After  the  first  few  Psalms  the  comments  become  slightly  longer.  Part 
of  Psalm  xxxvii  is  quoted  below  as  typical  of  the  reviser's  work  in  this 
part  of  the  Psalter.  He  is  becoming  more  sure  of  himself  and  has  less 
reverence  for  his  original  than  when  he  began. 


The  Original  Commentary1. 
Psalm  xxxvii. 

1.  Lord  in  thi  woednes  argu  not  me  Y 
na  chasty  me  in  thi  ire.  The  voice  of  him 
that  does  penance  for  his  syn :  in  prayere 
and  gretynge  he  bigynnys,  &  says .  lord 
in  thi  wodnes  argu  me  noght .  that  is,  i 
pray  the  that  i  be  noght  amange  tha  til 
wham  thou  sail  say .  in  thi  dome,  ga  3e 
werid  in  fire  endles  .  na  chasty  me  in  thi 
ire  .  that  is .  be  i  noght  amange  tha  that 
sail  be  purged  in  the  fire  of  purgatory : 
bot  here  amend  me. 


Interpolated  Commentaries. 
From  MS.  Keg.  18.  D.  1,  f.  66  b. 

Lord  in  pi  woodnesse  argue  me  not  Y 
ne  chastise  me  in  pyn  yre :  The  prophete 
seyde  }>is  psalme  in  voyce  of  hym  }>at  dooJ> 
verrey  penaunce  for  his  synne  Y  in  deuout 
praiyng  and  forjjinkyng .  for  he  wi}>  sorew- 
ful  herte  prayej>  to  god  and  sei)> .  lord  in 
]>j  woodnesse  argue  me  not .  }>at  is  lord 
of  J?i  mercy  graunte  J>at  i  be  not  among 
hem  to  whom  J?u  schalt  seye  in  J>i  doom  . 
goo  3ee  cursid  in  to  \>e  fyre  eendelees  .  ne 
chastise  me  not  in  j?yn  yre .  )>at  is  be  i 
not  among  Jjoo  J?at  shal  be  purgid  in  the 
fyr  of  purgatorye .  but  gracious  lord  purge 
me  heere.  I  seye  not  j>is  onely  for  drede 
of  pe  sharpe  peyne  of  purgatorye  Y  but 
for  greett  shame  }>at  I  haue  in  my  soule 
J>at  I  haue  soo  defoulid  me  heere  Y  J>at  I 
shulde  not  be  cleene  purgid  or  I  wente 
hennes .  for  as  longe  as  god  punyshij?  eny 
man  he  is  wroo)j  to  hym  .  and  to  wite  }?at 
I  shulde  haue  his  unblij>elnesse  heere  and 
aftir  Jns  lyf  Y  is  to  me  greett  sorewe. 


5.  Thai  rotid  and  thai  ere  brokyn  . 
myn  erres:  fra  the  face  of  myn  univit. 
Myn  erres,  that  is  the  wondis  of  my 


Thei  rotide  and  fiei  ben  brokyn  myn 
arrys  Y  fro  J>e  face  of  myn  unwitt.  Myn 
arrys  Y  J>at  is  J>e  woundis  of  synnes  f>at 


1  Quoted  from  Bramley's  text.   The  English  rendering  of  the  Vulgate  is  in  italics  in 
each  verse. 


DOROTHY   EVERETT 


383 


The  Original  Commentary. 
Psalm  xxxvii. 
synnes,  hale  thurgh  penaunce,  rotid  whils 
i  eft  assentid  til  syn,  and  thai  ere  brokyn 
when  i  synned  eft  in  dede  :  and  all  this 
is  fra  the  face  of  myn  unwit ;  that  is,  fore 
my  foly,  that  i  wild  not  halde  me  in  the 
grace  that  god  had  gifen  me  .  on  this 
maner  myn  aide  synnes  rotis  til  my  self, 
and  ere  brokyn  and  stynkis  til  other 
men. 

6.  Wrechid  i  am  made  and  krokid  i 
am  in  til  the  end  f  all  the  day  sary  i  $ede. 
I  am  tourmentid  with  wrechidnes,  and 
forthi  krokid  fra  pride .  or  i  am  krokid, 
gifen  til  erthly  thynges,  til  the  end,  that 
is  till  the  ded  .  and  all  the  day,  that  is, 
all  my  life  assiduelly,  sary  i  3ede  in  way 
of  this  warld :  for  i  tharnyd  the  ioy  of 
paradyse. 


7.  For  my  lendis  ful  ere  fild  of  he- 
thyngis :  and  kele  is  not  in  my  fleysse.  My 
lendes,  that  is  my  fleysse,  is  fild  of 
hethyngis  of  the  deuel  .  for  i  syn  not 
anly  for  my  frelte,  hot  alswa  of  the 
fende,  that  tourmentis  my  body  and 
trauaife  my  saule  in  vayn  ymagyna- 
ciouns :  and  swa  makis  he  me  his 
hethynge. 

8.  /  am  tourmentid  and  i  am  mekid 
ful  my  kill:  i  romyd  fra  the  sorow  of  my 
hert.  I  am  tourmentid  with  penaunce, 
and  i  am  mekid  ful  mykill  in  meknes  of 
forthynkynge :  i  romyd,  that  is,  i  desird 
and  soght  gretly  fode  til  my  saule:  fra 
the  sorow  of  my  hert .  that  is  for  heuen. 
All  sorow  that  is  for  any  bodily  thynge 
is  sorow  of  the  fleysse,  noght  of  the  hert. 


Interpolated  Commentaries. 
From  MS.  Reg.  18.  D.  1,  f.  66  b. 
I  haue  falsly  hilide  J/oru3  ypocrisie .  rotide 
wij?  ynne  me  alle  ]>e  tyme  pat  y  lay 
wityngely  in  synne .  and  }>ei  ben  broken 
out  as  festride  woundis  unhelid :  in  hour 
of  my  dee}; .  and  ]>is  bicome  me  for  myn 
unwitt  Y  pat  is  for  my  folye  pat  I  woolde 
not  hate  synne  in  my  lyf.   And  for  pi 


Wrecchid  I  am  maad  and  crokid  to 
J>e  eende  Y  al  pe  day  sory  I  in  ^ede.  I  am 
turmentid  wi  wrecchidnesse  and  for  pi  I 
am  crokid  fro  pryde  .  or  I  am  crokid  to 
pe  eende  Y  pat  is  to  pe  day  of  my  deep  ¥ 
for  I  am  lettid  to  goo  euene  pe  wey  to 
heuene  Y  and  for  pi  al  pe  day .  pat  is  al 
my  lyf  assyduely  I  3ede  sory  in  pe  wey 
of  >is  wrecchide  lyf .  ffor  of  my  folye  by 
fals  entisyng  of  pe  deuel  I  loste  pe  ioye 
of  paradys .  whar 

For  my  leendis  fulle  ben  fillid  of 
scornyngesY  and  heele  is  not  in  my 
fleshe.  Mi  leendis  pat  is  my  fleshed 
fillid  is  of  scoornyngis  of  pe  feend  .  for 
he  makip  but  sore  we  in  pe  laste  eende 
to  hemr'  wham  he  ouercomep  and  soo 
}>oru3  pe  deuel  and  pe  world  and  myn 
owne  consent  noon  hele  is  in  my  fleshe  . 
for  it  may  not  be  heelid  for  deedlynesse 
ne  fro  corrupcion. 

i"  am  turmentid  and  I  am  mekid 
muche  Y  I  rumyede  fro  pe  sorewe  of  myn 
herte.  I  am  turmentid  doynge  synne 
and  for  pi  I  am  mychil  mekid  in  for- 
pinkynge.  I  rumyede  Y  pat  is  my  sorewe 
I  desirede  .  and  sou3te  for3euenesse  of  my 
synne  .  and  soo  of  sorewe  of  herte :  pe 
whiche  [is]  verrey  penaunce  Y  I  fulfillide 
my  soule  wip  goostly  foodef  and  J>is  I 
dide  Y  for  of  my  folye  willefully  I  alyenede 
me  froo  god  .  and  for  >i  I  enfoorside  me 
greetly  to  late  come  froo  myn  herte  verrey 
penaunce  habundauntly  Y  to  washe  my 
synnes  .  pis  hertely  sorewe  is  neuere 
hadd  Y  or  synne  hatid  .  fleshely  sorewe 
will  make  a  man  dreede  god  Y  as  a  seruant 
doof>  his  lord  .  to  be  punyshid  .  but  hertly 
sorewe  makip  a  man  to  drede  god  as 
asone  his  fadirr'  for  his  goodnesse  .  for 
a  trewe  man  woolde  drede  god  and  loue 
hym  Y  pon}  he  wiste  >at  J>er  were  noon 
helle  .  ne  peyne  ordeyned  for  synne  Y 
seiynge 


25—2 


384    The  Middle  English  Prose  Psalter  of  Richard  Rolle 


The  Original  Commentary. 
Psalm  xxxvii. 
12.  And  thai  that  ware  biside  me  stode 
olenght:  and  fors  thai  made  that  soght 
my  saule.  That  is  the  deuel  with  his 
mynystirs,  that  swa  mykil  the  mare 
sekis  the  ded  of  his  saule  that  thai  see 
him  manly  stande. 


Interpolated  Commentaries. 
From  MS.  Reg.  18.  D.  1,  f.  66  b. 
And  pei  pat  were  by  side  me  stode  on 
lengpe  and  foorce  pei  made"  pat  sou$te 
my  soule.  pat  is  ]>e  deuel  and  his 
mynystris  .  whenne  ]>ei  see  a  man  or  a 
womman  3eue  hem  to  serue  god?'  soo 
myche  J>e  more  pei  seche  pe  dee)?  of  his 
soule  f  J>at 1  j>ei  see  hym  manly  stoonde 
seiynge  .  3if  )>ou  reproue  \>us  synne  in  pi 
self  or  ojxre  f  ]>ou  shalt  make  of  freendis 
enemys .  and  ofte  stire  menye  to  grettere 
yuel  jiat  Jjou  reprouest  here  synne  .  and 
3if  )?ei  may  not  ouercome  hem  )>us  ?  >ei 
wile  to  his  shame  reherce  his  oolde 
trespaas  .  and  seye  ]>on  hast  loued  and 
doon  often  Ipis  synne  pat  J>ou  repreuest . 
but  ]>at  shame  shal  purchace  to  hym 
for3euenesse  of  alle  his  synnesf'  3i£  he 
suffre  itt  mekely  .  ffor  grettere  tokene  of 
loue  may  noon  shewed  }>an  to  telle  pe 
trewj>e  of  crist  ?  alle  drede  of  shame  and 
peyne  left  .  but  3itt  J>e  deuel  and  his 
lymes  casten  to  lette  trewe  men  more 
sley3ly  seiynge  .  J>at  no  man  owi)>  to 
undirnemen  ano>ir  but  3if  he  be  sett  his 
eorrectour  .  but  of  pe  mooste  straunge 
alyenr'  pes  foolis  woolde  heere  bodily 
harm 


Throughout  this  part  of  the  Psalter  the  comments  in  the  interpo- 
lated Psalters  mostly  have  some  connexion  with  Rolle's  comments.  In 
v.  1  above,  for  instance,  the  substance  of  Rolle's  comment  appears  in 
Reg.  18.  D.  1,  but  it  is  elaborated,  and  then  an  original  remark — '  I 

seye  not  bis  onely is  to  me  greett  sorewe' — is  added  at  the  end. 

The  same  treatment  is  to  be  found  in  v.  8  and  is  very  common  in  this 
part  of  the  Psalter.  In  v.  6  Rolle's  comment  is  elaborated  and  there  is 
no  addition.  The  reviser  has  endeavoured  to  link  the  comment  on  v.  6 
with  the  English  rendering  of  v.  7,  by  adding  the  word  '  whar '  after 
'  I  loste  be  ioye  of  paradys,'  so  that  the  sense  runs  straight  on — '  whar 
For  my  leendis  fulle  ben  fillid  of  scornynges.'  Rolle  himself  uses  this 
device  to  some  extent  (see  Ps.  lviii,  4)  but  the  interpolated  Psalter 
shows  it  far  more. 

Very  occasionally  the  reviser's  comment  is  shorter  and  more  concise 
than  Rolle's.    V.  5  is  an  example  of  this. 

Sometimes  the  reviser  becomes  bolder  and  almost  ignores  Rolle's 
comment,  as  in  v.  7.  At  other  times  so  long  a  passage  is  added  that 
Rolle's  comment,  even  if  preserved,  fades  into  insignificance  beside  it, 
1  MS.  has  '  J>at  J>at  J>ei  see ' 


DOROTHY    EVERETT  385 

and  to  the  reader  the  interpretation  of  the  verse  is  quite  different  from 
Rolle's.  This  occurs  in  v.  12,  where  a  long  passage  is  added  warning 
men  not  to  be  hindered  from  reproving  wickedness  by  the  insinuations 
of  the  devil. 

From  about  Ps.  xli  to  Ps.  xlviii  this  latter  type  of  comment  becomes 
more  frequent,  and  Rolle  is  more  and  more  ignored.  Often  the  reviser 
omits  the  original  interpretation  altogether  and  plunges  into  an  exposi- 
tion of  his  own  views.  After  Ps.  lxxii  the  usual  habit  of  the  reviser  is 
to  set  forth  his  own  ideas  without  reference  to  Rolle,  and  his  comments 
here  are  extremely  lengthy. 

In  Reg.  18.  D.  1  these  long  comments  continue  to  the  end  of  the 
MS.  (Ps.  lxxix,  13).  They  also  continue  to  the  end  (Ps.  lxxxviii)  in 
Lambeth  34,  but  in  Bodl.  288  and  Trin.  Coll.  B.  v.  25 — both  complete 
MSS. — they  cease  after  Ps.  lxxxiv,  and  from  that  point  to  the  end  the 
comments  are  mostly  short  and  are  based  on  Rolle's. 

The  shorter  comments  after  Ps.  lxxxiv  occur  in  all  the  interpolated 
Psalters  which  continue  beyond  that  point  except  Lambeth  34  and 
Reg.  18.  C.  26  \  They  are  found  in  a  complete  MS.  like  Bodl.  877  as 
well  as  in  one  like  Bodl.  288,  for  though  the  actual  comments  may 
differ  in  these  two,  the  type  of  comment  found  in  the  various  parts  of 
the  Psalter  is  the  same.  In  fact  the  connexion  between  the  groups  of 
MSS.  represented  by  these  two  is  very  close.  In  the  Modem  Language 
Review,  July,  1922,  it  was  pointed  out  that,  of  the  passages  chosen  for 
quotation  there,  Pss.  vii,  1,  2,  and  xvii,  47  differed  in  the  two  groups 
(see  pp.  220  ff.),  but  Pss.  lxiv,  14  and  cviii,  29  were  only  quoted  from 
MS.  Bodl.  288,  because  they  agreed  in  the  two  groups.  A  more  ex- 
tended comparison  between  the  two  groups  shows  that  throughout  the 
earlier  part  of  the  Psalter  some  comments  are  alike,  others  differ  con- 
siderably. On  the  whole  the  group  represented  by  Bodl.  877  has  the 
longer  comments  in  this  part.  After  about  Ps.  xxx  they  become  more 
alike,  though  when  the  MSS.  like  Bodl.  288  have  excessively  long  com- 
ments, Bodl.  877  often  has  a  shorter  version.  After  the  break  mentioned 
above  at  Ps.  lxxxiv,  most  of  the  comments  are  identical,  though  to  the 
end  there  are  a  few  that  differ.  In  this  part,  though  neither  group  agrees 
entirely  with  the  original  Commentary,  neither  departs  far  from  it. 

In  the  two  exceptions — Lambeth  34,  which  contains  Pss.  i-lxxxviii, 
and  Reg.  18.  C.  26 — the  comments  are  very  lengthy  throughout  and 
have  little  connexion  with  Rolle's  work.    The  comment  on  cviii,  29 

1  Keg.  18.  C.  26  begins  with  Ps.  lxxxix,  and  ends  with  Ps.  cxvii.   Throughout  the 
comments  are  exceedingly  long  and  are  unlike  Rolle's. 


386    The  Middle  English  Prose  Psalter  of  Richard  Rolle 

quoted  from  the  latter  in  the  Modern  Language  Review  (vol.  xvil, 
pp.  220,  221)  will  serve  to  illustrate  the  treatment  of  Rolle's  Psalter 
in  these  MSS.  It  is  far  longer  than  the  comments  on  the  same  verse 
from  Eton  Coll.  10  (a  Psalter  containing  original  comments),  or  from 
Bodl.  288  and  bears  no  relationship  to  either  of  them.  It  seems  likely, 
since  the  comments  are  similar  in  style  in  Reg.  18.  C.  26  and  Lambeth 
34,  that  both  were  copied  from  one  original.  Reg.  18.  C.  26  may  even 
be  the  continuation  of  Lambeth  34.  It  begins  with  Ps.  lxxxix  and 
Lambeth  34  ends  with  the  last  verse  of  Ps.  lxxxviii. 

From  this  account  it  is  clear  that  more  than  one  hand  has  been  at 
work  on  these  interpolated  Psalters.  It  is  impossible  to  make  a  definite 
statement  of  the  number  of  revisers  responsible  for  them,  but  an  attempt 
to  distinguish  between  the  work  of  different  writers  may  help  to  make 
the  relationship  between  the  various  interpolated  Psalters  a  little 
clearer.    The  following  list  is  hazarded  : 

1.  Reviser  of  Pss.  i-lxxxiv1,  whose  Commentary  with  alterations 
gave  rise  to 

(a)  Pss.  i-lxxxiv  as  found  in  MSS.  like  Bodl.  288,  Reg.  18.  D.  1, 
Trin.  Coll.  B.  v.  25  and  Lambeth  34,  etc. 

(b)  Pss.  i-lxxxiv  as  found  in  MSS.  Bodl.  877,  Reg.  18.  B.  21,  etc.a 

2.  Writer  of  the  short  commentary  on  Pss.  lxxxiv-cl,  which  again 
appears  in  two  slightly  different  forms : 

(a)   Version  in  Bodl.  288,  and  Trin.  Coll.  B.  v.  25.* 
(6)    Version  in  Bodl.  877. 

3.  Writer  of  the  longer  commentary  on  Pss.  lxxxiv  ff.,  which  appears 
partly  in  Lambeth  34  (Pss.  lxxxiv-lxxxviii)  and  partly  in  Reg.  18.  C.  26 
(Pss.  lxxxix-cxvii). 

It  is  very  unlikely  that  the  same  man  was  responsible  for  the  longer 
and  the  shorter  continuations.  The  methods  used  in  the  two  are  entirely 
different.  It  is  not  improbable,  however,  that  the  writer  of  the  longer 
continuation  was  the  same  as  reviser  1,  i.e.  that  one  man  made  an 
interpolated  Psalter  with  comments  which  grew  in  length  as  he  pro^ 
ceeded,  and  that  a  second  writer  made  an  alternative  shorter  version  of 
Pss.  lxxxiv-cl3. 

1  This  number  shows  roughly  the  place  where  the  shorter  comments  begin  in  such 
MSS.  as  Bodl.  288  and  Bodl.  877.   Actually  they  begin  in  the  course  of  this  Psalm. 

2  It  is  possible  that  one  of  these  groups  represents  the  original  work  of  reviser  1  and  the 
other  an  alteration  of  his  work,  but  since  now  one,  now  the  other  has  the  longer  comments 
it  seems  more  likely  that  neither  represents  the  original  work  exactly. 

3  Miss  H.  Allen  has  suggested  to  me  that  William  Thorpe,  the  Lollard,  may  have  been 
one  of  those  responsible  for  the  revision  of  Bolle's  Psalter.  In  the  '  Examination  of  William 
Thorpe '  (see  An  English  Garner,  Vol.  12,  Fifteenth  Century  Verse  and  Prose,  ed.  A.  W. 
Pollard) ,  Archbishop  Arundel  is  made  to  refer  to  a  Psalter  in  which  he  says  Thorpe  wrote 


DOROTHY   EVERETT  387 

The  Metrical  Preface  to  Rolle's  Psalter  (see  MS.  Laud  286 J)  states 

that  the  revised  versions  of  Rolle's  Commentary  are  the  work  of  Lollards: 

'  Copyed  has  this  Sauter  ben  Y  of  yuel  men  of  lollardry ; 
And  afturward  hit  has  bene  sene  f  ympyd  in  with  eresy. 
They  seyden  then  to  leude  foles  ?  that  it  shuld  be  all  enter, 
A  blessed  boke  of  hur  scoles  f  of  Rychard  Hampole  the  Sauter.' 

The  views  expressed  in  Lambeth  34,  Reg.  18.  C.  26,  Reg.  18.  D.  1 

and  like  MSS.  leave  no  room  for  doubt  on  this  point.    In  the  earlier 

parts  of  MSS.  like  Bodl.  288  and  Bodl.  877,  where  the  comments  are 

shorter,  and  again  after  Ps.  lxxxiv,  it  is  not  so  easy  to  find  Lollard 

views  as  in  the  middle  of  the  Psalter,  but  in  the  earlier  parts  they  occur 

to  some  extent2.    In  the  comment  on  Ps.  xxv,  8,  for  instance,  objections 

are  made  to  the  expenditure  of  money  for  the  purpose  of  decorating  the 

churches  with  rich  paintings,  etc. : 

'  pe  fayrhede  of  >yn  hous  is  a  clene  soule  f  out  of  }>e  whiche  spryngij>  preysynge 
wordis  and  goode  workis.  And  not  of  ryche  peyntynge  of  stokkis  and  of  stones f  pe 
which  prys  shulde  kepe  nedy  men  and  wymmen  of  good  wil^  fro  grucchyng —  pe 
aljjir  hey3est  dwellip  not  in  housis  of  mannes  shapynger'  or  makynge  .  panne  it  is 
litil  dayntep  of  gay  churched  and  a  fals  curate.'   (f.  43.) 

In  the  longer  comments  most  of  the  topics  dear  to  the  Lollards  are 

to  be  found3.    The  corrupt  state  of  the  Church  is  described  and  the 

priests  are  bitterly  reproached  for  it : 

1  So  whanne  presthood  in  whom  schulde  schine  moost  strengpe  of  cristis  bileeue  . 
is  brokun  and  departid  fro  charite  poroii3  symonye  f  nedis  bihoue))  for  defaute  of  pis 
goostli  strengpe  .  wickidnesse  abounde  and  charite  of  manye  kele  /  for  synne  is  now 
so  encresid  in  ech  staat  pat  is  in  pe  chirche  for  defaute  of  trewe  rneenysi"'  pat  who 
hatip  moost  synne  .  is  holden  moost  synful  /  and  so  for  pei  falsli  demen  vices  vertues 
and  vertues  vices r'  pei  deserue  to  haue  woo'  (Ps.  xlii,  14;  Reg.  18.  D.  1,  f.  76b)4. 

'sharp  sentences  against  us.'   Bale  ascribes  to  Thorpe  'glosses  on  the  Psalter'  (Script. 
Illust.  maiores  Brit.,  p.  538). 

I  have  not  yet  been  able  to  follow  up  Miss  Allen's  suggestion  as  fully  as  I  should  like, 
but  after  a  cursory  comparison  of  Thorpe's  confession  of  faith  and  the  views  expressed  in 
the  Lollard  Psalter,  I  can  find  nothing  which  makes  it  impossible.  Some  of  the  views 
expressed  in  both  are  identical ;  in  no  case  do  they  appear  contradictory.  I  am  unable  to 
express  a  more  definite  opinion  without  further  investigation,  and  I  cannot  say  which  of 
the  versions  of  the  Lollard  Psalter  contains  views  most  like  Thorpe's,  but  Miss  Allen's 
suggestion  seems  to  me  a  very  valuable  one. 

1  Printed  in  Bramley's  edition  of  the  Psalter,  pp.  1,  2. 

2  Forshall  and  Madden  in  the  Introduction  to  the  Wycliffite  Versions  of  the  Bible 
(see  p.  v)  denied  that  the  interpolated  Psalters  were  written  by  Lollards.  It  is  true  that 
the  shorter  commentary  on  Pss.  lxxxiv-cl  contains  little  that  can  be  definitely  ascribed 
to  the  Lollards.  The  writer  of  this  part  was  possibly  not  a  Lollard  at  all.  Forshall  and 
Madden  may  have  examined  this  part  chiefly. 

3  Miss  Paues  (A  Fourteenth  Century  English  Biblical  Version,  Introd.  pp.  xlv-xlix) 
has  quoted  some  passages  showing  Lollard  views. 

4  The  following  quotations  are  from  MSS.  Reg.  18.  D.  1,  Reg.  18.  C.  26,  Trin.  Coll. 
B.  v.  25  and  Lambeth  34.  In  each  case  the  passages  are  to  be  found  in  similar  form, 
differing  a  little  only  in  vocabulary,  in  all  the  MSS.  of  the  subdivision  to  which  the  MS. 
quoted  belongs.  For  example,  Trin.  Coll.  B.  v.  25  and  Reg.  18.  D.  1  belong  to  the  same 
subdivision  (see  Mod.  Lang.  Rev.  July,  1922,  p.  222)  and  passages  from  one  of  them  appear 
similarly  in  the  other.  Passages  from  the  last  part  of  Lambeth  34  and  from  Reg.  18.  C.  26 
are  not  to  be  found  in  any  of  the  other  MSS.  I  have  examined. 


388    The  Middle  English  Prose  Psalter  of  Richard  Rolle 

'...In  J>e  olde  la  we  it  was  comaundid  .  J?at  no  man  }>at  hadde  any  spotte  of  lepre 
schulde  entre  in  to  pe  temple  of  god  to  use  preesthoode  /  but  now  no  man  schal  ben 
accepted  J>er  to  but  if  he  be  mirkid  wi{?  symonye  J>at  is  pe  moost  perelous  lepre  of 
mannys  soule  /  and  so  J>er  )>oru3  pe  chirche  is  now  putte  in  to  repreef  bi  hem  f>at 
schulen  gouerne  it...'  (Ps.  lxxviii,  4;  Reg.  18.  D.  1,  f.  132b). 

c  ...Lo  crist  ordeyned  his  presthode  to  stonde  among  wilful  pore  menr'  usyng  it 
freely  and  bisily  f'  noting  secheynge  J?er  inne  but  pe  preysyng  of  goddis  name  /  but 
pise  {jingis  al  to  gidre  ben  hatide  and  left  f  of  pe  moost  part  of  hem  J>at  ben  in  pe 
chirche...... the  wille  of  crist  is  £at  his  presthode  and  alle  hise  sacramentis  ben  so 

charitably  doon  and  usid  .  |>at  his  prestis  enforcen  hem  in  alle  J>ing  ]?at  j?ei  kunne  or 
moun  forto  sue  him  here  inne  and  his  apostles  r'  no  |?ing  charginge  moor  pe  peple 
J>an  (?ei  diden  /  for  chargiouse  mynistris  mouen  pe  peple  to  grucchying  ^  and  pe 
whilis  pe  vertu  of  sacramentis  .  worchen  not  gracious  heelj>e  in  neij^er  partye  /  woo 
to  hem  }>at  for  pride  and  coueitise  ben  cause  of  >is  dampnable  dissencioun  V  and  woo 
to  hem  J>at  my3ten  lette  it  and  wolen  not  bisie  hem  f>eraboute  /  and  wo  to  hem  j?at 
knowen  pe  viciousnesse  f>er  of  eif?er  mi3ten  knowe  and  wolne  not  f  but  done  aftir 
comoun  custome...'  (Ps.  cix,  5  ;  Reg.  18.  C.  26,  f.  121b)1. 

In  contrast  with  the  priests  of  the  time,  a  picture  of  the  faithful 
priest  is  drawn : 

'...Al  her  bysynesse  shuld  be  forto  studye  and  seche  oute  be  vertu  of  his 
(Christ's)  word  r  and  to  lyue  so  J>eraftir  }>at  Jmr3  her  goode  ensaumple  of  hooly  lyuyng 
and  trewe  techyng  and  pacient  suffryng  of  alle  aduersitees  .  pe  peple  in  euery  degree 
my3t  take  of  hem  ensaumple  to  loue  his  heestis  and  to  kepe  hem2.' 

The  writers  have  no  better  opinion  of  the  religious  orders  in  their 
day  than  of  priests : 

'  Also  per  ben  o}>ir  men  j?at  seyen  hem  silf  to  lyue  undir  obedyence  alle  to  gidre 
undir  certeyn  rulis .  whiche  haue and  coueiten  to  haue  greete  possessiouns .  ordeynynge 
amoungis  hem  in  certeyne  every  woke  what  breede  and  what  ale  and  o|?ir  lyuelode 

echone  of  hem  shal  haue  / And  for  sykirnesse  of  pis  plentyuouse  lyuelode  S/ 

many  men  and  wymmen  comen  to  her  rule  /  oblishynge  hem  to  her  obedience ' 
(Ps.  cviii,  10;  Reg.  18.  C.  26,  f.  112  b). 

In  Reg.  18.  D.  1,  ff.  129b-130  (Ps.  lxxvii,  62),  in  a  passage  which 
Miss  Paues  has  quoted,  the  religious  orders  are  rebuked  more  fiercely- 
still  for : 

'  pe  wijdnesse  of  her  kirtlis  and  Jje  lire  of  her  neckis  and  her  glotouns  face,  but 
in  moost  of  al  her  ydulnesse.' 

The  heads  of  the  Church  do  not  escape  condemnation.  They  com- 
bine with  princes  of  the  world  to  oppress  the  common  people: 

'  Worldli  princes  seien  |>ei  haue  power  to  reule  pe  bodies  of  her  liege  as  hem  luste 
and  at  her  wille  to  sle  and  3iue  lif .  and  princes  of  pe  chirche  settefj  j>is  power  at 
nou3t  &  for  pe  greetnes  of  her  power  passed  j?is  mechil  .  for  al  J>is  power  of  mannes 
bodi  haue  j?ei  upon  her  sugettis  as  witnessij?  her  persecuciouns  and  her  galowe  trees 
and  pe  censure  of  her  domes  .  and  ouer  Jjis  as  most  cheef  princes  J?ei  haue  power  as 
pe\  seye  to  putte  whom  J?ei  wole  in  heuene  and  also  in  helle  /  and  |?us  jmrgh  pride  of 
}>ise  two  proude  cheefteynes  .  pe  comounes  and  her  goodes  ben  spuyled  and  waasted  r' 
in  lustes  of  }>ise  princes'  (Ps.  lxxxii,  11 ;  Trin.  Coll.  B.  v.  25,  f.  196b). 

1  For  Wycliffe's  opinions  regarding  the  priests  and  prelates  see,  among  other  passages, 
De  Veritate  Sacrae  Scripturae,  Chap.  23. 

2  See  Mod.  Lang.  Rev.  July,  1922,  p.  221,  for  the  rest  of  this  comment.  The  reviser 
declares  that  priests  should  be  ready  to  travel  from  place  to  place  where  their  services  are 
required.   This  is  what  Wycliffe's  itinerant  preachers  did. 


DOROTHY   EVERETT  389 

In  Ps.  cvi,  40  they  are  again  reproached  with  bringing  misery  upon 

the  commons : 

'pis  strif  )>at  is  ]>e  vengeaunce  of  god  .  whiche  regnij?  in  \>e  general  fy3tynge 
chirche  .  woundif>  ful  sore  J?e  comoun  peple  Y  J?ou3  be  it  principaly  upon  heui  J?at 
setten  hem  silf  gouernouris '  (Reg.  18.  C.  26,  f.  104b). 

The  revisers  express  strong  disapproval  of  some  of  the  practices  of 

the  Church.    The  power  of  absolution  is  abused  : 

'  Dou  lord  assoyledist  men  whanne  >ei  soroweden  her  synne  and  left  yt  .  and  ellis 
not  /but  now  prestis  feyn  hem  to  haue  power  to  assoyle  hem  of  synne  whos  con- 

uersacioun ]>ei  my3t  knowe  vicious  and  unable  to  take  absolucioun'  (Ps.  lxxxv,  7 ; 

Lambeth  34,  f.  181). 

Those  who  hold  high  positions  in  the  Church  deceive  themselves  if 

they  think  any  can  forgive  sin  but  God : 

'  Be  man  neuer  so  holy  sett  in  most  hije  dignite  of  \>e  chirche  f'  in  byndynge 
and  assoylyng  of  sinne  .  he  is  but  as  a  bedel  crying  J?e  lordis  wille  .  or  as  a  lernd 
messangere  sente  to  a  lewde  man  wij>  letteris  hauynge  comaundement  of  ]>e  lord  to 
reede  his  letteris  to  |>e  man  unknowynge  his  wille  /  and  so  god  only  for3yue}>  synne ' 
(Ps.  lxxxviii,  1 ;  Lambeth  34,  f.  194). 

In  the  comment  on  the  Vulgate  words  '  Posuerunt  signa  sua  signa' 
(Ps.  lxxiii,  6),  the  reviser's  views  on  bulls  are  set  forth : 

1  Thes  enemyes  of  crist  glorious  to  }>e  world  .  in  doynge  her  abhomynaciouns  han 
sette  her  tokenyns  of  pride  and  coueitise  .  tokenys  of  prouynge  of  cristen  fei)>  /  ffor  no 
sacrament  of  cristen  bileue  .  \>ei  seie  mai  auaile  to  any  creature  .  but  if  >ei  aproue  it 
bi  conformynge  of  her  bullis  her  cheef  bullis  ben  comynli  of  leede  acordynge  to  her 
werkis  for  as  leede  amonge  metallis  is  moost  heuy  .  so  J>e  abhominaciouns  of  cristis 
chirche  ben  moost  abhomynable  and  greuous  and  heuy  to  pe  destruccioun  of  truj>e... ' 
(Reg.  18.  D.  l,f.  114). 

Confession  to  a  priest,  as  ordained  by  the  Church,  is  not  in  itself  of 
any  value.    Some  men  wait  to  confess  '  at  a  certeyn  tyme  in  be  }eer  to 

sum  preest gessyng  bis  maner  sufficient  ynow.3he  bou3  it  were  but 

oonys  in  feel  3eeris  if  be  chirche  had  ordeynde  it  to  be  bus  and  wolde 
suffre  it '  (Ps.  xciv,  2 ;  Reg.  18.  C.  26,  f.  21),  but '  trewe  schrift  is  sorewing 
of  synne .  and  absteynyng  ber  fro1.' 

The  elaborate  services  of  the  Church  are  condemned2: 

'  Crist  moost  pleesynge  of  his  fadir  usid  in  sabotis  to  entre  in  to  \>e  synagogis  of 
iewis  to  preche  >e  lawe  .  for  perfore  J>e  saboth  was  ordeynyd  /  but  biholde  now  hou 
enemyes  han  fordon  }>e  ordenaunce  of  crist :  as  if  it  hadde  ben  ful  of  errour  .  |>ei  han 
chaungid  \>e  preching  of  preestis  to  longe  seruyce  drawyn  on  lengf>e  wij?  corious 
songe3'  (Ps.  lxxiii,  9;  Reg.  18.  D.  1,  f.  114b). 

1  On  this  matter,  see  Wycliffe,  Sermones,  Vol.  iv,  No.  vi  (p.  56).  '  Confessio  facta  Deo 
cum  contricione  debita  est  sufficiens  ad  delecionem  peccati,  nee  sine  ilia  valet  confessio 
facta  proprio  sacerdoti,  ergo  ilia  superfiuit  ad  salutem.' 

'Cf.  Wycliffe,  De  Ecclesia,  Chap.  2.  '  Utinam  non  multiplicarentur  tot  cerimoniae  et 
signa  in  nostra  ecclesia.' 

■Cf.  Wycliffe,  Ofprelatis.  '  Bi  >er  grete  criyng  of  song,  as  deschaunt,  countre  note  and 
orgene,  f>ei  ben  lettid  fro  studynge  and  prechynge  of  \>e  gospel.'  See  English  Works  of 
Wyclif  hitherto  unprinted,  edited  by  F.  D.  Matthew,  E.E.T.S';,  London  1880  (p.  77). 


390     The  Middle  English  Prose  Psalter  of  Richard  Rolle 

The  revisers  consider  that  the  paintings  and  other  adornments  to 
be  found  in  the  churches  are  unnecessary  (see  quotation  from  Ps.  xxv,  8 
on  p.  387)  and  that  there  is  real  danger  lest  the  painted  and  carved 
images  of  saints  should  lead  the  people  into  idolatry.  The  chief  pas- 
sages dealing  with  this  matter  have  been  quoted  by  Miss  Paues.  They 
occur  in  Ps.  cxiii,  13,  14,  18  (Reg.  18.  C.  26). 

In  the  comment  on  Ps.  cxvii,  8  in  the  same  MS.,  men  are  warned 
that  they  should  not  even  trust  in  saints,  or  in  the  Virgin,  for  this  also 
is  idolatry: 

'  We  owen  not  to  sett  oure  hope  in  princis  of  aungels  whiche  ben  arkaungels  .  }?at 
]>ei  moun  do  ony  grace  of  hem  silf  Y  for  alle  her  grace  is  of  god  /  for  noon  aungel  ne 
seynt  undir  god  r  mowen  do  eny  Jang  but  as  god  will  /  ffor  Jn  who  euer  putt  her 
trist  in  eny  aungel  or  seynt  .  3ea  eij>er  in  oure  lady  .  whiche  ]?ei  shulden  haue  and 

sett  in  god^  done  here  inne  mawmetrye ffor  it  is  unworshipe  to  god  to  aske  eny 

}>ing  of  eny  seynt  .  as  if  eny  Jring  were  in  eny  seyntis  power  or  at  J?e  owen  will  of 
seyntis^  sij>  all  Jjing  is  in  J>e  power  and  will  of  god.' 

Complaint  is  made  that  the  Eucharist  is  not  administered  reverently : 

'Preestis  shulden  so  reuerentli  ete  cristis  body  here:-'  ]>at  aftir  }>is  lif  J?ei  my3te 
be  fed  in  >e  si3te  of  his  chere  /  but  for  }>ei  ete  not  }>is  mete  )>at  is  cristis  body  for  loue 
of  it  silf  but  for  coueytise  of  worldes  goodes...J>erfore  pei  deliten  not  in  \>e  wor Janes 
>er  of  (Ps.  lxxvii,  29 ;  Trin.  Coll.  B.  v.  25,  f.  168). 

No  objection  is  raised  to  the  teaching  of  the  Church  concerning  the 

Eucharist.    Wycliffe's  attacks  on  the  doctrine  of  Transubstantiation 

began  a  little  before  1381 1,  and  these  Commentaries  may  have  been 

written  before  that  date,  or  at  any  rate  before  Wycliffe's  views  were 

widely  adopted  by  his  followers.    It  is  clear,  however,  from  one  of  the 

comments  that  the  matter  was  under  discussion.    The  reviser  condemns 

those  who  will  not  accept  Christ's  teaching  on  the  matter  and  calls  them 

'  unfeibful ' : 

'  pis  stoon  J>at  is  crist  is  Jje  stoon  of  offensioun  Y  to  alle  unfeibful  men  /  for  j?ei 
spurne  it  in  despite  whanne  pei  nei3e  jserto  unreuerentli  /  and  moost  whanne  men 
ben  in  weer  and  douten  of  J:e  sacrament  of  cristes  bodye  .  not  3ifyng  feij>  to  his 

wordes and  many  men  ben  now  in  jjis  errour J>ei  trowen  not  to  his  wordes  f 

for  her  resoun  can  not  fully  determyne  hem  /  and  so  unworjjeli  J?ei  ete  Jus  sacrament 
to  her  owen  confusioun'  (Ps.  lxxx,  15 ;  Trin.  Coll.  B.  v.  25,  f.  191  b). 

On  two  other  matters  on  which  Wycliffe  held  strong  views,  the 
revisers  also  keep  silence — the  Mendicant  Orders  and,  more  important 
still,  the  supremacy  of  the  Pope.  Yet  though  Wycliffe's  energies  were 
directed  against  both,  the  revisers'  silence  is  no  indication  that  they 
were  not  his  followers.  Wycliffe's  views  on  these  matters  developed 
in  the  latter  part  of  his  life  only,  and  silence  concerning  them,  as  con- 
cerning Transubstantiation,  may  merely  imply  that  the  revisers  were 
writing  before  this,  or  that  on  these  points  they  held  different  views 
1  See  F.  D.  Matthew,  Eng.  Hist.  Review,  April,  1890. 


DOROTHY   EVERETT  391 

from  their  leader1.    The  reproaches  cast  at  the  Church  and  the  monastic 

orders,  the  objections  to  church  ritual,  and  the  views  on  confession  which 

are  contained  in  the  Commentaries  are  sufficiently  Wycliffite  in  character 

to  prove  the  writers  Lollards  even  with  these  omissions. 

Besides  these  definitely  Lollard  views,  the  Commentaries  contain 

some  which  were  shared  by  all  the  reformers  of  the  time,  including 

Lollards.   The  revisers  attack  social  conditions  and  accuse  their  rulers 

of  extravagance : 

'  Princes  and  kni3tes  of  be  worlde  sleping  in  lustes  .  ben  now  knowen  bi  her 
retenue  and  her  waastyng  of  gold  in  golden  herneys  .  and  bi  her  riche  pelline  J>at 
pore  men  payen  fore  to  be  defendid  in  her  ri3t '  (Ps.  lxxxii,  10 ;  Trin.  Coll.  B.  v.  25, 
f.  196  b). 

Robbery,  they  say,  is  practised  by  every  section  of  the  community : 

'  Lords  and  my3ty  persones  robben  pore  men  ban  and  banned  by  tyrauntrye  and 
maystrye  /  and  men  of  lawe  and  marcbauntis  Y  by  fals  sotiltese  /  and  werkmen  and 
crafty  r'  robben  her  ne3boris  by  sleube  and  ober  fraudis'  (Ps.  civ,  31 ;  Reg.  18.  C.  26, 
f.  79). 

High  offices  in  the  state  are  desired  merely  out  of  covetousness : 

'pe  feende...hab  enforcid  him  ful  bisily  forto  envenym  alle  statis  and  officis  and 
craftis  .  for  ful  sotilly  and  sli3ly  he  hab  poysend  hem  alle  wi}>  pe  seuen  dedly  synnes 
or  wib  sum  spice  or  braunche  of  bise  vices  /  in  so  moche  bat  be  feend  hab  now  con- 
querid  to  him  as  who  seye  alle  mankynde  /  for  loke  now  ana  among  a  bousand  twenty 
peple  mown  not  be  founden  bat  coueyte  and  taken  ony  state  office  or  craft  purely 
for  be  loue  of  god  V  usynge  bise  iustly  and  duly  aftir  be  ordynaunce  and  be  heest  of 
god  /  And  jitt  euery  staat  office  and  craft  is  coueytid  taken  and  usid  r  wib  greet 
multitude  of  peple  /  whiche  lyuen  as  hem  list  contrary  to  bat  bat  bei  shulden ' 
(Ps.  cxvii,  8 ;  Reg.  18.  C.  26,  f.  160). 

In  the  perfect  state,  each  section  of  the  nation — rulers,  clergy  and 

commons — has  its  part  to  play  : 

'  Prestis  and  comouns  shulden  susteyne  trewe  lordis  bat  defenden  hem  in  ry3t 
aftir  be  lawe  of  crist  .  prestis  shulden  trewely  enfoorme  lordis  and  comouns  in  werk 
and  word  .  and  comouns  schulden  trewely  trauele  to  mayntene  bes  two '  (Ps.  xxvii,  7  ; 
Reg.  18.  D.  1,  f.  46). 

The  same  idea  is  developed  at  greater  length  in  the  comment  on 
Ps.  xlvi,  1  (f.  86  b)  with  the  remark  that  '  no  degre  ne  staate :  excusi)> 
fro  good  ocupacioun.' 

The  revisers  believe  in  the  great  value  to  the  individual  of  honest 

work  if  it  be  undertaken  for  the  '  comoun  profyte.'    This  is  stated  most 

definitely  in  Reg.  18.  C.  26 : 

'  ...pe  lord  god...3yueb  be  vertue  of  his  heuenly  undirstondyng  to  hem  bat  haten 
and  dispisen  so  al  worldly  welbe  and  be  bisinesse  ber  aboute  .  bat  bei  woln  haue  no 

1  It  is  not  necessary  to  assume  that  all  Lollards  adopted  in  their  entirety  the  views  put 
forward  by  Wycliffe.  When  the  means  by  which  his  views  spread  are  considered,  it  seems 
unlikely  that  Lollards  in  one  part  of  the  country  (say  Leicestershire)  would  have  agreed  in 
all  points  of  their  belief  with  Lollards  in  another  part  some  distance  away,  such  as  Sussex 
or  Wiltshire. 


392     The  Middle  English  Prose  Psalter  of  Richard  Rolle 

bysynesse  but  J>at  ]>at  is  a  meene  to  deserue  grace  forto  undirstonde  J>erby  >e  bettir 
goddis  word:'  for  to  knowe  hise  heestis  and  to  kepe  hem  /  here  to  helpi}>  every 
necessarye  occupacioun  .  if  J?e  entente  of  j>e  doer  be  pryncypaly  for  pe  comoun 

profyte  .  kepynge  ]>er  inne  due  tyme  and  mesure But  foule  pryde  and  couetyse^ 

sclaundri}>  many  leeueful  craftis  /  for])i  noon  o>er  but  beastly  ydeotis1  whiche  for  ]>e 
loue  of  crist  chesen  to  be  folis  to  ))e  world  i*  deseruen  to  knowe  pe  vertue  of  goddis 
loue  /  and  for)>i  |>ise  oonly  knowen  and  usen  leeueful  craftis  leeuefully  /  for  in  doynge 
of  her  craftis  .  pise  cunnen  be  myndeful  of  pe  beestis  of  god  .  and  record  hem  and 
reherce  hem^  and  teche  bem  and  oJ>ir  dyuerse  sentences  to  her  meynee  and  to  of>er 
J?at  J)ei  comoun  wij>  /  For  fei{)ful  work  men  and  wymmen  whom  pe  lord  appreui}?  as 
>ei  bisyen  hem  to  doon  her  werk  fei>fully  X1  so  pei  bisyen  hem  to  occupyen  her  hertis 
wi>  cleene  and  onest  J>ou3tis '  (Ps.  cvi,  38 ;  Reg.  18.  C.  26,  ff.  193  b  ff.). 

In  many  of  the  comments  in  these  interpolated  Psalters  the  per- 
sonality of  the  writer  is  revealed.  It  has  already  been  said  that  the 
belief  in  the  value  of  useful  occupation  is  a  favourite  one  with  the 
reviser  of  Reg.  18.  C.  26.  The  sound  common-sense  of  the  passage 
from  Ps.  cvi,  36  (just  above)  is  characteristic  of  him.  It  appears  again 
in  the  advice  he  gives  to  married  men  and  women  in  a  comment  from 
which  Miss  Paues  has  quoted  (see  Ps.  cxiii,  18,  f.  146).  Religion,  as  he 
understands  it,  is  not  concerned  with  ceremonies  but  with  the  everyday 
life  of  the  ordinary  man.  It  is  this  writer  who  declares  that  true  shrift 
consists  in  abstention  from  sin  (see  p.  389)  and  who  objects  to  the  un- 
necessary insistence  on  all  those  things  '  whiche  ben  not  of  be  substaunce 
of  byleeue '  (Ps.  cviii,  23,  f.  116  b). 

The  religious  views  expressed  in  Reg.  18.  D.  1  and  MSS.  like  it  are 

on  the  whole  more  personal  than  this.    An  instance  is  the  description 

of  the  struggle  between  good  and  evil,  which  goes  on  within  a  man.  The 

intensity  which  comes  from  personal  experience  is  in  it : 

'  For  bi  twixe  my  body  and  my  soulef'  I  fynde  euere  newe  rebellyon  .  ffor  whanne 
I  wolde  washe  myn  oolde  synnes  wij?  sorewe  and  preere  out  of  my  soule^  eche 
suggestion  of  pe  deuel  wi>  enclynyng  of  my  fleshely  wil  makij?  me  euere  newe 
batayle '  (Ps.  xxxvii,  3). 

Again  the  passage  quoted  on   p.  384  from   the   same   Psalm  on 

the  difficulties  of  making  a  stand  against  sin  reads  like  a  personal 

experience.   The  devil,  it  says,  comes  to  those  who  attempt  to  restrain 

sin,  saying: 

'  3if  >ou  reproue  )>us  synne  in  J>i  self  or  oJ>re  V  pon  shalt  make  of  freendis  enemys  . 
and  ofte  stire  menye  to  grettere  yuel  j>at  Jjou  reprouest  here  synne...'  (v.  12). 

The  writer  is  setting  forth  his  own  misgivings  as  to  the  value  of 
such  attempts. 

In  all  the  interpolated  Psalters  the  revisers  show  facility  in  expressing 
their  ideas.  They  can  write  clear,  fluent  English,  though  they  tend  to 
be  long-winded.    A  passage  of  some  charm  on  the  nature  of  children, 

1  The  Vulgate  word  '  iumenta '  translated  «  beestis '  gives  rise  to  this  expression. 


DOROTHY    EVERETT  393 

which  occurs  in  the  comment  on  Ps.  cxii,  1  in  Reg.  18.  C.  26,  shows 

this  fluency : 

'  Certis  }mr3  kynde  children  han  many  goode  condiciouns  /  for  >ei  wolen  not  be 
ydul  .  J?ei  chargen  not  hou  )>ei  ben  clojnd  .  J>ei  chalenge  no  meete  neijjer  drynke  .  j?ei 
louen  eche  oJ>er  .  J>ei  coueiten  no  worldly  goodis  .  f>ei  deliten  not  in  lustis  .  >ei  holden 
no  wra)>)>e  in  her  hertis  .  J?ei  flateren  no  personef  nei^er  ]>ei  dreden  ony  periles...' 
(f.  132). 

The  phrases  which  are  used  are  often  striking.  In  the  passages 
quoted  in  the  Modern  Language  Review,  xvn  (p.  219),  from  Ps.  vii,  2, 
for  instance,  there  is  'lioun  of  raueyn';  in  vii,  1,  'failinge  riches';  in 
xxxvii,  6  (Reg.  18.  D.  1)  'by  fals  entisyng  of  ]?e  deuel  I  loste  pe  ioye  of 
paradys';  in  lxxxviii,  1  (Lambeth  34)  '...he  is  but  as  a  bedel  crying  J?e 
lordis  wille.' 

Sometimes  this  mastery  of  effective  language  is  more  sustained. 

The  passage  from  the  comment  on  the  words  'Mane  sicut  herba  transeat, 

mane  floreat  et  transeat :  vespere  decidat,  induret  et  arescat '  (lxxxix,  6) 

is  perhaps  as  felicitous  as  any  in  its  choice  of  words : 

'  Where  is  ]>anne  ]>e  feire  herbe  )>at  is  J?e  greete  ioye  of  mannes  childhoode  if  eij?er 
where  is  ]>anne  |>e  swete  seemly  floure  of  mannes  3ung}>hoode  J^  certis  al  J>is  is  ful 
soone  brou3t  to  grounde '  (Reg.  18.  C.  26,  f.  2). 

Dorothy  Everett. 

Oxford. 


ITALIAN  INFLUENCE  ON  THE  ENGLISH 
COURT  MASQUE. 

The  subject  of  this  paper  requires  a  word  of  explanation.  During 
the  course  of  research  into  the  history  of  the  English  Masque,  I  found 
it  necessary  to  give  some  attention  to  contemporary  Italian  festivities, 
which  I  believed  had  influenced  our  court  masques  even  more  deeply 
than  was  commonly  supposed.  My  anxiety  to  discover  the  extent  and 
character  of  this  influence  was  increased  by  a  study  of  the  designs  for 
masque  scenery  by  Inigo  Jones,  which  are  collected  at  Chatsworth  and 
which  I  was  enabled  to  examine  and  trace  by  the  kind  permission  of  the 
Duke  of  Devonshire.  Many  of  these  designs  are  of  real  delicacy  and 
beauty,  and  the  question  arose  whether  they  were  genuine  products  of 
the  imagination  of  our  English  architect.  The  general  influence  of  the 
art  of  the  Italian  Renaissance  was  obvious  enough ;  were  they  not 
actually  borrowed  from  the  work  of  Italian  artists  ?  This  suspicion 
proved  to  be  correct.  I  found  that  several  of  the  designs  were  taken — 
either  whole  or  in  part — from  the  work  of  the  Florentine  artist  Giulio 
Parigi,  the  master  of  the  famous  French  engraver,  Jacques  Callot. 
Further,  I  found  that  the  designs  and  libretti  of  many  English  masques, 
were  borrowed  from  certain  Italian  festivities  which  took  place  in  the 
year  1608. 

These  facts,  of  which,  as  far  as  I  know,  historians  of  the  masque  have 
hitherto  been  unaware,  are  of  more  than  mere  antiquarian  interest. 
They  do,  I  believe,  throw  valuable  light  on  the  character  and  develop- 
ment of  the  English  court  masque. 

The  masque  is  sometimes  treated  as  a  rather  unimportant  sub- 
division of  the  drama;  but  it  may  almost  be  said  to  have  been  less 
closely  related  to  dramatic  literature  than  to  music,  dancing,  painting 
and  architecture.  The  nucleus  of  the  whole  performance  was  the  arrival 
of  magnificently  disguised  masquers,  who  first  appeared  carefully  grouped 
in  some  gorgeous  machine,  set  against  an  elaborate  background ;  and 
then  descended  into  the  hall  to  dance  new  figured  dances  and  to  join  in 
ordinary  ball-room  dancing  with  the  spectators.  There  was  just  enough 
dramatic  dialogue  (spoken  or  chanted  by  professionals)  to  furnish  a 


ENID    WELSFORD  395 

motive  for  the  appearance  of  the  noble  and  silent  masquers1.  Grand 
spectacular  effects  and  transformation  scenes  were  generally  considered 
to  be  far  more  important  than  consistent  plot  or  good  poetry.  This 
English  masque  was  closely  related  to  various  types  of  entertainment 
which  were  popular  at  the  same  period  in  France,  Italy  and  elsewhere. 

From  the  fifteenth  century  onwards  the  pastimes  of  European 
aristocracies  were  largely  aesthetic  in  character;  poets,  painters,  musicians 
were  all  required  for  their  preparation.  At  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  and 
the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century,  there  was  a  tendency  to  shape 
this  inchoate  mass  of  revellings  into  a  definite  genre,  which  was  intended 
to  be  a  harmony  of  all  the  arts.  The  result  of  this  attempt  was  the 
Italian  Opera,  the  French  Ballet  de  Cour,  and  the  English  Court  Masque. 
In  France  and  Italy  this  development  was  the  result  of  conscious  thought 
and  effort ;  in  England  there  was,  as  usual,  very  little  deliberation  and 
theorizing  and  the  aesthetic  development  of  the  masque  was  chiefly  due 
to  the  fact  that  a  favourite  court  amusement  was  taken  in  hand  by  two 
great  artists :  the  architect  Inigo  Jones  and  the  poet  Ben  Jonson.  This 
happened  at  the  beginning  of  the  Stuart  period. 

In  1605  King  James  was  entertained  at  Oxford  by  the  performance 
of  a  tragedy,  Ajax  Flagellifer.  Hoping  to  make  their  play  unusually 
splendid,  the  Oxford  men  '  hired  one  Mr  Jones,  a  great  traveller,  who 
undertook  to  further  them  much,  and  furnish  them  with  rare  devices, 
but  performed  very  little  to  that  which  was  expected2.'  He  did  however 
arrange  for  three  changes  of  scene,  worked  by  a  system  of  revolving 
pillars,  a  device  which  he  had  taken  from  the  Italian  stage3. 

For  the  moment  Inigo  Jones  may  have  disappointed  the  expectations 
of  his  countrymen ;  but  in  a  very  few  years  he  had  acquired  a  great 
reputation  as  a  designer  of  scenery  for  the  English  court  masques,  and, 
no  doubt,  he  owed  his  initial  success  very  largely  to  his  association  with 
Ben  Jonson.  From  1605  to  1631  Inigo  Jones  and  Ben  Jonson  usually 
worked  together  and  for  some  time  the  poet  was  the  dominant  partner ; 
by  1631  however  the  situation  had  become  reversed,  and  when  the  two 
fiery  artists  had  the  inevitable  quarrel,  Jones  was  able  to  dispense  with 
the  services  of  Jonson  and  appoint  whatever  poet  he  pleased  to  write 
the  libretti  for  the  court  masques,  which  he  himself  designed  and  for 
which  he  chose  the  subject  matter. 

1  Their  silence  only  lasted  during  the  dramatic  part  of  the  performance.  As  soon  as  they 
began  to  join  in  the  revels  and  to  'mask  with'  the  ladies,  gallant  conversation  was 
expected  of  them. 

2  The  Progresses  of  King  James  I.,  ed.  by  John  Nichols.   London,  1828,  vol.  i,  p.  558. 

3  Op.  cit.,  p.  538. 


396       Italian  Influence  on  the  English  Court  Masque 

At  first  this  quarrel  seemed  the  natural  outcome  of  an  attempt  to 
unite  two  different  but  equally  noble  ideals  of  art.  Ben  Jonson  was  a 
poet ;  to  him  poetry  was  the  '  soul  of  masque '  that  would  outlive  all  the 
'  painting  and  carpentry/  the  mere  '  bodily  part  which  was  of  Master 
Inigo  Jones  his  design  and  act.'  But,  as  I  then  thought,  Inigo,  too,  was 
a  great  creative  artist,  and  Ben  Jonson  had  no  right  to  his  superior 
attitude.  The  facts  which  I  bring  forward  in  this  article  have,  however, 
compelled  me  to  alter  my  estimate  of  Inigo's  contribution  to  the  masque. 
It  seems  to  me  now  that  he  was  only  interested  in  it  because  it  gave 
him  an  opportunity  of  reproducing  in  England  certain  scenic  devices 
that  had  already  made  a  sensation  in  Italy.  This  plagiarism  was  kept 
in  check  while  he  collaborated  with  Ben  Jonson,  but  after  1631  Inigo 
introduced  Italian  designs  into  almost  every  court  masque  that  he  com- 
posed ;  most  of  these  designs  being  taken  from  a  few  Italian  illustrated 
pamphlets  which  he  must  have  had  in  his  possession. 

Inigo  Jones  first  appears  as  a  designer  of  masque  scenery  in  the  year 

1605,  when  he  devised  the  setting  of  Ben  Jonson's  Masque  of  Blackness, 

which  was  presented  at  Whitehall  on  Twelfth  Night.    The  plot  of  the 

masque  was  that  certain  Ethiopian  nymphs,  daughters  of  Niger,  had 

grown  desperate  through  hearing  that  women  in  other  parts  of  the 

world  excelled  them  in  beauty,  and  in  response  to  a  vision  had  come  to 

seek  out  Britannia,  a  land  ruled  by  '  bright  Sol '  (i.e.  King  James) : 

Whose  beams  shine  day  and  night,  and  are  of  force 
To  blanche  an  iEthiop  and  revive  a  corse. 

The  painted  scene  consisted  of  a  woody  landscape,  which  disappeared 
on  the  fall  of  the  curtain  and  revealed  an  artificial  sea  '  raised  with  waves 
which  seemed  to  move,  and  in  some  places  the  billow  to  break.'  Into 
this  sea  came  Tritons,  sea-maidens,  and  sea-horses  bearing  Oceanus  and 
Niger;  accompanying  the  masquers,  who  appeared  as  twelve  dusky 
nymphs,  placed  in  a  great  concave  shell,  like  mother-of-pearl. 

The  idea  of  the  masque  was,  I  believe,  suggested  by  a  tournament, 
which  was  held  on  Wednesday,  October  14,  1579,  in  the  Pitti  Palace, 
Florence,  to  celebrate  the  marriage  of  Francesco  de'  Medici  with  a  noble 
Venetian  lady,  Bianca  Cappello1.  The  theatre  was  erected  in  a  court- 
yard of  the  palace,  where  a  grotto  was  shown  adjoining  a  beautiful 
garden.  The  audience  was  full  of  silent  expectancy,  when,  to  a  sudden 
outburst  of  music  and  light,  the  grotto  opened  out  and  was  transformed 
into  a  magnificent  loggia  overlooking  the  sea-shore.    The  sea,  with  its 

1  Feste  nelle  Nozze  del  Serenissimo  Don  Francesco  Medici  Gran  Duca  di  Toscana;  et 
della  Sereniss.  sua  consorte  la  Sig.  Bianca  Capello.  Composte  da  M.  Eaffaello  Gualterotti ; 
In  Firenze  nella  Stamperia  de'  Giunti,  1579,  p.  13. 


ENID    WELSFORD  397 

foaming  waves,  was  painted  with  such  verisimilitude  that  '  it  seemed 
really  to  be  moving  and  breaking,  and  whitening  as  it  broke  against  the 
rocks.' 

The  '  cartel '  of  the  tournament  was  to  the  effect  that  three  Persian 
knights  were  prepared  to  maintain  against  all  comers  the  superiority  of 
Persian  ladies  to  all  others  in  the  world1.  During  the  course  of  the 
tournament  various  triumphal  cars  entered  the  theatre,  and  among 
others  a  large  and  resplendent  one  of  mother-of-pearl,  shaped  like  a  boat 
and  bearing  in  its  white  bosom  two  ladies  and  two  knights  with  their 
attendants,  and  borne  along  by  a  crowd  of  mermen,  sea-nymphs  and 
ocean  deities.  The  two  ladies  represented  Europe  and  Africa,  who  could 
not  suffer  the  Persian  boast  of  Asia's  superior  beauty  to  pass  without  a 
challenge. 

I  have  no  doubt  that  in  this  case  Inigo  and  Ben  Jonson  drew  their 
inspiration  from  the  tournament  in  the  Pitti  Palace ;  but  they  certainly 
did  not  imitate  their  models  with  any  exactness.  They  took  some  ideas 
from  the  Italian  entertainment  but  the  treatment  of  the  theme  was 
their  own. 

In  1608  Cosimo  de'  Medici,  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany,  married  Maria 
Maddelena,  Archduchess  of  Austria,  and  the  wedding  was  celebrated 
in  Florence  with  magnificent  revels  beginning  on  Sunday  evening, 
October  25,  and  lasting  many  days.  II  Giudizio  di  Paridi,  a  pastoral 
comedy  by  Michelagnolo  Buonarotti,  was  performed  in  '  the  usual 
theatre  of  such  spectacles2,'  the  hall  being  arranged  like  a  Roman 
circus.  The  scenery  of  the  comedy  and  of  the  sumptuous  intermedii 
which  were  performed  between  the  acts  was  designed  by  Giulio  Parigi. 

The  first  intermedio  was  that  of  the  Palace  of  Fame.  On  the  top 
of  the  highest  tower  of  the  translucent  palace  appeared  Fame  herself, 
and  showed  to  the  royal  couple  a  great  company  of  their  illustrious 
progenitors.  After  both  Fame  and  these  heroes  had  sung  a  madrigal, 
the  door  of  the  palace  opened,  and  the  heroes  entered  in,  '  per  indi  salire 
al  Cielo  alia  meritata  gloria' — then  suddenly  the  palace  disappeared, 
and  Fame,  remaining  in  the  air,  began  to  rise  up  and  singing  vanished 
in  the  clouds3. 

In  February,  1609,  Inigo  and  Ben  Jonson  produced  the  Masque  of 
Queens  in  which  Queen  Anne  and  her  ladies  took  part.  'The  part  of 
the  Scene  which  first  presented  itself  was  an  ugly  Hell ' ;  where  certain 

1  Ibid.  p.  8. 

2  Descrittione  delle  Feste  fatte  nelle  Nozze  de'  Serenissimi  Principi  di  Toscana,  D.  Cosimo 
de'  Medici,  e  Maria  Maddalena  Archiduchessa  d7  Austria,  pp.  34,  35. 

3  Op.  cit.,  pp.  36,  37. 

M.  L.  R.  XVIII.  26 


398       Italian  Influence  on  the  English  Court  Masque 

witches  danced  and  sang  until  suddenly  to  a  loud  blast  of  music  the 
Hell  vanished  and  'in  the  place  of  it  appeared  a  glorious  and  magnificent 
building,  figuring  the  House  of  Fame,  in  the  top  of  which  were  discovered 
the  twelve  masquers,  sitting  upon  a  throne  triumphal,  erected  in  form 
of  a  pyramid,  and  circled  with  all  store  of  light1/  From  this  palace 
descended  Perseus  or  '  Heroic  Virtue,'  and  made  a  speech  introducing 
the  masquers,  who  represented  twelve  great  queens  of  antiquity.  After 
this  the  throne  on  which  the  masquers  were  sitting  suddenly  changed 
and  in  place  of  it  appeared  '  Good  Fame,'  who  called  upon  Heroic  Virtue 
to  honour  the  great  queens.  Meanwhile  the  masquers  descended,  and 
came  out  of  the  doors  of  the  palace  mounted  on  three  triumphal 
chariots  drawn  by  griffins,  eagles  and  lions.  The  witches  appeared  bound 
in  front  of  them.  Songs  and  the  revels  followed,  then  the  masquers 
mounted  once  more  into  their  chariots  and  returned  into  the  House  of 
Fame  and  the  masque  ended. 

Only  a  few  months  elapsed  between  the  Florentine  wedding  festival 
and  the  performance  of  this  masque,  and  the  obvious  resemblances 
between  the  two  events  can  hardly  be  accidental. 

The  '  ugly  Hell '  may  have  been  suggested  by  the  flaming  forge  of 
Vulcan,  a  scene  full  of  smoke  and  fire  which  formed  the  fourth  inter- 
medium of  II  Giudizio  di  Paridi.  The  main  theme  of  the  masque  is 
strikingly  similar  to  Parigi's  first  intermedio.  Again,  however,  there 
was  no  direct  borrowing.  The  design  for  the  main  scene  in  the  first 
intermedio  of  II  Giudizio  does  not  correspond  in  detail  to  Jonson's 
description  of  his  House  of  Fame.  Moreover  Jonson  distinctly  states 
that  the  structure  and  ornament  of  it  '  was  entirely  Master  Jones's  in- 
vention and  design... in  which  he  profest  to  follow  that  noble  description 
made  by  Chaucer  of  the  place2.'  Parigi's  palace  was  made  of  glass,  a 
striking  innovation  which  for  the  moment  was  not  adopted  by  Inigo ; 
next  year,  however,  he  devised  for  the  Masque  of  Oberon  '  a  bright  and 
glorious  palace,  whose  gates  and  walls  were  transparent3.'  On  this 
occasion  Inigo  and  Ben  took  their  conception  of  Fame  from  Cesare 
Ripe  and  Vergil ;  many  years  later,  however,  they  returned  to  Parigi's 
description. 

For  the  last  scene  of  Ghloridia  (1631)  a  hill  rose  up  out  of  the  earth, 
'  and  on  the  top  of  it  a  globe,  on  which  Fame  is  seen  standing  with  her 
trumpet  in  her  hand... at  which  Fame  begins  to  mount,  and  moving  her 
wings  fiieth  singing  up  to  Heaven....   Fame  being  hidden  in  the  clouds, 

1  Jonson,  op.  cit.,  p.  56.  2  Jonson,  op.  cit.,  pp.  59,  60. 

3  Jonson,  op.  cit.,  p.  74. 


ENID    WELSFORD  399 

the  hill  sinks,  and  the  heaven  closeth1.'  Compare  with  this  the  Italian 
description :  '  Sparve  subito  il  Palazzo,  e  la  Fama  restata  in  aria,  com- 
mincio  a  salire  all'  insu,  e  si  nascose  tra  le  nuvole  cantando...2.'  This 
scene  appears  to  have  been  a  failure,  for  Ben  Jonson  has  a  satiric 
reference  to  'the  ascent  of  Lady  Fame,  which  none  could  spy3.'  After 
the  performance  of  Ghloridia  the  strife  between  the  two  artists  broke 
out  again  and  was  never  healed,  and  it  is  interesting  that  the  attempt 
to  emulate  Parigi  seems  to  have  had  something  to  do  with  their  mutual 
antagonism. 

Inigo  Jones  had  done  with  Ben  Jonson ;  he  had  not  done  with  Parigi. 
Now  that  the  restraining  hand  of  his  colleague  was  removed,  there  was 
a  great  increase  in  the  number  of  his  borrowings  and  also  a  change  in 
the  nature  of  his  indebtedness.  He  now  began  to  appropriate  the  actual 
designs  of  Parigi  and  others,  but  took  care  not  to  steal  them  wholesale, 
but  to  take  parts  of  them  and  re-combine  them  and  scatter  them  about 
among  many  different  masques,  apparently  in  order  to  throw  dust  in 
the  eyes  of  his  public. 

In  1638  he  collaborated  with  William  Davenant  in  the  composition 
of  the  masque  Britannia  Triumphans.  After  certain  antimasques  had 
been  danced,  a  palace  made  of  gold,  silver  and  rustic  work  rose  up  out 
of  the  earth  and  revealed  Fame  standing  on  a  high  tower  with  a  trumpet 
in  her  hand.  '  When  this  palace  was  arrived  to  the  height,  the  whole 
scene  was  changed  into  a  Peristilium  of  two  orders,  Doric  and  Ionic... 
this  joining  with  the  former,  having  so  many  openings  and  windows 
might  well  be  known  for  the  glorious  Palace  of  Fame.'  A  chorus  of 
poets  enter,  Fame  sings.  '  The  masquers  came  forth  of  the  Peristilium, 
stood  on  each  side,  and  at  that  instant  the  gate  of  the  Palace  opened 
and  Britanocles  (i.e.  King  Charles  I)  appeared....  The  Palace  sinks,  and 
Fame  remaining  hovering  in  the  air,  rose  on  her  wings  singing  and  was 
hidden  in  the  clouds4.'        * 

In  the  Chatsworth  Collection  there  are  two  of  Inigo's  designs  for 
this  scene,  one  representing  only  the  central  building  which  appeared 
first,  the  other  showing  this  building  joined  on  to  the  '  Peristilium  of 
two  orders,'  which  Inigo  produced  by  means  of  painted  side  wings 
(A.  32,  33).  The  design  for  the  main  building  is  an  exact  copy  of 
Parigi's  Palace  of  Fame  (although  we  can  tell  from  the  description  that 
Inigo  did  not  make  his  palace  translucent).   The  side  wings  differ  from 

1  Loc.  cit.  2  Jonson,  op.  cit.,  pp.  207,  208.  3  Jonson,  op.  cit.,  p.  211. 

4  Sir  Wm  Davenant,  Dramatic  Works,  ed.  by  James  Maidment  and  W.   H.  Logan, 
Edinburgh,  London,  1872,  vol.  n,  pp.  283-286. 

26—2 


400       Italian  Influence  on  the  English  Court  Masque 

those  of  Parigi1.  There  is,  however,  at  Chatsworth  a  design  for  side 
wings,  copied  from  the  side  wings  of  Parigi's  House  of  Fame,  and  these 
side  wings  may  have  been  intended  for  the  scene  of  the  ruined  city  in 
Carew's  masque  Caelum  Britannicum2. 

Parigi's  third  intermedio  represented  the  garden  of  the  nymph 
Calypso,  in  the  island  of  Ogygia3.  Design  B.  10  of  the  Chatsworth 
collection  is  a  very  delicate  copy  of  the  side  wings  of  this  design  by 
Parigi.  This  Chatsworth  design  corresponds  exactly  to  the  verbal  descrip- 
tion of  the  bower  of  Circe  in  Tempe  Restored,  a  masque  composed  by 
Inigo  Jones  and  Aurelian  Townshend  and  produced  at  Whitehall  on 
Shrove  Tuesday,  1631.  Parigi's  design  gives  a  better  idea  of  the  masque 
scene,  '  a  prospect  of  curious  Arbours  of  various  formes,'  than  does  the 
Chatsworth  design,  which  only  shows  the  side  wings.  The  background 
of  the  English  masque,  however,  differed  from  that  of  the  Italian  inter- 
medio, for  above  the  careful  pen- work  of  the  side  wings  are  certain 
faint  pencil  marks  suggesting  '  a  valley  inviron'd  with  Hils  a  farre  off4.' 

The  fourth  intermedio  is  a  sea  scene,  a  creek  or  bay  set  in  an 
Indian  landscape.  Into  this  creek  Amerigo  Vespucci  is  sailing  on  top  of 
a  huge  sea  chariot  drawn  by  sea  monsters  and  dolphins.  Inigo  has 
borrowed  from  this  intermedio  for  his  designs  for  Davenant's  masque 
The  Temple  of  Love.  There  is  at  Chatsworth  the  design  of  side  wings 
for  this  masque  which  is  a  rough  reproduction  of  the  side  wings  of  this 
fourth  intermedio  (A.  39).  Then  again  we  have  at  Chatsworth  a  plan 
for  the  disposition  of  the  masquers  in  a  scene  representing  a  '  creek  in 
an  Indian  landscape '  (A.  40),  which  is  evidently  an  undetailed  sketch 
of  the  scene  for  which  the  side  wings  were  intended ;  and  finally  from 
the  description  (though  not  from  any  design  by  Inigo  Jones)  we  can 
tell  that  this  masque  scene  must  have  borne  a  very  close  resemblance 
to  the  fourth  intermedio. 

The  masque  scene  represented  '  a  sea  somewhat  calm '  breaking  on 
the  land  'which  represented  a  new  and  strange  prospect...  in  which  were 

1  In  the  British  Museum  there  is  a  pamphlet  containing  Parigi's  designs  for  II  Giudizio 
di  Paridi  and  also  designs  for  magnificent  water-chariots  to  be  used  for  the  great  show  on 
the  Arno,  which  were  invented  by  Parigi  and  engraved  by  Jacques  Callot,  the  famous 
French  artist  who  at  that  time  was  studying  his  art  in  Florence.  The  designs  for  the 
intermedii  have  been  reproduced  by  W.  J.  Lawrence,  in  his  interesting  article,  'A  Primitive 
Italian  Opera,'  in  The  Connoisseur,  xv  (1906),  p.  235. 

2  For  this  statement  I  am  trusting  to  my  memory.  My  other  statements  concerning 
Inigo  Jones's  designs  are  based  on  tracings  or  satisfactory  descriptions  of  the  designs  which 
I  was  able  to  make  during  a  careful  study  of  the  drawings  at  Chatsworth.  Jones's  designs 
for  scenery  are  contained  in  two  portfolios  marked  A  and  B  respectively. 

3  Op.  cit.,  p.  39. 

4  Aurelian  Townshend's  Poems  and  Masks,  ed.  by  E.  K.  Chambers.  (Tudor  and  Stuart 
Library.)     Oxford,  Clarendon  Press,  1912,  pp.  3,  4. 


ENID   WELSFORD  401 

trees  of  a  strange  form  and  colour,  and  here  and  there  were  placed  in 
the  bottom  several  arbours  like  cottages,  and  strange  birds  and  beasts, 
far  unlike  the  country  of  these  parts,  expressing  an  Indian  landscape.' 
Out  of  this  creek  came  an  antique  barque,  on  which  sat  Orpheus,  and 
other  persons  dressed  as  seamen.  '  He  playing  one  strain  was  answered 
with  the  voices  and  instruments  of  the  Brachmani  joined  with  the 
priests  of  the  Temple  of  Love.'  When  the  barque  had  taken  port,  and 
while  the  chorus  were  playing  and  singing,  the  masquers  appeared  in  a 
maritime  chariot  made  of  a  spongy  rockstufF  mixed  with  shells,  sea- 
weeds, coral  and  pearls,  drawn  by  sea-monsters  and  enthroning  Indamora, 
Queen  of  Narsinga. 

In  the  Italian  intermedio  'the  scene  represented  a  placid,  quiet 
sea,  the  shores  of  which  were  covered  with  trees,  unfamiliar  to  us,  and 
scattered  among  them,  here  and  there,  appeared  cottages  made  of  palms 
and  reeds... the  air  was  full  of  parrots  and  similar  kinds  of  birds  and  on 
the  ground  were  naked  men  dressed  as  western  Indians.'  Into  this  sea 
came  a  ship,  with  Amerigo  Vespucci  seated  on  the  poop.  At  the  brow 
were  Hope,  Boldness,  Strength  and  other  soldiers  and  sailors.  A  madrigal 
was  sung,  and  as  the  ship  came  to  land  '  a  rock,  which  was  drawn  by 
two  sea-monsters  and  could  be  recognized  as  the  car  of  Tranquillity, 
began  to  rise  up  from  the  water.  This  rock  was  full  of  shells  and 
corals,  with  sea-weed  and  other  sea-marvells.  On  the  summit  of  it  stood 
Tranquillity1.' 

The  Italian  and  English  descriptions  resemble  each  other  even  in 
details,  and  it  is  interesting  that  the  Indian  cottages  which  are  mentioned 
in  both  cases  appear  more  clearly  in  the  Italian  than  in  the  English 
drawings,  and  that  Parigi's  design  for  the  car  of  Tranquillity  gives  a 
much  better  idea  of  the  main  scene  of  the  English  masque  than  do  the 
rough  sketches  of  Inigo  Jones  which  have  been  preserved  at  Chats  worth. 

The  last  intermedio  of  Parigi  represented  the  Temple  of  Peace. 
In  the  Chatsworth  Collection  (A.  17)  there  is  a  small,  incomplete  but 
careful  sketch  of  porticoes  and  pillars  which  exactly  resemble  portions 
of  this  Temple  of  Peace,  and  by  the  rough  sketch  of  the  framework 
surrounding  these  pillars,  we  can  identify  it  as  a  design  for  '  the  forum 
or  piazza  of  Peace '  in  The  Triumph  of  Peace,  a  scene  in  a  magnificent 
masque  written  by  Shirley  and  produced  by  Gentlemen  of  the  Inns  of 
Court  in  February,  1633-4. 

Although  the  architectural  part  of  Parigi's  design  was  used  by  Inigo 
for  The   Triumph  of  Peace,  the  movement  and  the  speeches  of  the 

1  Op.  cit.,  pp.  41,  42. 


402       Italian  Influence  on  the  English  Court  Masque 

characters  in  this  sixth  intermedio  suggest  not  Shirley's  masque  but 
certain  passages  in  Townshend's  masque  Albion's  Triumph,  produced  in 
1632.  After  the  main  masque  dance  had  been  performed  the  scene  was 
varied  to  a  prospect  of  the  city  of  London  with  the  King's  palace  of 
Whitehall.  '  And  presently  the  whole  heaven  opened,  and  in  a  bright 
clowde  were  seen  sitting  five  persons,  representing  Innocency,  Justice, 
Religion,  Affection  to  the  Country  and  Concord,  being  all  companions  of 
Peace....  These  moving  towards  the  earth  sing  together  as  folio  we  th.... 
Then  from  the  upper  part  of  the  heaven  was  seen  to  follow  this :  another 
more  beautiful  cloud,  in  which  alone  triumphant  sat  Peace. . .  Proclaiming 
her  large  Benefits,  and  the  World's  Ingratitude....  The  Five  in  the  lower 
clowde  confessing  her  great  Bounty  answere....  When  the  five  persons 
which  first  descended  were  come  to  the  earth,  the  clowde  that  bare  them 
was  in  an  instant  turned  into  a  richly  adorned  Throne.  And  out  of  the 
foure  corners  of  the  scene  proceede  4  Gods,  Neptune,  Plutus,  Bellona, 
and  Cebele,  complaining  of  ease  and  plenty1.'...  After  some  dialogue, 
Peace  commands  the  four  gods  to  serve  England  and  the  English  King ; 
the  gods  announce  that  they  will  be  delighted  to  obey  her. 

In  Parigi's  sixth  intermedio  Peace  appears  on  a  cloud  with  a 
large  number  of  followers,  among  whom  are  Affection  to  the  Country, 
Innocence,  Concord,  Justice  and  Adoration.  (It  may  be  noted  that  Parigi 
and  Inigo  Jones  dress  their  characters  differently.)  Peace  sings  and  is 
answered  in  song  by  the  priests  in  her  temple.  Then  Peace  alights  on 
the  earth  and  seats  herself  on  her  throne,  while  there  appear  in  the  sky 
four  clouds,  on  each  of  which  is  a  chariot  containing  a  god — Bellona, 
Cebele,  Pluto  and  Neptune.  In  reply  to  questions  put  by  Peace,  the 
four  deities  explain  that  they  have  come  to  honour  the  heroic  pair. 
Thereupon  the  heavens  open  in  three  places,  revealing  many  celestial 
beings,  who  sing  with  joy,  while  at  the  same  time  clouds  appear  filled 
with  zephyrs  and  breezes  who  dance  together,  'con  gran  meraviglia 
degli  spettatori  come  di  cosa  non  piu  tentata  in  aria2.' 

This  aerial  dance  was  imitated  by  Inigo  in  Luminalia  (1637)3,  'which 
apparition  for  the  newness  of  the  Invention,  greatnesse  of  the  Machine, 
and  difficulty  of  engining,  was  much  admired,  being  a  thing  not  before 
attempted  in  the  aire4.' 

The  masque  Luminalia  is  a  patchwork  of  borrowings.    To  trace  its 

1  Townshend,  op.  cit.,  pp.  16-21.  2  Op.  cit.,  pp.  46-49. 

3  This  fact  was  pointed  out  by  W.  J.  Lawrence  in  the  article  on  '  A  Primitive  Italian 
Opera,'  op.  cit.   I  should  like  to  acknowledge  my  great  indebtedness  to  that  article. 

4  Miscellanies  of  the   Fuller   Worthies   Library,  ed.  by  Rev.  Alexander  B.  Grosart, 
vol.  rv,  Luminalia,  pp.  629,  630. 


ENID   WELSFORD  403 

sources  we  must  first  of  all  return  to  the  Florentine  festivities  of 
1579. 

Among  the  triumphal  chariots  which  graced  the  tournament  in  the 
Pitti  Palace  was  the  Car  of  Night,  drawn  by  two  black  animals.  Above 
the  Car  of  Night  was  iEther  her  son:  'In  the  middle  of  it,  were  many 
shades  and  phantasms,  made  of  black  gauze  so  that  they  were  transparent, 
and  with  a  black  but  sweet  smelling  smoke  issuing  out  of  their  mouths1; 
and  by  diverse  attitudes  showing  themselves  to  be  afraid.' 

The  Car  stopped  in  front  of  the  Royal  Box  and  then  to  all  the  other 
delights  was  added  that  of  music,  for  the  sleeping  Night  awoke  and 
taking  a  viola  in  her  hand  sang  this  madrigal : 

Fuor  delV  humido  nido 
Uscita  con  le  mie  presaghe  schiere 
Di  Fantasmi,  di  Sogni,  e  di  Chimere 

La  Notte  io  son.... 

The  whole  invention  was  made  by  Signor  Palla  Rucellai,  the  music 
by  G.  S.  Piero  Strozzi,  and  the  song  tune  by  M.  Giulio  Caccini2. 

This  Car  of  Night  almost  certainly  furnished  suggestions  to  S. 
Francesco  Cini  for  his  Notte  oV  Amove,  a  series  of  musical  spectacles, 
which  diversified  the  ball  held  in  the  Palazzo  Vecchio  as  part  of  the 
wedding  festivities  of  16083. 

A  stage  had  been  erected  in  the  largest  room  of  the  Palace,  and 
suddenly  in  the  middle  of  the  princely  dancing  the  curtain  fell  and 
revealed  a  view  of  the  western  quarter  of  the  city  of  Florence,  with  its 
neighbouring  mountains,  only  more  woody  than  in  reality.  Then  as 
the  spectators  were  lost  in  admiration  and  surprise  Hesperus  crossed 
the  scene  in  a  cloud  and  summoned  in  a  song  Night  to  come  on  her 
accustomed  path  and  give  rest  to  mortals,  for  the  sun  was  hidden  and 
had  yielded  up  his  power  to  her.  At  this  Night  appears  and  responds 
to  the  call  of  Hesperus,  saying  that  she  brings  with  her  her  faithful 
followers,  Oblivion,  Silence,  Repose,  Sweet  Sleep.  But  her  purpose  is 
thwarted  by  the  arrival  of  Love  who  brings  with  him  his  troop,  namely 
Cupids,  Play,  Laughter,  Dancing,  Song,  Contentment,  and  bids  Night 
yield  up  her  sceptre  to  him,  for  here  is  an  assembly  of  lovers  more  ready 
for  delights  than  for  dreams.    Night  obeys  and  departs  with  her  followers, 

1  I  have  put  in  italics  passages  in  the  Italian  and  English  descriptions  which  bear  a 
close  resemblance  to  each  other. 

2  Fnte  nelle  Nozze,  etc.,  pp.  24-26. 

3  Descrittione  delle  Feste,  etc.,  pp.  28-32  (from  which  all  the  following  descriptions 
and  quotations  are  taken).  For  the  poetical  libretto  cp.  Notte  Damore  del  S.  Francesco 
Cini.  Bappresentata  tra  Danze,  nelle  Nozze  del  Sereniss.  D.  Cosimo  de'  Medici,  Principe 
di  Toscana  e  della  Serenissima  Archiduchessa  Maria  Maddalena  d'  Austria.  In  Firenze 
1'  Anno  mdcviii. 


404       Italian  Influence  on  the  English  Court  Masque 

while  Love  urges  on  his  followers  to  descend  and  dance  among  the 
spectators.  The  company  and  Love  sing  a  chorus  in  time  to  which  they 
dance.  With  this  the  first  'vigil'  ended  and  ordinary  dancing  was 
resumed.  The  knights  and  ladies  in  the  audience  danced  together  at 
the  end  of  each  '  vigil.' 

For  the  second  vigil,  the  scene  changed  unexpectedly  to  a  beautiful 
garden  'full  of  flowering  trees  and  green  plots  and  squares  and  fountains 
and  loggias  and  circles  and  similar  delights  that  deceived  the  eye.' 

Now  there  appeared  in  the  sky  certain  stars  in  front  of  the  moon, 
and  '  one  of  them,  not  seeing  in  the  place  the  accustomed  obscurity  of 
Night  asked  where  she  might  be,  or  whether  the  sun  had  reversed  his 
course.'  The  moon  appearing  was  astonished  at  seeing  such  splendours 
and  invited  the  stars  to  descend  and  to  admire  these  new  wonders. 
Just  then  Endymion  appeared  in  the  garden  and  seeing  the  moon  he 
adjured  her  by  their  ancient  love  to  descend  on  the  spot  where  Love 
had  assembled  the  flower  of  lovers  and  of  beauties.  Then  followed  a 
chorus  of  Stars,  Moon  and  Endymion,  dancing  together.  Love  adds  his 
summons  to  mirth  and  dancing  and  the  second  vigil  ends. 

More  hours  passed  by,  the  guests  dancing  and  making  merry  in 
company  with  the  new  masquers  until  weariness  began  to  overtake 
them.  In  order  to  revive  their  flagging  interest  the  scene  changed  again 
and  showed  '  castles  in  the  air,  mountains,  rocks,  seas,  buildings  burning 
or  in  ruins ;  with  men,  some  sailing,  some  falling ;  with  various  other 
dreamlike  apparitions ;  the  whole  thing  sustained  by  the  rainbow.'  Across 
the  scene  flew  the  Nocturnal  Hours  and  one  of  them  cried  out  in  a  loud 
voice,  summoning  Dreams  false  and  true,  calling  upon  'Morpheus,  repre- 
sentor of  human  figures,  Itatone  of  monsters,  Panto  of  material  forms1,' 
and  on  all  sleep-disturbing  phantasms.  Upon  this  the  Dreams  appeared, 
in  all  kinds  of  stunted,  monstrous  and  unfinished  shapes,  and  danced 
together  for  a  while,  until  one  of  them  asked  the  flying  Hours  whither 
they  were  driving  them,  '  for  this  was  no  place  for  them,  here  where  the 
lovers — like  so  many  Arguses — were  keeping  a  delightful  vigil.' 

1  The  ultimate  source  of  this  passage  is  to  be  found  in  Ovid,  Met.  xi,  633-643.  The 
forms  Itatone  and  Panto  are  corruptions  of  Icelon  (ace.  sing.),  Phantasos  (nom.  sing.). 
Perhaps  they  indicate  an  intermediate  source  between  Ovid  and  Cini,  possibly  a  corrupt 
mediaeval  version.  We  may  compare  the  corrupt  form  Eclympasteyre  in  Chaucer's  Book  of 
the  Duchesse,  11.  166,  167,  which  goes  back  to  the  same  passage:  Ovid,  Met.  xi,  641,  642 
'  Hunc  Icelon  superi,  mortale  Phobetora  vulgus  |  Nominat....'  '  Eclym'  is  Ovid's  Icelon, — 
'  pasteyre  '  possibly  represents  Phobetora.  Gower  (ed.  Pauli,  n,  103)  calls  Icelos,  'Ithecus,' 
and  Phantasos,  '  Panthasas,'  cp.  Skeat's  Chaucer,  The  Minor  Poems  (Clarendon  Press,  2nd 
edit.),  p.  241,  note  to  line  167  Eclympasteyre.  In  an  intermedio  performed  in  Mantua  in 
1608,  the  names  drawn  from  Ovid  are  spelt  almost  but  not  quite  correctly :  '  Morfeo, 
Forbetore  e  Fantaso,'  Compendio  delle  Sontuose  Feste,  etc.  In  Mantova.  Presso  Aurelio  & 
Lodovico  Osanna  Stampatori  Ducali,  mdc.iix,  pp.  88,  89. 


ENID   WELSFORD  405 

Love,  hearing  this,  tells  the  Dreams  that  all  the  lovers  present  are 
enjoying  their  true  delights,  and  are  not  to  be  troubled  by  vain  visions, 
but  the  Dreams  may  dance  among  themselves  to  cause  laughter  and 
delight.  After  the  Dreams  have  performed  the  burlesque  dance,  Love  and 
his  chorus  sing  together,  bidding  the  monstrous  Dreams  to  vanish,  to  go 
and  disturb  the  dreams  of  sleepers  : 

E  noi  tornando,  a  gl'  amorosi  inviti, 
Guidiam  balli  d'  Amor,  balli  graditi. 

The  princely  guests  now  amused  themselves  with  dancing  until  it 
was  almost  day.  Then  the  scene  was  changed  into  a  garden  as  before, 
and  there  appeared  in  the  air  the  Morning  Breeze,  who  called  upon 
Aurora  to  redden  the  mountain  tops.  Aurora  obeys  the  call.  Tithonus 
remaining  alone  in  the  sky,  laments  his  bride  Aurora  and  curses  the 
Morning  Breeze.  Love  bids  Aurora  to  delay  the  arrival  of  the  Sun  and 
to  descend  among  them.  Stars  and  Cupids  sing  in  chorus  during  the 
descent  of  Aurora.  Then  there  is  a  chorus  of  Stars,  Loves,  the  Morning 
Breeze,  Aurora,  and  Endymion  dancing  together.  '  It  is  no  wonder,' 
they  cry,  '  that  deities  should  descend  when  such  a  goodly  company  is 
gathered  together.'  They  bless  the  princely  couple  and  their  friends. 
Aurora  turns  towards  the  sky  and  announces  the  coming  of  the  sun. 
One  by  one  the  Moon,  the  Stars,  and  finally  Endymion  all  depart, 
lamenting  the  transience  of  human  delights. 

Apollo  appears,  leading  in  the  day,  and  coming  to  drive  everyone  to 
deeds  worthy  of  the  light.   There  is  a  short  dispute  with  Love  who  finally 
departs  with  his  chorus  of  Cupids,  singing : 
O  chiaro,  o  lieto  giorno...  etc. 

In  1617  Ben  Jonson  composed  a  masque,  The  Vision  of  Delight, 
which  shows  unmistakable  traces  of  the  influence  of  both  the  Garro 
della  Notte  and  still  more  of  the  Notte  d!  Amove.  For  the  first  scene 
there  is  '  a  street  in  perspective  of  fair-building  discovered.  Delight  is 
seen  to  come  as  a  far  off,  accompanied  with  Grace,  Love,  Harmony, 
Revel,  Sport,  Laughter,  and  followed  by  Wonder.'  The  first  antimasque 
is  summoned  and  dismissed.  Then  '  Night  rises  slowly,  and  takes  her 
chariot  bespangled  with  stars,'  and  hovering  over  the  place  sings : 

Break,  Phant'sie,  from  thy  cave  of  cloud, 
And  spread  thy  purple  wings; 
Now  all  thy  figures  are  allowed, 
And  various  shapes  of  things  ; 
Create  of  airy  forms  a  stream... 
And  though  it  be  a  waking  dream, 
Chorus :  Yet  let  it  like  an  odour  rise 
To  all  the  senses  here, 
And  fall  like  sleep  upon  their  eyes, 
Or  music  in  their  ear. 


406       Italian  Influence  on  the  English  Court  Masque 

Here  Ben  Jonson  transmutes  into  a  few  lines  of  poetry  part  of 
the  description  of  the  Garro  delta  Notte  (cp.  supra,  p.  403,  italicised 
passages),  and  of  the  summoning  up  of  the  Dreams  by  the  Nocturnal 
Hour  in  the  Notte  a"  Amove.  After  this  the  scene  changed  to  cloud, 
from  which  Phant'sie  breaking  forth,  spoke  a  long  speech  which  is 
nonsensical  doggerel  from  beginning  to  end,  and  may  have  a  slightly 
sarcastic  reference  to  the  deformed  shapes  and  queer,  unfinished  dances 
of  the  Dreams  in  Notte  a"  Amove.  Phant'sie's  speech  is  followed  by  an 
Antimasque  of  Phantasms,  and  then  '  one  of  the  Hours  descending,  the 
whole  scene  changed  to  the  bower  of  Zephirus,  whilst  Peace  sung  as 
followeth  :...Here  to  a  loud  music,  the  Bower  opens,  and  the  masquers 
are  discovered  as  the  glories  of  the  Spring....'  Then  after  the  masque 
dance  and  revels  had  been  performed  Aurora  appeared  (the  Night  and 
Moon  being  descended),  and  this  Epilogue  followed : 

Aurora:  I  was  not  wearier  where  I  lay 

By  frozen  Tithon's  side  to-night ; 
Than  I  am  willing  now  to  stay, 
And  be  a  part  of  your  delight. 
But  I  am  urged  by  the  Day, 
Against  my  will  to  bid  you  come  away. 

Chorus :  They  yield  to  time,  and  so  must  all. 

As  night  to  sport,  day  doth  to  action  call ; 

Which  they  the  rather  do  obey, 

Because  the  morn  with  roses  strews  the  way 1. 

Here,  again,  Jonson  has  condensed  some  of  the  dramatic  business  of 
Notte  d'  Amore  into  a  few  lines  of  poetry. 

Inigo  Jones  uses  the  same  source — but  with  far  less  discretion  and 
poetic  skill — for  his  Luminalia.  The  masque  opens  with  '  a  scene  all  of 
darknesse... there  arose  out  of  the  hollow  caverns  of  the  earth  a  duskie 
cloud,  and  on  it  a  chariot  enricht  and  borne  by  two  great  owles....' 
In  it  was  Night.  ...'She  tels  she  came  to  give  repose  to  the  labours  of 
mortals,  but  seeing  all  things  here  tending  to  feasts  and  revels,  she 
with  her  attendants  will  give  assistance  though  it  serves  but  as  a  foile 
to  set  off  more  noble  representations...2.'  For  this  'cloudy  night-piece' 
Inigo  may  have  taken  some  hints  from  the  Garvo  delta  Notte.  Night 
sings  and  from  the  sides  of  the  scene  appear  her  attendants — Oblivion, 
Silence,  and  the  four  nocturnal  hours  or  Vigils.  We  may  compare  the 
appearance  of  these  with  that  of  the  corresponding  Italian  characters, 
for  the  descriptions  of  their  dresses  are  practically  identical3. 

1  Jonson,  op.  cit.,  pp.  115-120. 

2  Luminalia,  op.  cit.,  pp.  615,  616. 

3  Compare  Luminalia,  op.  cit.,  p.  617,  with  Descrittione  delle  Feste,  op.  cit.,  p.  31. 


ENID    WELSFORD  407 

The  attendants  of  Night  call  forth  certain  antiraasques.  These  anti- 
masques  are  divided  into  entries  and  are  so  like  the  entries  of  a  typical 
French  Ballet  de  Cour  that  it  would  not  be  surprising  to  learn  that 
they  were  borrowed  from  one  of  them. 

'  These  antimasques  being  past,  the  scene  of  night  vanished ;  and  a  new 
and  strange  Prospect  of  Chimeras  appear  d,  with  some  trees  of  an  un- 
usuall  forme,  Mountaines  of  gold,  Towers  falling,  Windmills  and  other 
extravagant  edifices,  and  in  the  further  part  a  great  City  sustained  by  a 
Rain-bow,  all  which  represented  the  City  of  Sleepe1.  One  of  the  vigils  in 
song  called  forth  sleepe  who  appeared  comming  out  of  a  darke  cave,  with 
three  of  his  principall  sonnes,  Morpheus  the  presenter  of  humane  shapes, 
Iceles,  offearfull  visions,  and  Phantaste2,  of  anything  that  may  be  imagined, 
Sleepe,  a  fat  man  in  a  black  robe,  and  over  it  a  white  mantle,  on  his  head 
a  girland  of  Crapes,  with  a  Dormouse  sitting  before,  in  his  hand  a  golden 
wand.'  (In  Notte  d'  Amore,  'il  sonno'  is  dressed  in  exactly  the  same 
way.)  Then  '  the  sonnes  of  Sleepe  bring  in  these  antimasques  of  dreams.' 
[For  the  fourth  entry  appear  'five  feathered  men,  inhabitants  of  the 
City  of  Sleepe....  Here  an  antique  ship  was  seen  farre  within  the 
scene,  sailing  in  the  aire.'  Of  the  fifth  entry  we  are  told :  '  From  the 
temple  of  the  Cocke,  seated  by  the  haven  of  the  City  of  Sleepe,  the 
principall  Mariners  or  Master  Mates  in  rich  habits... make  their  entry.'] 

'...These  antimasques  being  past, the  Heaven  began  to  be  enlightened 
as  before,  the  sunne  rising,  and  the  scene  was  changed  into  a  delicious 
prospect ;  wherein  were  rowes  of  Trees,  Fountains,  Statues,  Arbors,  Grotos, 
Walkes,  and  all  such  things  of  delight,  as  might  expresse  the  beautifull 
garden  of  the  Britanides.  The  morning  starre  appears  on  a  cloud  in  the 
air  in  the  form  of  a  beautiful  youth.'  From  the  other  side  of  Heaven 
comes  Aurora  'in  a  chariot  touch'd  with  gold  borne  up  by  a  rosie  coloured 
cloud —  Hesperus  asks  Aurora,  why  the  Sunne  is  so  long  in  coming, 
and  whether  being  weary  of  his  last  journey,  he  is  gone  to  take  his  rest.' 
Aurora  replies  that  the  sun  has  yielded  his  office  to  'a  terrestriall  Beau  tie,' 

1  Compare  this  with  the  italicised  passages  taken  from  Descrittione  delle  Feste,  op.  cit. 
Cp.  supra,  p.  404. 

2  Inigo  Jones  (or  his  poet-collaborator)  evidently  rejected  the  forms  Panto  and  Itatone 
as  meaningless.  He  must  have  had  direct  or  indirect  knowledge  of  the  passage  in  Ovid, 
loc.  cit.  The  names  employed  by  Jones  may  be  due  to  imperfect  memory,  or  that  indiffer- 
ence to  exact  scholarship  which  annoyed  Ben  Jonson.  The  writers  of  that  time  did  not 
shrink  from  taking  liberties  with  proper  names,  when  in  difficulties  with  rhyme  or  metre : 
an  example  occurs  in  Arthur  Golding's  translation  of  this  very  passage  of  Ovid's  Meta- 
morphoses :  '  Among  a  thousand  sonnes  and  mo  that  father  slomber  had  |  He  calld  up 
Morph  the  feyner  of  mannes  shape  a  craftye  lad.'  Elsewhere  he  uses  the  form  Morphye.  The 
other  names  are  spelt  correctly :  Icilos,  Phobetor,  Phantasos.  It  may  be  noted  that  the 
only  time  the  name  Iceles  occurs  in  the  verse  of  Luminalia,  it  has  to  rhyme  with  'please.' 


408        Italian  Influence  on  the  English  Court  Masque 

and  she  bids  him  and  the  Flamens  and  Arch-Flamens  to  celebrate  '  this 
Goddesse  of  brightnesse  with  those  faire  Nymphs  dependant  on  her 
splendour.'  The  masque  ends  with  the  scene  of  the  aerial  dance  which 
was  taken  from  the  last  intermedio  of  II  Giudizio  di  Paridi. 

In  the  Chatsworth  Collection  there  are  several  designs  for  scenes  of 
this  masque  Luminalia  (A.  43,  73,  44 ;  B.  22,  ?  38,  39,  ?  40).  They  are 
more  imaginative  and  mysterious  than  most  of  the  other  designs,  and  it 
would  be  interesting  to  know  whether  Inigo  copied  them  from  Italian 
designs  or  whether  he  invented  them  out  of  the  hints  furnished  by  the 
prose  description  of  the  Notte  d'  Amove.  However  that  may  be  Luminalia 
is  a  convincing  proof  that  Inigo  Jones  had  formed  no  sort  of  conception 
of  the  masque  as  a  work  of  art  with  its  own  unity  and  intrinsic  ex- 
cellence. The  designs  at  Chatsworth  are  really  beautiful;  the  plot  of 
Luminalia  is  entirely  devoid  of  merit. 

It  is  worth  noticing  that,  although  these  latter  masques  of  Inigo's 
are  a  perfect  patchwork  of  Italian  devices  picked  to  pieces  and  re- 
combined,  the  borrowings  almost  all  come  from  the  Florentine  Festivities 
of  16081.  Inigo  Jones  was  not  in  Italy  at  the  time;  but  he  must  have 
very  quickly  procured  illustrated  pamphlets  describing  the  events,  and 
have  preserved  them  most  carefully.  He  uses  both  the  designs  and  the 
written  descriptions.  Though  the  rest  of  the  world  may  not  have  known 
where  the  famous  architect  found  his  ideas,  the  masque  poets  must  have 
been  in  the  secret.  Ben  Jonson  probably  objected  strongly;  and  his 
sneer  at  Inigo's  '  Twice  conceived,  thrice  paid  for,  imagery '  had  a  good 
deal  of  justification.  It  is  amusing  that  Inigo  Jones  makes  his  most 
definite  claim  to  originality  in  his  Preface  to  Luminalia,  the  masque  in 
which  his  plagiarism  appears  most  blatantly : 

'The  King's  Majesties  Masque  being  performed,  the  Queene  com- 
manded Inigo  Jones  Surveyor  at  her  Majesties  works  to  make  a  new 
subject  of  a  Masque  for  herselfe,  that  with  high  and  hearty  invention, 
might  give  occasion  for  variety  of  scenes,  strange  apparitions,  Songs, 
Musick  and  dancing  of  severall  kinds :  from  whence  doth  result  the  true 
pleasure  peculiar  to  our  English  Masques,  which  by  strangers  and 
travellers  of  judgment,  are  held  to  be  as  noble  and  ingenious,  as  those 
of  any  other  nations '  (p.  613). 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  'the  true  pleasure  peculiar  to  our  English 
Masques'  was  derived  from  their  lyrical  and  dramatic  excellence,  in 

1  Further  research,  of  course,  might  prove  this  statement  to  be  inaccurate.  I  have, 
however,  examined  a  fair  number  of  descriptions  of  Italian  entertainments  which  have  not 
been  imitated  by  Inigo  Jones.  He  took  a  few  hints  from  a  Florentine  tournament  held  in 
1616. 


ENID   WELSFORD  409 

all  other  respects  the  masques  were  merely  inferior  versions  of  Italian 
ballets  and  intermedii.  Ben  Jonson  realized  this,  and  as  long  as  his 
influence  prevailed  Italian  borrowings  were  only  permitted  when  they 
could  be  fitted  into  his  scheme  and  transmuted  into  poetry.  The 
Philistines  at  the  Stuart  Court  sided  with  Inigo  Jones,  but  posterity 
has  justified  Ben  Jonson. 

Enid  Welsford. 
Cambridge. 


JOHN  DONNE  AND  SIR  THOMAS  OVERBURY'S 
<  CHARACTERS.' 

Sir  Thomas  Overbury's  poem,  A  Wife,  was  published  posthumously 
in  1614.  Later  in  the  same  year  a  second  edition  was  issued,  with  the 
addition  of  a  number  of  'Characters'  and  letters  of  witty  aphorisms 
written  by  Overbury  and  his  friends.  The  title  of  this  edition  runs 
thus: 

1 A  Wife  Now  The  Widdow  of  Sir  Thomas  Overburye.  Being  A  most 
exquisite  and  singular  Poem  of  the  choice  of  a  Wife.  Whereunto  are 
added  many  witty  Characters,  and  conceited  Newes,  written  by  himselfe 
and  other  learned  Gentlemen  his  friends. 

Dignum  laude  virum  musa  vetat  mori, 
Coelo  musa  beat.     Hor :  car :  lib.  3. 
London    Printed  for  Lawrence  Lisle,  and  are  to  bee  sold  at  his  shop  in 
Paules  Church-yard,  at  the  signe  of  the  Tigers  head.    1614.' 

The  introductory  epistle  'The  Printer  to  the  Reader'  contains  the 
following  noteworthy  passage :  '  The  surplusage,  that  now  exceeds  the 
last  edition,  was  (that  I  may  bee  honestly  impartiall)  in  some  things 
only  to  be  challenged  by  the  first  author,  but  others  now  added,  (little 
inferior  to  the  residue)  being  in  nature  answerable,  and  first  transcrib'd 
by  Gentlemen  of  the  same  qualitie,  I  haue  vpon  good  inducements, 
made  publike  with  warrantie  of  their  and  my  owne  credit.  Not  doubt- 
ing therefore  to  be  doubly  discharged,  both  by  the  verdict  of  conscience 
and  the  well-deserued  thankes  of  all  iudicious  Readers,  I  bid  you  euery 
one  farewell,  May  16.  1614.' 

On  Sig.  F4  there  is  a  sub-title  :  'Newes,  from  Any  whence  :  Or  Old 
Truthes  vnder  a  supposall  of  Noueltie.  Occasioned  by  diuers  Essayes 
and  priuate  passages  of  wit  between  sundry  Gentlemen  vpon  that 
subiect.'  This  collection  begins  with  '  Newes  from  Court '  by  T.  0. 
(Overbury  himself),  followed  by  '  Answer  to  the  Court  newes '  by  A.  S., 
'  Country  Newes '  by  Sr  T.  R.,  'Newes  from  the  very  Country'  by  I.  D., 
'  Answer  to  the  very  Country  Newes '  by  A.  S.,  and  a  number  of  other 
items.  I.  D.  stands  for  Tohn  Donne/  if  we  can  believe  the  younger 
Donne,  who  in  the  1650  edition  of  his  father's  poems  printed  this 
'  Newes  from  the  very  Country '  as  the  first  item  on  the  additional 
sheets  (aal-bb4)  which  he  supplied  on  obtaining  control  for  the  first 


EVELYN   M.  SIMPSON  411 

time  of  the  Poems.  The  younger  Donne  was  not  a  trustworthy  person, 
but  there  seems  no  reason  to  doubt  the  genuineness  of  the  additional 
matter,  and  he  could  have  had  little  inducement  to  claim  this  short 
prose  piece  as  his  father's  fraudulently,  for  it  fits  oddly  enough  into  a 
volume  of  poems.  Moreover  the  piece  itself,  trifling  as  it  is,  bears  the 
characteristic  marks  of  Donne's  early  prose  style,  as  shown  in  the 
'paradoxes'  and  'problems'  which  appeared  in  his  Juvenilia.  It  is 
accepted  without  question  as  Donne's  by  Mr  G.  L.  Keynes  in  his  valu- 
able Bibliography  of  John  Donne  (1914),  pp.  73  and  117,  but  Mr  Keynes 
is  in  error  in  writing  of  it  as  appearing  first  in  the  '  sixt  impression ' 
(1615)  of  Overbury's  Characters.  He  was  perhaps  misled  by  Dr  E.  F. 
Rimbault,  who  on  p.  xvi  of  his  introduction  to  The  Miscellaneous 
Works  in  Prose  and  Verse  of  Sir  Thomas  Overbury  (1890)  mentions  the 
*  Newes  from  the  very  Country '  as  if  it  appeared  first  in  the  sixth 
edition,  whereas,  as  we  have  seen,  it  appeared  in  1614  in  the  second 
edition  of  A  Wife — the  first  which  included  the  Characters  and  Newes. 
Donne  was  apparently  one  of  the  original  contributors  to  the  budget  of 
'  conceited  news '  which  Overbury  started  with  his  '  Newes  from  Court ' 
and  circulated  among  his  friends  in  order  that  they  might  supply  their 
share  of  wit. 

It  has  not,  as  far  as  I  am  aware,  been  previously  noted  that  the 
substance  of  Donne's  'Newes  from  the  very  Country'  appears  in 
the  jottings  printed  as  'Table  Talk'  in  Section  C  of  Appendix  IV  of 
MrPearsall  Smith's  Life  and  Letters  of  Sir  Henry  Wotton.  Mr  Pearsall 
Smith  states  that  he  found  these  jottings  in  a  manuscript  commonplace 
book  at  Burley-on-the-Hill,  from  which  he  printed  a  number  of  letters 
and  despatches,  which  he  was  able  to  identify  as  Wotton's.  '  It  is  plain,' 
he  adds,  '  from  the  number  of  documents  connected  with  Wotton,  that 
the  commonplace  book  belonged  to  him,  or  to  some  one  associated  with 
him,  and  that  in  it  were  copied  many  of  the  most  important  papers 
connected  with  his  first  embassy  at  Venice.  The  following  collection  of 
anecdotes  and  sayings  may  be  safely  regarded,  I  think,  as  notes  of 
"  table  talk "  made  by  some  one  in  Wotton's  house  in  Venice — the 
frequent  references  to  the  assassination  of  Henry  IV  (Nos.  36,  39,  40, 
45,  75,  76)  would  fix  the  date  at  the  summer  or  autumn  of  1610,  and 
there  is  no  reference  to  any  event  of  a  subsequent  period.  While  it 
would  be  unwise  and  perhaps  unjust  to  attribute  all  the  remarks  to 
Wotton  himself,  a  number  of  them  are  undoubtedly  his....' 

Mr  Pearsall  Smith  is  certainly  right  in  connecting  a  large  number 
of  the  jottings   with   the   year   1610,  and   with    Wotton's   Venetian 


412     John  Donne  and  Sir  Thomas  Overbury s  'Characters1 

embassy,  but  the  collection  seems  to  fall  into  several  groups,  one  of 
which — the  first,  as  the  jottings  now  appear — is  composed  of  remarks 
found  in  the  'Newes'  of  the  Overbury  volume.  Thus,  adopting 
Mr  Pearsall  Smith's  numbering  of  the  jottings,  we  find  that  Nos.  3-8, 
10-12,  23-29  occur  in  Donne's  '  Newes  from  the  very  Country/ 
Nos.  13-15,  18-22  are  to  be  found  in  'Newes  from  my  Lodging' 
ascribed  to  B.  R.  (Benjamin  Rudyard).  Nos.  1,  2,  16,  17,  30-34  occur 
in  Overbury's  '  Newes  from  Court.'  After  these  jottings  we  come  to  a 
group,  dealing  with  foreign  politics,  and  especially  with  the  murder  of 
Henry  IV  of  France.  These  are  followed  by  a  few  remarks  about 
Queen  Elizabeth  and  the  Earl  of  Essex,  intermingled  with  Italian 
quotations  and  reports  of  incidents  in  Venice.  There  is  another  small 
group  of  general  maxims,  followed  by  a  large  number  of  jottings 
referring  to  Venetian  affairs  and  also  to  the  death  of  the  French  King, 
and  finally  we  have  a  series  of  remarks  dealing  with  the  behaviour  of 
princes  and  a  number  of  references  to  the  history  of  Henry  III  of 
England. 

Since  the  collection  seems  to  have  been  completed  in  1610,  and 
some  of  the  entries  may  have  been  earlier,  Wotton  or  his  secretaries 
evidently  did  not  draw  on  the  printed  collection  of  'Newes'  in  the 
Overbury  volume.  Moreover  the  jottings  are  in  a  different  order  from 
that  in  which  they  occur  in  the  '  Newes,'  and  items  from  Overbury's 
'  Newes  from  the  Court'  are  interspersed  among  Donne's  and  Rudyard's 
contributions. 

The  Burley  commonplace  book  contained  a  number  of  letters  and 
poems  by  Donne,  most  of  the  letters  being  apparently  addressed  to 
Wotton  or  one  of  his  circle.  I  venture  therefore  to  suggest  that  it  was 
Donne  who  forwarded  to  Wotton  the  series  of  jottings  which  form  the 
first  group  of  the  '  Table  Talk '  collection.  Donne's  '  Newes  from  the 
very  Country'  is  reproduced  almost  in  its  entirety  in  'Table  Talk,' 
though  its  contents  are  rearranged,  while  only  fragments  of  Overbury 
and  Rudyard's  contributions  appear.  Moreover,  one  of  the  'Table  Talk' 
jottings  is  unintelligible  as  it  stands,  and  its  force  is  seen  only  when 
we  consider  it  in  its  proper  context  in  'Newes  from  the  very  Country.' 
This  is  the  form  in  which  it  appears  in  'Table  Talk'  (No.  12): '  Court 
motions  are  up  and  down,  ours  circular ;  theirs,  like  squibs,  cannot  stay 
at  the  highest,  nor  return  to  the  place  whence  they  rose  from,  but 
vanish  and  wear  out  in  the  air:  ours  like  millwheels,  busy  without 
changing;  they... fortunes,  we  vicissitudes1.'  In  'Newes  from  the  very 
1  Pearsall  Smith,  op.  cit.,  n,  p.  491. 


EVELYN  M.  SIMPSON  413 

Country '  we  read :  '  That  Court  motions  are  vp  and  down,  ours  circular : 
theirs  like  squibs  cannot  stay  at  the  highest,  nor  return  to  the  place 
which  they  rose  from,  but  vanish  &  weare  out  in  the  way,  Ours  like 
mill-wheels  busie  without  changing  place;  they  haue  peremptorie 
fortunes,  we  vicissitudes1.'  Here  is  the  contrast  between  Court  and 
country,  which  is  obscured  in  '  Table  Talk,'  where  there  is  no  indica- 
tion in  the  context  to  show  to  whom  'ours'  and  'we'  refer.  Again 
No.  15  of  'Table  Talk'  runs  thus:  'He  that  sleeps  in  the  cradle  of 
security,  sins  without  snorling.'  This  appears  in  'Newes  from  my 
Lodging'  in  the  form — '  That  hee  who  sleepes  in  the  cradle  of  securitie, 
sins  soundly  without  starting2.'  Nos.  33,  34  of  '  Table  Talk'  run  thus : 
'  The  wisdom  of  action  is  discretion ;  the  knowledge  or  contemplation  is 
truth,  the  knowledge  of  action  is  man.  He  that  first  considers  what 
should  be  the  latter,  makes  use  of  what  is.'  The  obscurity  of  these  sen- 
tences disappears  in  'Newes  from  Court,'  where  they  run  thus:  'That  the 
wisdome  of  Action  is  Discretion,  the  knowledge  of  contemplation  is 
truth,  the  knowledge  of  action  is  men.  That  the  first  considers  what 
should  be,  the  latter  makes  vse  of  what  is3.' 

Did  Donne  contribute  anything  further  to  the  curious  miscellany 
which,  increasing  in  size  with  every  fresh  edition,  continued  to  be 
described  as  Sir  Thomas  Overbury's  work,  though  Overbury's  un- 
doubted share  in  it  was  gradually  overwhelmed  by  the  flood  of 
new  'characters,'  essays,  and  other  items  introduced  by  the  editors 
and  publishers  of  the  eighteen  editions  which  appeared  within  fifty- 
one  years  of  Overbury's  death  ?  Among  this  new  material  were 
contributions  by  Sir  Henry  Wotton,  Lady  Southwell,  Bishop  Corbet, 
Francis  Beaumont,  and  others.  One  or  two  items  were  signed  with 
the  full  name,  one  or  two  more  with  the  initials  of  the  writer  when 
they  first  appeared,  but  the  bulk  of  the  new  material  had  no  in- 
dication of  authorship.  The  title  of  each  new  edition  described  it 
as  '  enlarged  with  more  Characters  than  any  of  the  former  Editions,'  or 
as  containing  'additions  of  new  Characters,  and  many  other  Wittie 
Conceits  never  before  Printed.' 

The  eleventh  edition  (1622)  contained  for  the  first  time  'An  Essay 
of  Valour,'  unsigned.  This  essay  appeared  on  Q6-R1  after  'The 
Character  of  a  happy  life.  By  Sir  H.  W.'  and  before  'Certaine  Edicts 
from   a   Parliament   in  Eutopia ;    Written   by  the    Lady  Southwell ' 

1  Overbury,  Wife  (1614,  second  edition),  Sig.  G2  verso. 

2  Ibid.  Sig.  H  2. 

3  Ibid.  Sig.  F  4  verso. 

M.L.R.  XVIII.  27 

. 


414  John  Donne  and  Sir  TJiomas  Overburys  '  Characters ' 

which  in  the  tenth  edition  (1618)  had  immediately  followed  Sir  H.  W.'s 
poem.  It  was  reprinted,  again  unsigned,  in  the  twelfth  edition  (1627)  and 
continued  to  appear  in  later  editions1. 

The  editors  and  bibliographers  of  Donne  have  failed  to  notice  that 
this  was  the  first  appearance  in  print  of  an  essay  which  was  published 
as  Donne's  by  his  son  in  the  1652  volume,  Paradoxes,  Problemes,  Essayes, 
Characters,  Written  by  Dr  Bonne  Dean  of  Pauls.  The  younger  Donne  in 
his  dedicatory  epistle  described  the  contents  of  this  volume  as  '  the 
Essays  of  two  Ages,  where  you  may  see  the  quicknesse  of  the  first,  and 
the  firmness  of  the  latter'  thus  alluding  to  the  early  paradoxes  with 
their  accompanying  problems  and  essays,  as  contrasted  with  the  graver 
Essays  in  Divinity. 

The  text  of  the  'Essay  of  Valour'  in  Overbury's  Characters  differs  in 
a  few  points  from  that  in  the  Paradoxes.  Apart  from  differences  in 
spelling  and  punctuation,  it  contains  certain  readings  which  are  superior 
to  those  given  by  the  younger  Donne.  Thus  on  Q  6,  line  17,  the  reading : 
*  It  [valour]  feareth  a  sword  no  more  than  an  Ague '  is  clearly  the 
right  one,  and  the  reading  of  the  1652  Paradoxes  (p.  73) :  'It  feareth 
a  word  no  more  then  an  Ague'  is  corrupt.  The  context  shows  that  the 
reading  'must  neuer  boast'  (1622,  Q6  verso,  line  13)  is  the  original  one, 
of  which  'must  ever  boast'  (Paradoxes,  p.  73)  is  a  corruption.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  1622  edition,  followed  by  all  succeeding  editions  of  the 
Characters,  has  the  misprint  'Mistrisses'  (Q7  verso,  line  5) — 'they  carry 
their  Mistrisses  weapons,  and  his  valour' — where  the  Paradoxes  rightly 
reads  'Masters.'  'Mistrisses'  in  the  1622  volume  is  evidently  due  to  the 
printer's  eye  having  caught  the  word  where  it  occurs  rightly  in  the  line 
before,  and  the  blunder  was  repeated  in  subsequent  editions. 

The  eleventh2  edition  (1622)  also  contained  for  the  first  time  'The 
true  Character  of  a  Dunce,'  which  is  to  be  found  on  G3-G5  between 
the  characters  of  'An  Ostler'  and  'A  Good  Wife.'  It  is  unsigned,  but  in 
1652  it  was  published  as  John  Donne's  by  the  younger  Donne  in  Para- 
doxes, Problemes,  Essayes,  Characters.  In  that  volume  it  occupies 
pp.  67-71,  and  is  placed  after  'The  Character  of  a  Scot  at  the  first 
sight'  and  immediately  before  'An  Essay  of  Valour.'  I  have  collated  the 
text  of  the  two  editions,  and  have  found  a  number  of  trifling  variations. 

1  I  have  not  been  able  to  examine  copies  of  all  the  later  editions,  but  the  essay  is  found 
between  the  'Character  of  a  happy  life'  and  'Certaine  Edicts'  in  the  fourteenth  edition 
(1630),  and  between  'Certaine  verses  concerning  the  present  estate  of  Man  '  and  'Certaine 
Edicts'  in  the  seventeenth  edition  (1655). 

a  Rimbault  erroneously  states  (op.  cit.  p.  xviii)  that  the  character  of  a  Dunce  appeared 
first  in  the  '  sixteenth  impression'  (1638)  which  he  reckons  as  the  seventeenth.  He  makes 
no  conjecture  about  the  authorship. 


EVELYN  M.  SIMPSON  .     415 

It  is  noteworthy  that  these  two  pieces  of  Donne's,  'The  true  Charac- 
ter of  a  Dunce'  and  'An  Essay  of  Valour,'  appeared  for  the  first  time  in 
1622  when  Henry  Seile  joined  Lisle  in  issuing  the  Overbury  volume. 
It  was  Seile  who  in  1633  issued  Donne's  Juvenilia,  containing  a  number 
of  prose  paradoxes  and  problems.  These  had  been  licensed  by  Sir  Henry 
Herbert,  but  in  a  few  months  the  license  was  withdrawn,  in  con- 
sequence of  a  summons  of  Sir  Henry  before  the  Board  of  the  Star 
Chamber  to  explain  '  why  hee  warranted  the  book  of  D.  Duns  paradoxes 
to  bee  printed.'  Evidently  Seile  had  access  to  a  manuscript  containing 
copies  of  Donne's  early  prose  pieces,  but  the  publication  was  resented 
by  John  Donne  the  younger,  who  in  1637  presented  a  petition  to  Arch- 
bishop Laud  in  which  he  stated  that  since  the  death  of  his  father,  lately 
Dean  of  St  Paul's,  there  had  been  many  scandalous  pamphlets  published 
under  his  name,  which  were  none  of  his.  Among  these  were  instanced 
the  Poems  of  1633,  Ignatius  his  Conclave,  and  Juvenilia.  It  is  plain  that 
the  younger  Donne's  motive  was  merely  to  obtain  control  of  the  publica- 
tion of  his  father's  works,  for  a  few  years  later  he  acknowledged  the 
authenticity  of  all  these  three  volumes  by  re-issuing  them  as  Donne's, 
with  additional  poems  and  prose  matter. 

Probably  the  manuscript  which  Seile  consulted  contained  also  the 
only  other  '  character '  ascribed  to  Donne  by  his  son,  '  The  Character  of 
a  Scot  at  the  first  sight,'  but  in  1622,  while  James  I  was  still  on  the 
throne,  it  would  have  been  impolitic  to  publish  it. 

These  pieces  have  no  great  literary  value,  but  they  are  witty  enough 
in  their  way,  and  it  is  interesting  to  find  Donne  thus  associated  with 
Overbury,  Rudyard,  Roe,  and  other  brilliant  young  men  of  the  day  in 
their  attempt  to  vie  with  one  another  in  the  production  of  '  characters,' 
essays,  and  '  conceited  news.'  Probably  all  Donne's  contributions  belong 
to  the  early  years  of  James  I's  reign,  when  Donne,  though  spending  most 
of  his  time  in  retirement  at  Mitcham,  kept  in  touch  with  friends  at 
Court. 

Evelyn  M.  Simpson 

(ne'e  Spearing). 
Oxford. 


27—2 


ANDREW  MARVELL:  FURTHER  BIOGRAPHICAL 

POINTS. 

Professor  Margoliouth's  very  interesting  article  in  a  recent 
number  of  this  Review  (Vol.  xvn,  p.  351)  has  prompted  me  to  publish  a 
few  facts  which  no  biographer  of  Marvell's  has  yet  mentioned.  As  I  am 
writing  in  France  and  cannot  verify  some  of  my  statements,  I  beg  to  be 
excused  for  possible  slips  and  shall  be  thankful  for  any  correction  or 
addition  which  more  experienced  workers  in  the  field  of  research  may 
offer. 

I.  Marvell  and  the  Skinners. 

On  the  points  so  thoroughly  investigated  by  Professor  Margoliouth 
I  have  nothing  to  add,  unless  I  were  to  point  out  that  the  Marvell 
family  was  somehow  acquainted  with  a  sister  to  Mrs  Skinner  and  aunt 
to  Cyriack.  There  is  in  the  Inner  Temple  library  a  MS.  sermon  on 
Israel  and  England  parallel'd,  which  its  author,  the  Rev.  Andrew 
Marvell,  dedicated  to  Mrs  Anne  Sadleir,  under  date  of  28  April  16271. 
Now  that  lady,  a  daughter  of  Sir  Edward  Coke  like  Mrs  Skinner,  lived 
on  into  the  times  of  the  Civil  War  and  Commonwealth  (probably  she 
even  saw  the  Restoration),  and  there  is  preserved  at  Trinity  College, 
Cambridge,  a  curious  correspondence  between  her  and  the  New  England 
pioneer  of  religious  liberty,  Roger  Williams,  of  which  correspondence 
Masson  gave  extracts  in  his  Life  of  Milton2.  Williams  tried  to  alter 
the  lady's  strongly  royalist  and  episcopalian  views  and  recommended 
Eikonoclastes  to  her.  But  she  rebuked  him  indignantly  :  '  For  Melton's 
book... that  he  wrote  against  the  late  King  that  you  would  have  me 
read,  you  should  have  taken  notice  of  God's  judgment  upon  him, 
who  struck  him  with  blindness;  and,  as  I  have  heard,  he  was  fain  to 
have  the  help  of  one  Andrew  Marvell,  or  else  he  could  not  have 
finished  that  most  accursed  libel.  God  has  begun  his  punishment  upon 
him  here ;  his  punishment  will  be  hereafter  in  Hell.'   The  supposition 

1  Historical  MSS.  Commission,  Xlth  report,  part  7 :  MSS.  of  the  Inner  Temple,  p.  235, 
No.  531 C,  12°.  From  No.  531  E  in  the  same  collection  we  learn  that  Mrs  Sadleir  lived  at 
Standon  in  Hertfordshire.  I  have  not  seen  the  manuscript  sermon  and  dedication  myself. 
They  might  yield  further  information. 

2  Volume  iv,  pp.  528-31.  Masson  does  not  give  the  lady's  Christian  name,  but  the 
D.N.B.  (Life  of  Roger  Williams)  refers  to  her  as  '  Mrs  Anne  Sadleir.' 


PIERRE   LEGOUIS  417 

that  Marvell  should  have  given  Milton  help  in  the  writing  of  Eikono- 
clastes  (published  in  October  1649,  i.e.  about  nine  months  before  he 
wrote  the  Horatian  Ode,  so  utterly  different  in  its  appreciation  of  the 
king's  execution)  deserves  no  consideration  whatever;  but  the  report 
itself,  credulously  taken  up  by  Mrs  Sadleir,  shows  in  what  light  she 
looked  at  Marvell,  when  he  had  done  little  that  we  know  to  bring  upon 
himself 

Ni  cet  exces  d'honneur  ni  cette  indignite. 

For  the  Williams-Sadleir  correspondence  took  place  in  1652  or  1653  l. 
Milton  wrote  his  well-known  introduction  of  Marvell  to  Bradshaw  on 
February  21, 165f,  but  it  proved  ineffectual,  and  from  it  we  gather  that 
the  two  poets  had  not  been  long  acquainted  and  that  the  younger  one 
had  just  left  the  rather  royalist  household  of  Fairfax.  The  Character  of 
Holland,  Marvell's  earliest  decidedly  republican  utterance,  belongs 
indeed  to  the  former  half  of  16o3,  but  if  it  then  appeared  in  print  (and 
that  not  anonymously),  of  which  we  have  no  proof,  it  does  not  seem  to 
have  achieved  fame.  Neither  was  Marvell's  appointment  in  July  of  the 
same  year  as  tutor  to  Cromwell's  ward,  William  Dutton,  of  a  nature  to 
make  him  notorious  among  the  royalists  at  large.  We  must  therefore 
conclude  that  Mrs  Sadleir  heard  very  early,  though  from  no  strictly 
accurate  informer,  of  the  poet's  going  over  to  the  republicans,  and  that 
the  news  shocked  her  all  the  more  because  she  knew  his  family  and 
gratefully  remembered  his  father. 

We  might  perhaps  go  one  step  further :  what  Mrs  Sadleir  most 
objected  to  in  Williams,  was  the  fact  that  he  had  been  helped  to  his 
education  by  her  father :  think  of  poor  Sir  Edward  Coke,  wrere  he  told 
in  his  grave  of  the  present  attitude  of  his  protege  !2  Suppose  now  she 
was  aware  that  her  sister  had  provided  the  youth  Marvell  with  money, 
e.g.  when  he  set  out  on  his  grand  tour:  it  would  fully  account  for 
her  hostile  notice  of  him8.  I  do  not  mean  to  revive  the  legend  of 
Mrs  Skinner's  legacy  in  its  traditional  form,  as  definitely  laid  to  rest  by 
Professor  Margoliouth,  but  just  to  encourage  lovers  of  the  romantic  in 
the  belief  that  there  may  have  been  some  foundation  for  it  after  all. 

1  Three  letters  passed  from  each  side,  none  of  them  dated.  But  we  know  that  Williams 
embarked  for  England  in  November  1651  (according  to  Masson  he  arrived  in  London  in 
March  or  April  1652).  He  left  early  in  1654.  It  seems  probable  that  he  did  not  wait  till 
the  end  of  his  stay  to  attempt  renewing  his  acquaintance  with  the  family  of  his  late 
patron,  Sir  Edward  Coke  (see  infra). 

2  This  appears  from  a  note  prefixed  to  the  correspondence  by  Mrs  Sadleir,  who  kept 
Williams's  letters  and  copies  of  her  own. 

3  Note  that  Mrs  Skinner  died  some  time  before  June  18,  1653  (the  date  of  the  proving 
of  her  will).  Cyriack  had  then  been  Milton's  disciple  and  admirer  for  several  years,  and 
must  also  have  incurred  his  aunt's  reprobation. 


P- 


A  1' 


5Y- 


<D 


418       Andrew  Marvell:  Further  Biographical  Points 

II.  Marvell's  First  Election  to  Parliament. 

It  is  well  known  now  that  Marvell  first  sat  for  Hull  in  Richard 
Cromwell's  Parliament,  to  which  he  was  elected  on  the  10th  January, 
165§.   But  the  circumstances  of  his  election  require  some  elucidation. 

At  the  time  Marvell  acted  under  Thurloe  in  the  capacity  of  '  Latin 

secretary.'    He  had  been  living  away  from  Hull  for  at  least  sixteen 

years1,  and  we  have  no  record  of  any  visit  paid  by  him  to  that  town 

during  this  grande  mortalis  aevi  spatium.    He  was  not  yet  a  burgess  of 

Hull  and  had  to  apply  in  extremis  for  that  'freedom'  which  I  take  to 

have  been  a  necessary  qualification  for  election.    Witness  the  following 

entry  in  the  bench-books2   which  has  never,  to  my  knowledge,  been 

printed  :  on  Thursday,  the  28th  of  December,  1658  : 

Mr  Edmund  Popple  sheriffe  of  this  towne  came  into  this  board  and  acquainted 
that  his  brother  in  law  Mr  Andrew  Marvell  made  it  his  request  that  the  board 
would  please  to  make  him  a  free  burgesse  of  this  corporation,  which  the  board 
taking  into  consideration  and  accompting  the  good  service  he  hath  already  done  for 
this  towne  they  are  pleased  to  grant  him  his  freedome,  and  to  that  intent  a  com- 
mission or  deputation  under  the  towne  seale  be  sealed  unto  Tempest  Milner  Esq. 
Thomas  Lyster  Esq.  Benjamin  Lyster  Esq.  Francis  Allan  gent.  John  Harris  and 
Samuel  Stanfield  authorizing  them  jointly  or  any  of  them  severally  to  take  a 
corporall  oath  of  the  said  Mr  Marvell  as  Burgesse  of  this  Corporation  which  oath  is 
inserted  in  the  said  commission. 

So  Marvell  was  in  London  when  he  received  the  freedom ;  he  was 
likewise  absent  from  Hull  on  the  day  of  his  election  as  seems  established 
by  a  fragment  of  a  letter  (not  included  in  Grosart's  edition)  engraved 
under  reproductions  of  the  Hollis  portrait :  '  Pray  what  say  our  86  [?] 
men  of  the  businesse  and  of  me  ? — Your  most  obliged  affectionate  cosin. — 
Andrew  Marvell.— Jan.  15.  1658V 

Marvell's  biographers  account  for  his  success  at  the  poll  by  his 
father's  memory  and  the  interest  of  his  brothers-in-law  James  Blaydes 
and  Edmund  Popple.  Due  stress  has  not  been  put  on  his  official  posi- 
tion which  had  already  enabled  him  to  do  the  town  'good  service'  and 
on  governmental  backing.  As  we  shall  now  see,  all  these  assets  together 
might  not  have  carried  the  result  without  more  direct  interference. 

For  the  two  seats  allotted  to  Hull  there  were,  besides  Marvell,  four 

1  Supposing  he  served  a  clerkship  there  in  1641-2,  as  Prof.  Margoliouth  surmises.  If  he 
did  not,  we  should  say  twenty-five  years  instead  of  sixteen. 

2  Bench-book  vi,  p.  264. 

3  This  autograph,  to  be  seen  at  Wilberforce  House,  Hull,  is  said  to  come  from  an 
original  letter  in  possession  of  John  Thane.  The  figure  before  men  is  hard  to  make  out. 
I  guess  this  cosin  to  have  been  Marvell's  nephew,  William  Popple,  so  styled  in  two  of  the 
letters  collected  by  Grosart:  March  30,  1669;  March  21,  16?£,  but  perhaps  he  was  too 
young  in  1659  to  take  part  in  politics.  The  only  other  person  addressed  by  Marvell  as 
cousin  is  Humphry  Duncalfe,  mayor  of  Hull  in  1668-9  (letters  of  Oct.  27,  Nov.  28,  1668, 
and  March  16,  166£). 


PIERRE    LEGOUIS  419 

candidates1:  Thomas  Strickland  and  Henry  Smyth,  about  whose  politics 
for  the  time  being  I  know  nothing ;  John  Ramsden  who  became  the 
senior  member,  and  no  doubt  favoured  the  protectorate  (the  Marvell 
and  Ramsden  families  had  long  been  and  were  to  continue  upon  inti- 
mate terms);  and  Sir  Henry  Vane  the  younger,  who  was  perhaps 
Richard  Cromwell's  most  formidable  opponent  as  he  had  been  Oliver's 
greatest  annoyance.  Vane  represented  Hull  in  the  (to  his  mind  still 
undissolved)  Long  Parliament,  but  he  decided  to  swallow  the  conditions 
imposed  upon  the  candidates  by  the  new  regime  and  to  stand  again. 
Now  this  is  what  Ludlow  says :  '  Great  endeavours  were  used  by  the 
Court  to  prevent  the  election  of  Sir  Henry  Vane;  and  tho  their  officers 
refused  to  return  him  at  Hull  and  Bristol,  at  both  which  places  it  was 
said  he  had  the  majority,  yet  at  last  he  was  chosen  and  returned  for  the 
borough  of  Whitchurch  in  the  county  of  Southampton2.'  Ludlow  was 
partial  but  honest,  and  his  allegation  is  entitled  to  consideration3.  True, 
he  produces  it  upon  hearsay,  but  it  is  not  incredible,  nor  even  im- 
probable : 

I.  The  fragment  of  Marvell's  letter  quoted  above  hints  at  some 
incident,  and  if  the  beginning  of  the  text  were  recovered,  it  would  no 
doubt  provide  a  clue  to  this  mystery.  II.  The  entry  in  the  bench-books 
gives  no  figures  for  the  poll,  as  is  done  for  Marvell's  second  and  third 
elections  in  1660  and  1661 4.  This  is  somewhat  suggestive  of  underhand 
proceedings.  III.  The  then  sheriff  was,  as  we  have  seen,  Marvell's 
brother-in-law,  which  might  well  throw  suspicion  on  the  report  of  the 
officers.  IV.  As  early  as  June  following  the  corporation  of  Hull  was 
sending  an  address  of  congratulation  to  the  restored  Rump5,  thereby 
endorsing  its  former  choice  of  Sir  Henry  Vane  for  its  representative,  and 
renouncing  Marvell  along  with  the  fallen  Protector. 

Vane  does  not  seem  to  have  taken  advantage  of  his  new  term  of 
power  to  avenge  himself  upon  Marvell  whom  he  allowed  to  continue  in 
his  Latin  secretaryship  and  to  whom  the  republican  council  of  state  even 
granted  lodgings  at  Whitehall  on  Jul}'  14,  1659.    Perhaps  this  lenity 

1  Grosart,  vol.  n,  p.  14. 

2  Ludlow's  Memoirs,  edited  by  Sir  C.  H.  Firth,  Oxford,  1894,  vol.  n,  p.  51. 

3  Guizot  accepts  it  in  his  Histoire  du  Protectorat  de  Richard  Cromwell  et  du  retablisse- 
ment  des  Stuarts,  1874,  vol.  i,  p.  33. 

4  I  am  sorry  to  say  I  omitted  when  at  Hull  to  look  up  the  previous  elections.  If  the 
figures  were  given  in  1640,  1654,  1656,  the  argument  against  the  fairness  of  Marvell's 
election  becomes  much  stronger. 

5  Guizot,  ut  supra,  p.  152,  note  1.  From  the  Journals  of  the  House  of  Commons. 
I  have  not  been  able  to  look  up  any  life  of  Vane  except  that  in  the  D.N.B.  (by  Sir  Charles 
Firth),  where  two  references  are  given  concerning  the  165f  election,  to  Thurloe's  State 
Papers,  vol.  vn,  pp.  588  and  590.     But  they  throw  no  light  on  the  point  at  issue. 


420      Andrew  Marvell :  Further  Biographical  Points 

proceeded  from  a  desire  to  conciliate  Milton  who  in  fact  returned  to  the 

republican  fold  about  that  time.     At  the  election  of  the  Convention 

(April  2,  1660),  Vane,  in  disgrace  with  his  own  party,  desisted  from 

entering  the  lists  and  Colonel  Matthew  Alured1,  who  seems  to  have 

stood  for  the  Good  Old  Cause  at  its  last  gasp,  failed  with  55  votes  to 

Ramsden's  227  and  Marvell's  141 2. 

To  sum  up,  though  the  case  for  Marvell's  retrospective  unseating  be 

not  proven,  yet  the  bulk  of  the  evidence  to  my  mind  weighs  decidedly 

against  him,  or  rather  against   his  supporters  as  he   had   no   direct 

responsibility  in  the  matter.    Strange  however  that  many  should  have 

known  his  politics  only  through  Wordsworth's  sonnet  which  associates 

him  with  his  opponent : 

Great  men  have  been  among  us  ;  hands  that  penned 
And  tongues  that  uttered  wisdom— better  none  ! 
The  later  Sidney,  Marvell,  Harrington, 
Young  Vane  and  others  that  called  Milton  friend. 

III.  Marvell  in  Parliament. 

The  Journals  of  the  House  of  Commons,  however  jejune  at  that 
time,  contain  some  interesting  facts  concerning  Marvell  which  have  re- 
mained buried  owing  to  a  sadly  deficient  index. 

(A)   On  the  23rd  of  July,  1660,  a  letter  is  received  by  the  House 

'  from  the  Prince  Elector  [Palatine  of  the  Rhine]  signed  Carolus  Ludo- 

vicus,  dated  Heidelberg  Nonis  Junii  1660.'   After  the  letter  has  been 

read,  it  is 

Ordered  :  That  the  members  of  this  House  [who  are]  of  the  King's  Majesty's  Privy 
Council  be  desired  to  acquaint  the  King's  Majesty  with  this  letter  ;    and  if  His 

1  No  doubt  the  same  Colonel  Matthew  Alured,  to  whom  Cromwell  wrote  May  16, 
1654.  See  the  letter  with  Carlyle's  comments.  He  was  then  dismissed  from  the  army,  on  the 
score  of  anabaptist  notions  and  questionable  dispositions.  What  Marvell  thought  of  the 
republican  opposition  in  Richard's  parliament,  and  of  Vane's  in  particular,  appears  from 
his  two  letters  to  George  Downing,  of  Feb.  11,  165f  and  March  25,  1659,  hitherto  un- 
published (British  Museum,  Add.  MS.  22,919,  pp.  14  and  78) :  '  Their  doctrine  hath 
moved  most  upon  their  maxime  that  all  pow'r  is  in  the  people.  That  it  is  reverted  into 
this  house  by  the  death  of  his  Highnesse,  that  Mr.  Speaker  is  protector  in  possession  and 
it  will  not  be  his  wisdom  to  part  with  it  easily,  that  this  house  is  all  England.  Yet  they 
pretend  that  they  are  for  a  single  person  and  this  single  person  [Richard]  but  without 
negative  voice  without  militia  not  upon  the  petition  and  advice  but  by  adoption  and  dona- 
tion of  this  House  and  that  all  the  rights  of  the  people  should  be  specifyd  and  indorsed  upon 
that  Donation.  But  we  know  well  enough  what  they  mean.... They  have  held  us  to  it  [the 
debate  upon  the  bill  for  recognition  of  his  Highness]  and  yet  little  nearer.... For  they  speak 
eternally  to  the  question,  to  the  orders  of  the  house,  and  in  all  the  tricks  of  Parliament. 
They  have  much  the  odds  in  speaking  but  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  our  justice  our  affection 
and  our  number  which  is  at  least  two  thirds  will  weare  them  out  at  the  long  runne....' 
True,  Marvell  is  writing  by  Thurloe's  command  to  a  diplomatic  agent  of  the  protectorate. 
But  the  irony  is  all  his  own.  The  frank  admission  of  superior  eloquence  and  parliamentary 
skill  on  the  republican  side  only  brings  out  more  clearly  Marvell's  intellectual  aversion 
from  these  doctrinaires. 

2  Grosart,  vol.  n,  p.  15. 


PIERRE   LEGO UTS  421 

Majesty  shall  think  fit,  that  a  letter  be  sent  by  this  House  in  answer  thereunto  ; 
that  then  they,  and  Mr  Marvell,  a  member  of  this  House,  do,  together  with  the 
members  that  serve  for  the  Universities,  prepare  an  answer  and  present  it  to  this 
House. 

Let  us  remember  that  Charles  II  has  been  in  England  less  than  two 
months  and  that  the  Convention-Parliament  is  in  the  height  of  royalist 
fervour.  Thurloe,  Marvell's  former  chief,  is  under  arrest  on  a  charge  of 
high  treason ;  he  has  lately  been  granted  '  free  liberty  to  attend  the 
secretaries  of  state'  but  will  not  be  amnestied  until  the  11th  of  August. 
Milton,  Marvell's  colleague,  fares  still  worse.  He  is  in  hiding  and  his 
Defensio  has  just  been  burnt  by  the  common  hangman.  And  when  a 
good  Latin  pen  is  wanted  to  write  to  the  King's  first  cousin  on  the 
occasion  of  the  'Blessed  Restoration,'  some  humorist  in  the  House 
names  Marvell,  with  a  transparent  reference  to  his  previous  employment 
with  Old  Noll,  and  the  House  in  the  spirit  of  the  jest  inflicts  this  mild 
form  of  punishment  upon  the  delinquent.  For  we  may  safely  surmise 
that  the  Right  Honourable  the  Privy  Councillors  and  the  members  for 
the  Universities  left  the  drudgery  of  writing  this  Latin  prose  to  Marvell 
alone. 

(B)  Marvell  sat  on  several  select  committees  during  this  Conven- 
tion-Parliament1 where  he  seems  to  have  made  himself  rather  popular. 
On  one  occasion  he  reported  to  the  whole  House  from  one  of  those 
committees  (the  procedure  resembling  much  more  the  French  than  the 
present  English  practice) 

amendments  to  a  bill  for  erecting  and  endowing  vicarages  out  of  impropriate 
rectories  which  he  read  with  the  coherence 2  in  his  place  ;  and  were  afterwards  read 
the  first  and  second  time  by  the  clerk.    Resolved  :  That  this  bill  be  committed  to 

1  In  Richard  Cromwell's  parliament  Marvell  had  already  been  elected  to  several 
committees:  (1)  Committee  to  examine  Elizabeth  Lilborne's  petition,  Feb.  5,  165g; 
(2)  Committee  of  the  five  northern  counties  to  consider  how  they  may  be  supplied  with 
a  learned,  pious,  sufficient  and  able  ministry  (same  date) ;  (3)  Committee  to  examine 
whether  the  county  palatine  of  Durham  should  be  represented  in  Parliament,  March  31, 
1659 ;  (4)  Committee  to  examine  a  petition  of  the  disbanded  forces  in  Lancashire,  April  13 ; 
(5)  Committee  to  consider  how  to  remove  and  where  to  place  records  then  at  Worcester 
House  which  is  to  be  returned  to  its  owner  (same  date). 

In  the  Convention-Parliament  he  sits  on  committees  appointed  :  (1)  to  examine  the 
humble  petition  of  several  heads,  governors  and  other  members  of  the  University  of  Oxford, 
June  25,  1660;  (2)  to  examine  papers  printed  in  the  name  of  the  King  and  bishops  deroga- 
tory to  the  authority  of  Parliament,  June  30;  (3)  to  consider  reparation  to  the  Earl  of 
Bristol  out  of  the  lands  of  Carew  Raleigh,  Aug.  29;  (4)  to  consider  the  spending  of  money 
to  redeem  captives  at  Algiers  and  Tunis  (as  an  additional  member),  Sept.  3;  (5)  to  report 
on  the  draining  of  the  great  level  of  the  Fens,  Sept.  4 ;  (6)  to  settle  the  militia,  Nov.  6 ; 
(7)  to  examine  the  petition  of  Michaell  Crake,  Nov.  9 ;  (8)  to  examine  a  bill  for  preventing 
the  voluntary  separation  and  living  apart  of  married  persons,  Nov.  14;  (9)  to  settle  a 
chapel  of  ease  in  the  Forest  of  Waltham,  Nov.  15;  (10)  for  the  debts  of  the  Earl  of 
Cleveland,  Nov.  26. 

A  similar  list  might  be  made  for  the  Cavalier  Parliament,  but  then  we  have  Marvell's 
correspondence  with  his  constituents. 

2  i.e.  the  context.   Marvell  read  a  sentence  or  two  before  and  after  the  amended  ones. 


422      Andrew  Marvell :  Further  Biographical  Points 

the  former  committee  :  who  are  to  meet  this  afternoon  and  to  report  with  all  con- 
venient speed. 

This  takes  place  on  the  15th  of  November  1660.  The  bill  has  been 
committed  a  first  time  on  the  7th  to  a  committee  of  67  members.  On 
the  27th  of  the  same  month,  after  prayers, 

Mr  Marvell  reports  further  amendments  and  two  provisoes  to  the  bill  for  erecting 
and  endowing  vicarages  out  of  impropriate  rectories  :  which  he  read  with  the 
coherence  in  his  place  ;  and  were  after  read  the  first  and  the  second  time  by  the 
clerk :  and,  on  the  question,  the  said  amendments  and  provisoes  previously  reported, 
were,  on  the  question,  agreed.  Resolved  that  this  bill,  with  all  the  said  amendments 
be  ingrossed.  Mr  Marvell  reports  from  the  said  committee,  that  this  House  would 
desire  His  Majesty  that  he  would  be  pleased  to  write  his  [sic]  letter  to  the  colleges 
in  the  Universities,  that  they  would  take  into  consideration  their  respective  impro- 
priations, and  augment  the  vicarages,  or  curates'  places,  belonging  thereto,  to  such 
proportion,  as  will  consist  with  the  maintenance  of  the  said  colleges. 

We  need  not  infer  that  Marvell  since  his  Trinity  days  bore  the  Cam- 
bridge dons  a  grudge  and  took  this  opportunity  of  revenging  his  dis- 
missal from  his  scholarship  in  1641 ;  but  he  was  evidently  pleased  with 
his  day's  work,  since  writing  to  his  constituents  the  same  night  he  told 
them,  contrary  to  his  usual  practice,  the  share  he  had  taken  in  the 
proceedings1. 

The  bill  was  read  a  third  time  on  November  30,  passed  and  carried 
up  to  the  Lords  the  same  day2  (but  not  by  Marvell).  There  it  waited 
for  their  Lordships'  pleasure,  who  in  spite  of  a  reminder  from  the 
Commons  (December  17)  allowed  it  to  sleep  until  the  dissolution  put 
an  end  bo  it  on  December  29.  On  this  measure  of  practical  reform  most 
moderate  men,  whether  presbyterians  or  episcopalians,  could  agree.  But 
the  Bishops  succeeded  in  thwarting  this  lay  interference.  From  1660  to 
1676  six  bills  to  the  same  purpose  all  miscarried  and  then  the  attempt 
was  finally  dropped3.  But,  apart  from  the  first,  Marvell  never  took  a 
leading  part  in  forwarding  any  of  them ;  he  probably  felt  that  his  open 
support  would  injure  a  good  cause  in  the  uncongenial  atmosphere  of  the 
Cavalier  Parliament.  That,  however,  his  interest  in  the  question  never 
flagged,  readers  of  the  second  part  of  the  Rehearsal  Transprosed  know 
full  well.     The  length  of  the  passage  will  not  allow  quotation  here, 

1  Grosart,  vol.  n,  p.  24 :  '  Today  upon  the  recommitment,  I  made  my  second  Eeport 
of  that  very  good  Bill  for  erecting  and  augmenting  Vicarages  out  of  all  impropriations 
belonging  to  Arch  Bishops,  Bishops,  Deans  and  Chapters  or  any  other  Ecclesiasticall 
person  or  corporation,  to  80  li.  per  annum,  where  the  impropriation  amounts  to  120  li.  and 
where  lesse,  to  one  moity  of  the  profits  of  such  impropriations.  And  the  Bill  upon  reading 
the  amendments  was  ordered  to  be  ingrossed.'  This  shows  that  the  verb  to  impropriate 
must  not  be  taken  here  in  its  restricted  modern  meaning  (N.E.D.  :  to  place  tithes  or 
ecclesiastical  property  in  lay  hands),  but  rather  in  the  earlier  one  :  to  annex  to  a  corpora- 
tion or  person. 

2  Cf.  Marvell's  letter  of  Dec.  4.   Grosart,  vol.  n,  p.  29. 
8  Journals  of  the  H.  of  C.   Index. 


PIERRE   LEGOUIS  423 

though  its  mixture  of  irony  and  conviction  deserves  it.  In  brief,  while 
denying  a  charge  that  'he  thinks  enviously  of  the  revenue  of  the  Church 
of  England'  and  even  wishing  '  there  could  be  some  way  found  out  to 
augment  it,'  he  boldly  attacks  '  the  manner  of  its  distribution,'  reflecting 
with  his  usual  directness  upon  his  adversary  Parker :  '  It  is  a  shame 
that  such  an  one  as  you  should,  for  writing  of  political,  flattering,  per- 
sonal, scandalous  Books,  be  recompens'd  with  more  preferment  than 
would  comfortably  maintain  ten  godly  orthodox  and  conformable 
ministers,  who  take  care  of  the  people's  souls  committed  to  their  charge, 
and  reside  among  them1.' 

(C)  We  learn  from  Marvell's  correspondence  what  hopes  he  enter- 
tained of  the  '  Bill  for  enacting  his  Majestye's  declaration  [of  Breda]  in 
religious  matters'  and  how  sadly  he  was  disappointed  when  the  House 
of  Commons  threw  it  out2.  The  bill  provided  'ease  for  tender  con- 
sciences,' the  same  cause  which  both  Charles  II  and  Marvell  for 
different  reasons  had  so  much  at  heart  and  which  was  to  occasion  in  the 
year  1672  the  Declaration  of  Indulgence  and  the  Rehearsal  Transprosed. 
The  Journals,  under  date  of  November  28,  1660,  inform  us  that  Marvell 
acted  as  teller  for  the  Yeas  in  the  decisive  division,  when  the  proposal 
of  a  second  reading  was  negatived  by  131  votes  to  117 3. 

(D)  As  we  have  already  said,  Marvell  did  not  feel  at  home  in  the 
Cavalier,  or  Pensionary,  Parliament.  His  biographers  have  quoted  from 
Cobbett's  Parliamentary  History  the  report  of  the  debate  on  his 
alleged  striking  of  Sir  Philip  Harcourt  (March  29,  1677) ;  he  then 
narrowly  escaped  being  sent  to  the  Tower  for  this  fictitious  offence  and 
subsequent  insolence  towards  the  Speaker.  But  nobody  seems  to  have 
yet  noticed  that  this  was  not  Marvell's  first  scrape  in  the  House4.  See 
the  Journals  (March  18,  166^)  : 

1  Grosart,  vol.  in,  pp.  335-8. 

2  Letters  of  Nov.  27  and  29,  1660,  in  Grosart,  vol.  n,  pp.  25  and  26. 

3  Marvell  in  his  letter  of  Nov.  29  gives  the  figures  as  183  to  157. 

4  This  is  partly  accounted  for  by  the  omission  in  the  Parliamentary  History,  and  con- 
sequently in  Grosart,  vol.  n,  p.  xxxii,  and  Birrell,  p.  212,  of  a  significant  passage  to  be 
found  in  Grey's  debates  which  is  the  original  authority  (pp.  328-31).  It  ought  to  be 
inserted  after  Sir  John  Ernley's  speech.  The  name  of  the  following  speaker,  which  Grey 
had  forgotten,  is  represented  by  xxxxx.  '  The  gentleman  that  had  the  blow  given  him, 
had  once  one  given  him  by  Lord  Clifford,  and  had  satisfaction  given  him  by  the  House. 
Would  have  things  for  a  mistake,  but  would  have  it  examined  ;  for  he  never  knew  before  a 
blow  given  in  the  House  of  Commons.'  Then  follows  Sir  Job  Charlton's  speech  as  in 
the  Parliamentary  History.  The  above  quoted  speech  of  the  anonymous  member  calls  for 
two  remarks  :  (a)  Grey  evidently  blundered  in  his  report :  instead  of  '  The  gentleman  that 
had  the  blow  given  him  '  (Harcourt)  we  must  read  '  The  gentleman  that  gave  the  blow  ' 
(Marvell) .  The  repetition  of  '  given  him '  three  times  in  two  lines  accounts  for  the 
mistake,  (b)  The  anonymous  member  distorted  the  facts  of  Marvell's  quarrel  with 
Clifford  but  he  had  some  faint  recollection  of  this  event,  then  fifteen  years  old.  See 
infra.  ' 


424      Andrew  Marvell :  Further  Biographical  Points 

Ordered  that  the  difference  between  Mr  Marvell  and  Mr  Clifford,  two  members 
of  this  House,  be  referred  to  Mr  Speaker  to  examine  ;  and  to  that  end  to  hear 
Mr  Scott,  another  member  of  this  House,  who  was  present  when  the  difference  did 
happen  ;  and  to  mediate  and  reconcile  the  same  between  them  if  he  can  ;  or  else  to 
report  it  to  the  House,  with  his  opinion  therein. 

The  incident  comes  again  for  notice  on  March  20  : 

Mr  Speaker  reports,  that  he  had  examined  the  matter  of  difference  between 
Mr  Marvell  and  Mr  Clifford  ;  and  found  that  Mr  Marvell  had  given  the  first  provo- 
cation that  begot  the  difference  :  and  that  his  opinion  was  that  Mr  Marvell  should 
declare  his  sorrow  for  being  the  first  occasion  of  the  difference  ;  and  then  Mr  Clif- 
ford to  declare,  that  he  was  sorry  for  the  consequences  of  it :  And  that  Mr  Clifford 
was  willing  to  yield  to  this  determination,  but  that  Mr  Marvell  refused. 

And  the  House  thereupon  directing  the  said  Mr  Marvell  and  Mr  Clifford  to 
withdraw  ;  and  taking  the  matter  into  debate  ; 

Resolved,  that  the  said  Mr  Marvell  and  Mr  Clifford  be  called  into  their  places  : 
and  that  each  of  them  shall  have  a  reprehension  from  Mr  Speaker,  for  breach  of  the 
peace  and  privilege  of  the  House  ;  and  according  to  Mr  Speaker's  report,  be  enjoined 
to  declare  their  sorrow  for  it ;  and  to  crave  the  pardon  of  the  House. 

And  the  said  Mr  Marvell  and  Mr  Clifford  being  accordingly  called  in  to  their 
places  ;  and  having  received  a  grave  reprehension  from  Mr  Speaker,  and  Mr  Marvell 
declaring,  that  he  was  sorry,  that  he  should  give  the  first  provocation  of  the  differ- 
ence ;  and  Mr  Clifford  acknowledging  that  he  was  sorry  for  what  ensued  ;  and  both 
of  them  engaged  to  keep  the  peace  and  privilege  of  the  House  for  the  future  ;  and 
not  to  renew  this  difference,  but  to  have  the  same  correspondence  they  had  before 
it  did  happen  :  with  which  the  House  was  well  satisfied  ;  and  did  remit  the  breach 
of  privilege. 

From  this  official  report  we  understand  that  Marvell  submitted  per- 
force to  a  ruling  which  he  considered  in  his  heart  unfair1.  However  he 
vented  his  resentment  later  on  in  his  satires. 

Not  on  Scott,  who  seems  to  have  been  a  very  insignificant  member 
of  the  majority;  who  sat  for  York  city;  died  in  1664,  and  was  succeeded 
by  Sir  Thomas  Osborne,  later  Earl  of  Danby  and  Duke  of  Leeds2. 
Clifford,  of  course,  as  yet  a  private  member  (for  Totnes  in  Devonshire), 
will  become  Lord  Clifford  of  Chuclleigh  and  the  C  of  the  Cabal  adminis- 
tration. Pepys  mentions  'his  rudeness  of  tongue  and  passions  when 
angry.'  The  neat  poem  on  the  Young  Statesmen5  (the  Chits)  variously 
ascribed  to  Dryden  and  to  Rochester,  tells  us  'Clifford  was  fierce  and 
brave.'  Altogether  he  seems  to  have  stood  on  a  higher  moral  plane  than 
any  other  of  Charles's  ministers,  and  to  have  resigned  rather  than  take 
the  Test,  which  shows  him  at  least  to  have  been  a  sincere  and  consistent 

1  There  is  a  break  in  Marvell's  correspondence  with  his  constituents  between  his  letters  of 
June  27,  1661  (from  Westminster),  and  March  12,  166|  (from  Vianen  in  the  Low  Countries). 
Besides  he  was  not  likely  to  mention  this  incident  to  the  Corporation  of  Hull,  any  more 
than  he  did  his  later  adventure  with  Sir  Philip  Harcourt.  This  is  not  mentioned  in  the 
Journals  either,  which  I  cannot  account  for.  During  the  nineteen  years  of  Marvell's  sitting 
(1659-78)  the  index  to  the  Journals  records  only  six  quarrels  between  members. 

2  Accounts  and  Papers  :  Members  of  Parliament,  part  i  (1878),  p.  532. 

3  State-poems  (1697),  part  i,  p.  173.  Id.  (1703),  part  i,  p.  163.  In  Add.  MS.  34,362  of 
the  British  Museum,  f.  117,  this  line  is  altered  to  the  less  complimentary  '  Clifford  could 
rant  and  rave.' 


PIERRE    LEGOUIS  425 

Roman  Catholic.    But  here  is  what  Marvell  has  to  say  about  him  ;  in 

the  Last  instructions  to  a  painter  (written  in  1667) : 

With  Hook  then  thro  your  microscope  take  aim, 
Where,  like  the  new  Comptroller,  all  men  laugh, 
To  see  a  tall  louse  brandish  a  white  staff.  (Lines  16-18.) 

Clifford  had  been  made  Comptroller  of  the  Household  on  Nov.  8, 
1666. 

In  the  Farther  instructions  to  a  painter  (1670  or  1671),  Marvell 
places  '  hard  by  the  bar,  on  the  left  hand — Circean  Clifford  with  his 
charming  wand.'  (Lines  13 — 14.)  Clifford  is  now  Treasurer  of  the 
Household. 

In  An  Historical  Poem  (end  of  1673),  there  is  a  pitiless  allusion  to 

Clifford's  tragic  end  in  September  of  the  same  year: 

Clifford  and  Hyde  before  had  lost  the  day  ; 

One  hanged  himself  and  t'  other  ran  away.  (Lines  139-40.) 

In  the  Advice  to  a  painter,  written  about  the  same  time,  among  the 

Duke  of  York's  popish  counsellors  the  first  is : 

Clifford,  who  first  appear'd  in  humble  guise, 
Was  thought  so  meek,  so  modest  and  so  wise  ; 
But  when  he  came  to  act  upon  the  stage 
He  prov'd  the  mad  Cethegus  of  our  age. 

In  Nostradamus'  Prophecy  (1675  ?)  Clifford  is  charged  with  pecula- 
tion, without  ground,  it  seems  from  contemporary  evidence.  It  will  fare 
ill  with  England,  the  prophet  says : 

When  a  lean  treasurer  shall  in  one  year 

Make  himself  fat,  his  king  and  people  bare.  (Lines  35-6.) 

Clifford,  appointed  Lord  Treasurer  in  1672,  resigned  upon  the 
passing  of  the  Test  Act  in  16731. 

No  doubt  Marvell  considered  Clifford  an  enemy  to  the  State  and  to 
the  Protestant  religion ;  but  personal  feeling  also  had  something  to  do 
with  his  relentlessness2. 

Not  Clifford  however  but  the  Speaker,  Sir  Edward  Turner,  stood  the 
chief  brunt  of  Marvell's  displeasure.  He  appears  several  times  in  the 
Last  Instructions,  as  the  Court's  dishonest  tool,  using  loaded  dice,  and 

1  Though  Marvell's  editors  agree  upon  Clifford's  being  the  '  lean  treasurer,'  I  must 
own  I  rather  fancy  the  blow  to  have  been  aimed  at  Danby,  who  became  Lord  Treasurer 
after  Clifford's  resignation,  and  seems  to  have  taken  bribes  as  freely  as  he  gave  them. 
See  The  Statue  at  Charing-Cross  (stanzas  xi-xiii)  also  written  in  1675  when  Danby  had 
been  Treasurer  about  two  years. 

'-'  For  a  more  favourable  but  probably  less  ingenuous  appreciation  of  Clifford  by  Marvell, 
see  An  Account  of  tlie  Growth  of  Popery...  (Grosart,  vol.  rv,  p.  262) :  there  for  the  sake 
of  argument  and  after  the  lapse  offfour  years,  Clifford's  resignation  is  praised,  in  contra- 
distinction to  the  continuance  in  office  of  the  Crypto-catholics. 


426      Andrew  Marvell:  Further  Biographical  Points 

sharing  in  the  spoils  of  the  cheated  people.    (Lines  111-16.)   When 

Clarendon  prorogues  Parliament  four  days  after  its  meeting  (29th  July 

1667),  he  can  rely  upon  the  Speaker's  assistance : 

And  Turner  gay  up  to  his  perch  doth  march 

With  face  new  bleacht,  smoothed  and  stiff  with  starch. 

(Lines  789-90.) 

After  some  manoeuvring  to  avoid  an  awkward  debate  on  the  Dutch 
war, 

The  Speaker,  summon'd  to  the  Lords,  repairs, 

Nor  gave  the  Commons  leave  to  say  their  pray'rs, 

But  like  his  pris'ners  to  the  bar  them  led,  (f\ 

Where  mute  they  stand  to  hear  their  sentence  read. 

(Lines  809-12.) 

And  now    Sir  Edward  Turner  receives  the  honour   of  a   full-length 

picture : 

Dear  Painter,  draw  the  Speaker  to  the  foot  : 

Where  pencil  cannot,  there  my  pen  shall  do  't ; 

That  may  his  body,  this  his  mind  explain  ; 

Paint  him  in  golden  gown  with  mace's  train  ; 

Bright  hair,  bright  face,  obscure  and  dull  of  head, 

Like  knife  with  iv'ry  haft  and  edge  of  lead  : 

At  prayers  his  eyes  turn  up  the  pious  white, 

But  all  the  while  his  private  bill 's  in  sight  : 

In  chair  he  smoking  sits  like  master  cook, 

And  a  poll-bill  does  like  his  apron  look. 

Well  was  he  skill'd  to  season  any  question, 

And  make  a  sauce  fit  for  Whitehall's  digestion, 

Whence  every  day,  the  palat  more  to  tickle, 

Court-mushrooms  ready  are  sent  in  to  pickle. 

When  grievance  urg'd,  he  swells  like  squatted  toad, 

Frisks  like  a  frog  to  croak  a  taxe's  load  : 

His  patient  piss  he  could  hold  longer  than 

An  urinal,  and  sit  like  any  hen  ; 

At  table  jolly  as  a  country  host, 

And  soaks  his  sack  with  Norfolk  like  a  toast ; 

At  night  than  Chanticleer  more  brisk  and  hot, 

And  sergeant's  wife  serves  him  for  Partelot.  (Lines  815-36.) 

This  portrait,  in  the  true  Chaucerian  line,  is  one  of  the  best  things 
in  Marvell's  satires.  Let  us  therefore  rejoice  that  the  Speaker  decided 
against  our  author  in  his  quarrel  with  Clifford1. 

PlEREE  LEGOUIS. 
Besancon. 

1  In  one  of  Marvell's  private  letters,  dated  March  21,  16f#  (Grosart,  vol.  n,  p.  315),  the 
following  incident  is  mentioned :  after  the  Commons  had  been  waiting  upon  the  King  '  at 
coming  down  (a  pretty  ridiculous  thing !)  Sir  Thomas  Clifford  carry  ed  Speaker  [still  our 
friend  Sir  Edward  Turner]  and  Mace,  and  all  members  there,  into  the  King's  cellar  to 
drink  his  health.'   Marvell,  in  spite  of  his  fondness  for  canary,  does  not  seem  to  have  gone. 


LES  DEUX  DEMOISELLES  MAITTELAND. 

There  is  still  a  certain  amount  of  pleasure  and  profit  to  be  derived 
in  turning  over  the  discoloured  yellow  pages  of  four  dusty  little  duo- 
decimos :  Vies  Interessantes  et  Edifiantes  des  Religieuses  de  Port  Royal 
et  de  plusieurs  Personnes  qui  leur  etoient  attachees ;  and  the  English 
reader  in  particular  will  find  his  curiosity  aroused  by  the  Relation 
touchant  les  deux  Demoiselles  Maitteland1.  Who  were  the  'deux 
Demoiselles  Maitteland'?  Who  was  their  father  so  unmercifully  per- 
secuted, and  who  was  his  cruel  uncle,  Grand  Chancelier  du  Roi  d'Angle- 
terre  ?  Who  are  the  rather  vague  and  conventional  King  and  Queen  ? 
How  much  of  the  story  is  true  ? 

The  problem,  no  doubt,  is  unimportant  enough,  yet  it  is  a  fascinating 
one  to  unravel,  and  when  one  comes  to  the  end  of  it,  one  knows  at  least 
what  became  of  the  grandchildren  of  Sir  William  Maitland  of  Lething- 
ton,  'Secretary'  to  Mary  Queen  of  Scots, — for  it  is  easy  to  identify  the 
demoiselles  Maitteland2, — a  few  more  details  may  be  added  to  what  the 
late  Andrew  Lang  was  able  to  discover  concerning  James  Maitland,  the 
only  son  and  apologist  of  the  famous  secretary3,  and  the  suggestion 
that  James  Maitland's  descendants  still  exist4  is  disposed  of,  as  well  as 
the  statement  that  he  died  without  issue8.  Last  but  not  least,  there  is 
unfolded  one  more  admirable  record  of  the  boundless  charity  of  Port 
Royal  to  all  those  whose  only  claim  was  that  they  were  poor  and  in 
trouble. 

Sir  William  Maitland  when  no  longer  young  amused  his  friends — 
'  a  very  fool  and  stark  staring  mad,'  they  describe  him — by  falling  in  love 
with  Mary  Fleming,  Queen  Mary's  favourite  maid  and  the  flower  of  the 
Marys6.  Early  in  1567  he  married  her,  and  in  the  following  year  was 
born  James,  the  father  of  our  demoiselles  Maitteland7.    It  was  a  time  of 

1  Vies  interessantes,  1750-2,  n,  pp.  312-26. 

2  '  Petite-fille  du  chancelier  d'Ecosse,'  la  mere  Angelique  describes  one  of  the  Mait- 
lands.    Lettres,  Utrecht,  1742-4,  3  vols,  in,  p.  182. 

3  Miscellany  of  the  Scottish  History  Society,  Edinburgh,  1904,  n ;  The  Apologie  for 
William  Maitland  of  Lidington,  with  an  introduction  by  Andrew  Lang. 

4  The  Scottish  Antiquary,  vni,  pp.  43,  91 ;  rx,  p.  95. 

5  E.g.  in  the  Dictionary  of  National  Biography. 

6  J.  Skelton,  Maitland  of  Lethington,  Edinburgh,  1888,  2  vols,  i,  pp.  330-1. 

7  Douglas,  Scots  Peerage,  edited  by  Sir  James  Balfour  Paul,  Edinburgh,  1907,  v, 
pp.  295  ff. 


428  Les  Deux  Demoiselles  Maitteland 

strife  and  turmoil.  Before  James  was  six  years  old  his  father  had  died 
in  prison,  his  lands  were  forfeited,  and  the  widow  and  the  orphans — for 
James  had  at  least  one  sister — were  left  in  '  great  distress  &  miserie,'  so 
James  himself  tells  us1.  Little  more  is  known  about  him  beyond  the 
facts  of  his  marriage,  his  catholic  sympathies  and  his  exile,  but  by 
means  of  the  Port  Royal  account  we  are  enabled  to  elaborate  the  mere 
outline  of  his  life. 

La  soeur  Magdeleine  de  Sainte  Candide  Le  Cerf  wrote  down  the 
story  in  1665  as  it  had  been  told  to  her  by  the  younger  of  the  demoiselles 
Maitteland,  and  many  years  later  the  more  or  less  unknown  compiler  of 
the  Vies  interessantes  added  to  it  the  substance  of  a  little  narrative  by 
la  mere  Angelique,  for  she  too  had  written  on  the  same  subject.  No 
doubt  there  are  some  rather  fantastic  touches,  but  in  the  main  the  story 
seems  reliable,  and  when  we  reach  the  point  where  the  Maitlands  come 
under  the  protection  of  Port  Royal,  we  are  treading  on  firm  ground. 

James  Maitland's  uncle,  so  we  read,  '  le  grand  Chancelier  du  Roi 
d'Angleterre,'  whom  we  identify  with  Sir  John  Maitland  of  Thirlestane, 
ultimately  chancellor  to  James  I  and  VI,  had  no  children  and  decided 
to  make  his  youthful  nephew  his  heir.  For  this  purpose  he  had  him 
educated  and  sent  him,  duly  accompanied,  to  travel  on  the  continent 
when  about  twelve  or  thirteen  years  old.  Returning  from  Rome,  the  boy 
spent  a  few  months  in  Paris  and  became  a  Roman  Catholic.  His  uncle 
did  all  in  his  power  to  prevent  this  step,  and  finally,  when  threats  and 
promises  alike  proved  of  no  avail,  he  disinherited  him,  swore  a  solemn 
oath  never  to  see  him  again,  and  married  once  more,  so  that  he  might 
provide  himself  with  other  heirs.  Comparing  this  story  with  what  is 
known  of  Sir  John  Maitland,  we  find  that  he  did,  in  fact,  a  middle-aged 
man,  marry  Janet  Fleming  in  1583  when  his  ward  and  nephew  James  was 
about  fourteen  years  old.  James  withdrew  to  Paris  and  lived  there  for 
two  years,  but  the  'Queen  of  England,'  we  are  told,  obliged  Sir  John  to 
send  for  him  that  he  might  be  converted  by  means  of  a  Protestant 
marriage.  Summoned  to  London,  James  went  to  see  his  uncle,  but,  as 
he  entered  his  uncle's  presence,  the  latter — one  remembers  the  solemn 
oath — was  stricken  with  a  blindness  from  which  he  never  recovered,  a 
blindness  interpreted  by  la  soeur  Candide  as  a  judgment  of  God,  but 
probably  a  reminiscence  of  the  blindness  of  Sir  John's  father  and  James's 
grandfather,  Sir  Richard  Maitland  of  Lethington.  The  Queen,  we  hear 
next,  did  all  to  promote  a  marriage  with  '  une  fille  riche  et  de  fort 
grande  relation,  mais  qui  etoit  heretique';  young  Maitland,  however, 

1  The  Apologie  for  William  Maitland,  p.  154. 


RUTH  CLARK  429 

remained  steadfast.  No  doubt  the  Queen,  if  Elizabeth  is  meant,  was 
otherwise  employed,  but  that  there  is  some  truth  in  the  Port  Royal 
story  is  clear  from  the  fact  that  in  1687,  when  James  Maitland  was 
nineteen,  a  marriage  had  been  arranged  for  him  by  his  cousin,  Sir  Richard 
Cockburn  of  Clerkington,  with  Annabel  Bellenden,  sister  of  Sir  Lewis 
Bellenden  of  Auchinoul,  and  rather  than  complete  the  marriage  James 
bought  his  freedom  for  8000  Scottish  merks1. 

It  now  happened,  says  la  sceur  Candide,  that  a  young  Catholic  lady 
of  noble  birth,  betrothed  against  her  wish  to  a  seigneur  heretique,  heard 
of  James  Maitland  and  of  his  desire  to  marry  a  Catholic.  Everything 
was  prepared  for  her  wedding  which  was  to  take  place  in  a  week,  but 
she  sent  word  to  James  that  if  he  would  marry  her  she  was  ready  to 
follow  him.  Without  losing  any  time  James  assembled  a  number  of 
friends  and  went  to  her  father's  house,  where  she  and  her  mother  hap- 
pened to  be  alone  with  but  few  attendants,  the  others  having  gone  to 
London  to  meet  the  King  who  was  to  be  present  at  the  wedding.  These 
royal  details  are  all  somewhat  impossible,  but  doubtless  to  the  good  nun 
the  'King'  and  'Queen'  are  vague  English  counterparts  of  Louis  XIV 
and  Anne  of  Austria,  coloured  with  reminiscences  of  the  Stuart  exiles 
who  had  so  recently  left  France.  To  return  to  her  story,  after  various 
incidents  which  she  relates  in  detail,  James  Maitland  carried  off  the 
lady,  they  were  married  that  night  and  lived  happily  for  some  years 
afterwards,  though  the  bride  was  disinherited  by  her  parents.  A  son  and 
two  daughters,  the  demoiselles  Maitteland,  were  born  of  the  marriage, 
a  marriage  that  contemporary  accounts  show  us  to  have  taken  place  in 
1592,  when  Agnes  Maxwell,  daughter  of  William,  fifth  Lord  Herries,  a 
prominent  Roman  Catholic,  became  the  wife  of  James  Maitland.  Their 
son  Richard  was  born  before  June  1593. 

After  some  time,  continues  la  sceur  Candide,  Roman  Catholics  began 
to  be  persecuted  in  England,  and,  M.  Maitteland's  chancellor  uncle  having 
died  (in  1595  to  be  quite  exact),  his  position  was  given  to  the  lord  who 
was  to  have  married  Agnes  Maxwell  or  to  one  of  his  relatives — la  sceur 
Candide  is  not  quite  sure  who  it  was,  but  she  knows  that  he  was 
animated  by  a  desire  for  revenge,  and  was  only  too  glad  to  persecute 
James  Maitland  on  the  ground  of  his  faith,  and  to  involve  him  in 
lawsuits  with  his  young  cousin,  the  chancellor's  son,  concerning  their 
lands.  This  vindictive  person  may  well  have  been  another  cousin 
of  his,  Sir  Richard  Cockburn  of  Clerkington — not  that  we  know  of  his 
having  wished  to  marry  Agnes  Maxwell,  but  the  marriage  spurned 
1  Douglas,  Scots  Peerage,  v,  pp.  295-6. 

M.  L.  B.  XVIII.  28 

/ 


430  Les  Deux  Demoiselles  Maitteland 

by  James  Maitland  seems  to  have  been  of  his  arranging,  and  he  had 
succeeded  the  rejected  lady's  brother,  Sir  Lewis  Bellenden,  as  a  lord  of 
session  and  Sir  John  Maitland  as  Lord  Privy  Seal.  There  is  no  reason 
to  see  in  the  successor  mentioned  by  la  sceur  Candide  the  new  lord 
chancellor,  appointed  after  an  interval  of  three  years,  John  Graham, 
third  Earl  of  Montrose. 

James  Maitland,  so  the  narrative  proceeds,  would  easily  have  won 
all  lawsuits,  had  not  this  person  prejudiced  the  King  against  him  on  the 
ground  that  Maitland  was  a  papist,  and,  when  the  lawcourts  were  on  the 
point  of  giving  a  decision  that  might  well  have  been  favourable,  the 
King  ordered  him  to  retire  to  Scotland  within  a  fortnight  or  to  leave 
the  country  altogether,  failing  which  he  was  to  be  beheaded.  During 
two  years  Maitland  lay  in  hiding  near  the  border  with  his  family,  a 
priest  and  some  servants,  scarce  venturing  out  of  doors  except  at  night ; 
but,  recognizing  finally  that  the  position  of  Roman  Catholics  in  England 
was  not  improving  and  his  resources  having  come  to  an  end,  he  went  to 
Flanders,  obtained  a  small  pension  from  the  King  of  Spain,  placed  his 
daughters  in  a  convent  in  Brussels  and  lived  with  his  son  on  the  conti- 
nent.   His  wife  remained  in  England  and  died  shortly  after. 

Much  of  this  is  rather  obscure,  but,  turning  to  English  sources,  we 
find  that  James  Maitland's  relatives  do  not  seem  to  have  treated  him 
well  as  regards  his  lands,  that,  though  reinstated  in  certain  of  the  family 
possessions,  he  never  inherited  the  lands  of  Lethington  which  passed  to 
his  chancellor  uncle  and  to  the  latter's  son  John,  Lord  Thirlestane,  and 
that  this  uncle  was  not  considered  the  rightful  heir  by  every  one — 'the 
conquest  he  made  of  the  barony  of  Liddington  from  his  brother's  son 
James  Maitland  was  not  thought  lawful  or  conscientious1,'  and  'Leiding- 
ton  was  not  honestly  purchased,  for  it  belonged  by  right  to  the  grand- 
children of  William  Maitland2.'  John  Maitland,  the  Chancellor,  was 
careful  to  specify  that,  failing  his  son  John  and  his  descendants,  his 
property  was  to  pass  to  the  remoter  Auchincreif  and  Auchingassil 
branches  of  the  house  of  Maitland,  and  no  mention  was  made  of  his 
nephew  James3.  James  himself  writes  bitterly  of  his  near  kinsfolk, 
'become  our  ennemies  or  warss  than  ennemies4/  We  also  know  that  he 
lived  abroad  in  Brussels  and  Antwerp  from  at  least  1612  onwards, 

1  Staggering  State,  12,  quoted  in  Douglas,  Scots  Peerage,  v,  p.  299. 

2  Sir  John  Lauder,  Historical  Observes,  Edinburgh,  1840,  p.  75.  The  same  author  says 
that  the  Duke  of  Lauderdale  paid  a  small  pension  to  James  Maitland's  children  who  lived 
in  Eouen,  but  I  have  found  nothing  to  bear  out  this  statement. 

3  Douglas,  Scots  Peerage,  v,  p.  300. 

4  The  Apologiefor  William  Maitland,  p.  153. 


RUTH  CLARK  431 

banished  the  King's  dominions,  he  says,  without  knowing  the  cause1, 
and  that  he  sent  home  petition  after  petition,  without,  however,  receiv- 
ing any  redress2.  As  he  was  prominently  identified  with  the  Catholic 
cause  and  a  favourer  of  the  Spanish  faction  in  1593 3,  it  would  seem 
probable  that  he  was  exiled  for  these  reasons. 

On  the  continent,  so  we  glean  from  family  sources,  James  Maitland 
lived  in  great  poverty  and  loneliness,  hardships  which  he  felt  not  only 
in  his  own  person,  he  writes,  but  in  the  persons  of  his  son  and  two 
daughters,  'noue  come  to  the  age  &  estait  of  man  &  wooman,  leeving 
lang  strangers  in  ane  strange  cuntrie  as  or  warss  than  banischitt, 
destitut  of  our  auin  meanes  withe  al  wants,  witheout  the  confort  or  the 
conversation  of  freendis4.'  His  wife  he  does  not  mention,  which  bears 
out  la  soeur  Candide's  story  that  she  had  died  in  England.  In  Antwerp 
James  Maitland  wrote  the  unfinished  Apologie  for  William  Maitland  of 
Lidington,  unfinished  no  doubt  because  the  little  spare  time  he  had  was 
for  the  most  part  diverted  by  'continual  diseases  or  extreme  cairs  & 
burdens6.'  He  died  on  June  18,  1639,  in  Brussels,  and  his  son  Richard 
applied  once  more  for  relief,  this  -time  to  Charles  I.  In  his  letter  he 
described  the  calamities  endured  by  his  father  who  was  deprived  of  his 
means,  expelled  from  his  country  and  persecuted  by  his  prince — 
James  I — and  he  begged  for  help  in  his  misery  which  resulted,  he  said, 
solely  from  his  grandfather's  services  rendered  to  Queen  Mary6. 

To  return  to  la  soeur  Candide's  story.  When  the  two  ladies  Maitland 
had  grown  up,  they  went  to  visit  their  relatives  in  England,  escorted  by 
their  father  who,  however,  at  once  returned  to  Brussels.  It  was  hoped 
that  they  might  obtain  some  help  from  these  relatives,  especially  as  the 
position  of  Catholics  in  England  had  improved  upon  the  marriage  of 
Charles  I  to  Henrietta  of  France.  The  relatives  received  the  girls 
kindly  and  promised  to  find  each  a  rich  husband,  but  only  on  the  condi- 
tion that  they  changed  their  faith.  Their  father,  hearing  of  the  tempta- 
tions to  which  they  were  exposed,  found  means  to  have  them  brought 
to  France  where  he  abandoned  them  to  'la  providence  de  Dieu.'  He 
himself  died  not  long  after  this. 

The  sisters  arrived  in  Paris  with  letters  of  recommendation  from 
Henrietta  to  the  Queen,  Anne  of  Austria,  and  at  court  Madame  de 
Longueville,  the  friend  of  Port  Royal7,  heard  their  story  and  mentioned 

1  Cal.  St.  P.  Bom. ,  1623-5,  p.  306. 

2  lb.,  cf.  Cal.  St.  P.  Bom.,  1611-18,  p.  193  ;  1619-23,  p.  518. 

3  The  Apologie,  p.  142.  *  lb.,  p.  154.  5  lb. ,  p.  155. 

6  Cal.  St.  P.  Bom.,  1639,  p.  374. 

7  Louise  de  Bourbon-Soissons,  the  first  Mme  de  Longueville. 

28—2 


432  Les  Deux  Demoiselles  Maitteland 

it  to  la  mere  Angelique  Arnauld,  the  great  abbess,  and  to  M.  de 
St  Cyran,  the  personal  friend  of  Jansenius  and  one  of  the  heroic  figures 
of  Port  Royal.  They  were  much  interested  and  wrote  to  la  mere  Marie 
des  Anges  Suireau,  a  Port  Royal  nun  who,  on  the  recommendation  of  la 
mere  Angelique,  had  become  abbess  of  Maubuisson,  the  convent  familiar 
to  all  readers  of  Port  Royal  literature  as  the  scene  of  conflict  between  la 
mere  Angelique  and  the  worldly  and  adventurous  abbess  Gabriel  le 
d'Estrees.  La  mere  Marie  des  Anges  declared  herself  very  willing  to 
receive  the  sisters  at  Maubuisson,  but  it  was  found  that  the  younger 
Miss  Maitland  was  too  delicate  for  the  austerities  of  convent  life.  So 
M.  de  St  Cyran  sent  only  the  elder  sister  to  Maubuisson  where  she  was 
known  as  la  sceur  Elizabeth  Ludgarde.  For  some  reason  she  was  found 
'  incapable  de  s'acquitter  de  l'office  divin,'  hence  she  voluntarily  lowered 
herself  to  the  estate  of  lay  sister,  though  she  had  to  surmount  extreme 
disinclination  for  any  menial  work.  When  she  arrived  she  had,  like  her 
sister,  'Fair  fort  haut/  and  disliked  even  to  approach  'les  soeurs  converses 
qui  faisoient  la  cuisine  et  d'autres  pareils  ouvrages,  parce  qu'il  en  restait 
quelque  mauvaise  odeur  dans  leurs  habits.'  But  now  she  toiled  bravely 
for  twenty-five  years,  both  at  Maubuisson  and  at  Port  Royal  whither 
she  accompanied  la  mere  Marie  des  Anges,  and  there  was  no  work  how- 
ever lowly  that  she  would  not  accomplish  with  joy.  M.  de  St  Cyran 
esteemed  her  very  highly,  and  when  she  died  at  Port  Royal  de  Paris  on 
February  9,  1656,  she  was  much  regretted  by  la  mere  Angelique1. 

As  for  the  younger  Miss  Maitland,  M.  de  St  Cyran  obtained  a 
pension  for  her  from  the  convent  of  Maubuisson,  found  a  room  for  her 
which  he  caused  to  be  furnished  'honnetement'  and  looked  after  her 
avec  une  bonte  toute  extraordinaire.'  During  his  imprisonment  from 
1638  to  1642,  and  after  his  death  in  1643,  la  mere  Angelique's  sister,  la 
sceur  Anne  Eugenie,  to  whom  St  Cyran  had  recommended  his  charge, 
took  her  under  her  special  care  and  saw  that  the  pension  was  regularly 
paid,  even  after  la  soeur  Marie  des  Anges  was  no  longer  abbess  at 
Maubuisson2.  In  1653  la  soeur  Anne  Eugenie  died,  but  two  days  before 
her  death  she  sent  for  la  soeur  Candide,  the  writer  of  the  narrative,  and 
entrusted  Miss  Maitland  to  her  as  a  legacy  from  M.  de  St  Cyran,  who 
had  never  had  anything  'plus  a  cceur  que  l'assistance  de  cette  personne, 
ayant  toujours  apprehende  qu'elle  ne  fut  exposee  a  soaffrir.' 

Some  time  after  this,  the  abbess  of  Maubuisson,  successor  to  la  soeur 

J  Necrologe  de  VAbbaye  de  Port  Royal,  Amsterdam,  1723,  p.  70;  Lettres  de  la  were 
Angelique,  in,  p.  182. 

2  Cf.  Lettres  de  la  mire  Angelique,  i,  p.  554. 


RUTH  CLARK  433 

Marie  des  Anges,  died  and  the  new  abbess,  Madame  d'Orleans,  did  not 
wish  to  continue  the  pension.  M.  de  Bernieres,  a  constant  and  charitable 
friend  of  Port  Royal,  and  one  who  had  done  much  to  help  the  exiled 
Stuart  adherents,  went  to  see  her  on  Miss  Maitland's  behalf  and  per- 
suaded her  to  reconsider  her  decision.  On  the  plea  of  putting  the 
affairs  of  the  convent  into  order,  Madame  d'Orleans  asked  M.  de 
Bernieres  to  advance  the  pension  during  two  years,  but  finally  sent  him 
a  message  to  the  effect  that  she  could  pay  neither  the  pension  nor  the 
advances  made  by  him.  Miss  Maitland  found  herself  destitute,  and,  to 
add  to  her  cares,  her  confessor,  a  priest  of  St  Sulpice,  persecuted  her  for 
her  connections  with  Port  Royal.  In  great  distress  she  came  to  see  la 
sceur  Candide,  who  tried  in  vain  to  comfort  her  and  saw  her  depart 
downcast.  That  same  night,  however,  Miss  Maitland  was  consoled  by  a 
dream  in  which  she  saw  her  friend,  la  sceur  Anne  Eugenie,  and  la  soeur 
Candide  marvelled  at  the  transformation  when  she  saw  her  next  day. 
All  despair  had  vanished.  As  they  sat  talking  together,  M.  de  Bernieres 
asked  to  see  la  sceur  Candide.  'I  was  unable  to  sleep  last  night,'  he 
said,  'thinking  of  Miss  Maitland.  I  will  take  charge  of  her  and  pay  her 
pension,  as  long  as  God  enables  me  to  do  so1.' 

M.  de  Bernieres  carried  out  his  promise  until  he  died  in  exile  in 
1662,  after  which  la  sceur  Candide  set  to  making  little  wax  effigies 
which  she  sold  for  Miss  Maitland's  benefit.  Anyone  who  has  seen  the 
wax  masque  mortuaire  of  la  mere  Angelique  will  know  what  experts  the 
sisters  were  in  this  kind  of  work.  But  evil  days  now  came  upon  Port 
Royal,  persecutions  and  troubles  closed  in  about  the  nuns,  and  at  the 
time  of  writing,  1665,1a  soeur  Candide  says  that  she  can  no  longer  work 
for  Miss  Maitland  as  she  has  been  deprived  of  all  means.  Miss  Maitland 
herself  has  been  robbed  of  her  one  consolation  which  was  to  come  and 
see  the  sisters  of  Port  Royal,  the  nuns  having  been  forbidden  to  receive 
visitors.  Enough  money  remains  to  support  Miss  Maitland  till  la  Saint 
Remi,  after  which,  if  she  finds  no  charitable  friends,  'elle  pourra  bien 
mourrir  de  faim,'  being  aged  and  infirm. 

It  is  pleasant  to  be  able  to  quote  a  postscript  of  1678  by  la  mere 
Angelique  de  St  Jean,  niece  of  the  great  Angelique  Arnauld.  'Elle  vit 
encore.  Dieu  par  sa  providence  a  toujours  pourvu  a  ses  besoins,  et  on 
continue  d'ici  (Port  Royal  des  Champs)  a  l'assister  et  a  lui  procurer  par 
des  personnes  amies  de  quoi  la  faire  subsister.  Elle  vit  toujours  fort 
retiree  et  craint  beaucoup  Dieu.'  To  this  the  compiler  of  the  Vies 
interessantes  adds  that  he  has  been  unable  to  discover  the  date  of 
1  J.  Besoigne,  Histoire  de  Port  Royal,  Cologne,  1752,  6  vols,  I,  p.  352. 


434  Les  Deux  Demoiselles  Maitteland 

Miss  Maitland's  death,  but  we  may  assume  that  up  to  the  end  provision 
was  made  for  her,  as  in  the  past  forty  years. 

Of  Richard  Maitland  la  soeur  Candide  observes  that  he  died  in  or 
about  1661  in  Brussels  where  he  had  lived  unknown  in  a  poor  lodging 
house,  devoting  his  time  to  study  and  prayer.  In  1653,  on  the  sugges- 
tion of  his  friends,  he  had  undertaken  a  journey  to  England  to  see 
whether  he  could  recover  some  of  his  property,  but  no  sooner  had  he 
arrived  in  England  than  he  was  imprisoned.  Liberated  at  length  he 
was  ordered  to  leave  the  country  at  once,  and  he  returned  to  Brussels 
where  he  continued  up  to  the  time  of  his  death. 

And  so  the  elder  branch  of  the  house  of  Lethington  comes  to  an  end 
that  is  melancholy  enough,  yet  in  the  annals  of  Port  Royal  the  brother 
and  the  two  sisters  stand  out  with  a  gentleness  and  dignity  that  raise 
their  fate  above  the  commonplace  of  poverty  and  want. 

Ruth  Clark. 

Wellesley,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


THE  ADVENTURE  OF  <LE  CERF  AU  PIED  BLANC 
IN  SPANISH  AND  ELSEWHERE1. 

The  connection  which  exists  between  the  Spanish  ballad  of  'Tres 
hijuelos  habia  el  rey,'  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  Lai  de  Tyolet  and  the 
Dutch  Roman  van  Lancelot,  on  the  other,  has  been  remarked  in  general 
terms  by  Menendez  Pelayo  and  by  Baist,  who  adds  the  rider  that  the 
ballad  must  have  foundation  in  a  Spanish  prose  romance  of  the  cycle  of 
Sir  Lancelot.  But  it  seems  possible  to  collect  more  gleanings  in  this 
field. 

I. 

M.  Gaston  Paris  so  admirably  summarised  this  adventure,  having  in 
view  the  French  and  Dutch  versions,  that  one  might  well  follow  the 
precedent  of  the  greatest  Spanish  critic  of  last  century,  reproducing  it 
without  further  remark,  but  that  it  seems  desirable  to  give  a  higher 
relief  to  some  features  of  the  narrative.  The  incident  is  related  in  two 
separable  stages,  of  which  the  first,  which  is  introductory,  was  rejected 
by  the  original  of  the  Dutch  poem  and  so  lies  outside  M.  Paris'  field  of 
comparison,  but  appears  in  Tyolet  and,  in  a  mutilated  form  as  I  think, 
in  the  Spanish  romance.  In  the  second  part  I  follow  the  Lai,  noting  in 
brackets  the  characteristic  divergences  of  the  Dutch  poem. 

Introduction.     Tyolet  was  educated  in  a  forest  by  his  mother  in 

entire  ignorance  of  the  world  of  men.     He  grew  to  be  a  successful 

hunter,  for   nature    favoured  him   with  a  manner   of  whistling   that 

fascinated  every  quarry.    But  one  day  he  followed  a  stag  which  did 

not  respond  to  this  magic,  but  which,  after  leaping  the  Ravinous  Water, 

was  metamorphosed  into  a  knight  on  horseback.     In  the  astonished 

dialogue  which  followed,  the  Knight-Beast  (Chevalier-Beste)  advised 

the  young  hero  to  seek  the  honour  of  knighthood  at  Arthur's  Court. 

The  youth  returned  to  his  mother,  who  equipped  him  to  do  as  he 

was  bid. 

1  Cf.  Primavera  y  Flor  de  Romances,  No.  147,  'Tres  hijuelos...,'  No.  148,  'Nunca  fuera 
caballero...' ;  G.  Paris,  Histoire  Litteraire  de  la  France,  xxx,  pp.  113-8,  and  'Lais  Inedits' 
in  Romania,  vm,  pp.  40-50;  Jonckbloet,  Roman  van  Lancelot,  n,  pp.  151-7  (Derde  Boek, 
vv.  22271-23126) ;  Menendez  y  Pelayo,  Antologia,  x,n,  pp.  473-6 ;  G.  Baist  in  Grundriss 
der  romanischen  Philologie,  n,  ii,  pp.  432-3;  Pio  Bajna,  '  Osservazioni  e  dubbi  concernenti 
la  storia  delle  romanze  spagnuole'  in  Romanic  Review,  vi  (1915),  note  20.  I  am  obliged 
for  criticism  to  Professor  S.  G.  Morley  and  to  Miss  Janet  H.  Perry,  of  King's  College, 
London.  I  have  not  had  facilities  for  the  consultation  of  the  article  by  Sr.  Laiglesias  in 
Revista  Critica  Hispano-americana,  in,  pp.  3-56,  though  I  gather  that  his  conclusions  are 
not  likely  to  disturb  the  autonomy  of  mine. 


436  The  Adventure  of'Le  Cerfau  Pied  Blanc' 

Narrative.  A  certain  princess  (a  queen's  messenger)  complained  at 
Arthur's  Court  of  injuries  received  from  a  White-Hoofed  Stag,  which 
was  guarded  by  seven  lions,  and  promised  herself  (her  mistress)  to  the 
knight  who  should  deliver  her.  Lodoer  (Sir  Kay)  boastfully  accepted 
the  challenge,  and  was  directed  by  the  lady's  lap-dog  to  the  Ra vinous 
Water ;  not  daring  to  cross,  he  returned  to  be  the  butt  of  the  Court. 
All  other  pretendants  fared  likewise.  Only  Tyolet  (Sir  Lancelot)  dared 
to  cross  the  Water,  and  slew  both  Stag  and  lions ;  but  he  was  severely 
injured,  and  had  to  entrust  the  White  Hoof  to  a  caitiff  knight  who 
happened  on  him.  The  latter,  in  virtue  of  the  trophy,  claimed  the 
Princess  (Queen)  at  Arthur's  (her  own)  Court.  Sir  Gawain  felt,  how- 
ever, some  uneasiness,  and,  on  sallying  forth  to  the  ford,  he  found  Tyolet 
(Lancelot),  whom  he  entrusted  to  a  damsel  (physician)  who  was  passing 
by.  He  returned  to  punish  the  caitiff.  Tyolet  (Lancelot),  having  re- 
covered from  his  wounds,  married  the  Princess  and  reigned  with  her 
(laid  the  Queen  under  a  promise  to  marry  no  one  until  his  return). 

The  substitution  for  Tyolet  of  Lancelot  caused  the  loss  of  the  Intro- 
duction in  the  Roman ;  but  an  older  line  of  cleavage  is  in  the  different 
status  of  the  heroine,  which  modifies  the  disposition  of  the  parts  of  the 
tale.  According  as  she  is  Princess  or  Queen,  she  will  appeal  to  King 
Arthur  in  her  own  person  or  by  an  ambassador ;  the  poet  or  her  mes- 
senger will  describe  her  beauty ;  she  will  await  results  at  King  Arthur's 
Court  or  at  her  own ;  Sir  Gawain  will  feel  contempt  for  a  false  knight 
seen  or  misgivings  about  a  hero  who  does  not  reappear ;  and  the  de- 
nouement will  be  with  Arthur  or  away  from  him.  But  the  point  of 
reunion  is  found  in  the  epilogue,  which  has  been  perverted  in  Dutch. 
The  hero  must  marry  and  reign  forthwith.  For  this  reason  we  are  told 
that  the  Princess  is  an  only  child,  an  heiress  (else  what  a  waste  of 
chivalry  were  there),  whose  parents  in  fact  are  not  given  to  an  un- 
conscionable length  of  life.  Tyolet  marries  and  '  Rois  fu  et  elle  fu  roine ' 
(T.  703).  The  displacement  of  incidents  is  not  too  elaborate  to  have 
occurred  at  any  moment  of  the  history  of  the  narrative. 

But  it  seems  possible  to  make  a  further  reduction. 

Introduction  and  Narrative.  The  hero  is  able  to  do  many  things  by 
his  natural  power,  but  fails  in  one  case.  He  is  initiated.  He  succeeds, 
and  sooner  or  later  receives  his  reward.  In  this  fashion  the  two  separable 
halves  of  the  narrative  are  no  longer  separable,  and  the  whole  takes  on 
a  generalised  form  akin  to  a  folk  tale.  There  is  a  balance  between  the 
two  ladies — the  mother  who  trained  him,  the  bride  who  was  his  reward, 
the  natural  and  initiate  states,  the  whence  and  the  whither  of  our  hero's 


WILLIAM  J.  ENTWISTLE  437 

career.  That  we  may  be  dealing  not  with  two  stags,  but  with  one,  lies 
close  to  the  surface  in  the  Lai  de  Tyolet1,  and  is  the  first  assumption  of 
the  ballad.  The  beasts  are  described  in  similar  terms  and  haunt  the 
same  river,  whose  name  is  pregnant,  and  both  are  magical  existences. 

II. 

We  need  not  stress  this  simplified  analysis  to  conclude  that  the  two 
halves  of  the  tale  of  the  Cerf  au  Pied  Blanc  are  not  heterogeneous  nor 
disparate,  but  different  movements  of  a  single  story ;  their  disjunction 
has  been  the  work  of  derivative  romance  and  scholarly  abstraction.  We, 
therefore,  hesitate  to  cut  the  Gordian  knot  of  the  Spanish  ballad  by 
affirming,  with  Rajna,  that  the  introductory  verses  had  originally  nothing 
to  do  with  Lancelot  and  the  hunt  of  the  Stag2.  In  its  positive  form  this 
asserts,  without  the  possibility  of  proof,  that  the  Spanish  tradition,  like 
the  Dutch,  rejected  the  whole  of  the  Introduction.  It  is  true  that  there 
was  not  any  longer  room  for  the  early  life  of  the  hero  once  that  hero 
was  Lancelot ;  but  curiosity  might  well  be  directed  to  the  other  agents, 
who  in  a  late  and  sophisticated  romance  would  not  naturally  be  taken 
for  granted,  and  notably  to  the  relation  of  the  Princess  to  her  enemy. 
The  Spanish  tradition  maintains  the  identity  of  the  Stags  and  the 
principle  of  metamorphosis :  all  things  are  on  the  human  plane.  The 
explanation  makes  a  bold  start  by  asserting  that  the  White-Hoofed 
Stag  was  the  son  of  a  king ;  and  then  the  surviving  text  breaks  down, 
for  the  Lady  is  anonymous.  We  know  by  the  text  of  her  appeal  that 
she  was  a  Princess,  and  not  an  ambassadress ;  but,  owing  to  the  curious 
literalism  of  the  Spanish  ballad,  the  line  preceding  her  speech  does  not 
give  her  identity.    In  the  same  place  in  Tyolet  we  find  the  word  'pucele' 

1  Chevalier -Beste.  Cerf  au  Pied  Blanc. 
Un  cerf  qui  ert  et  grant  et  gras.                        Ja  nus  hon  n'avra  m'amisti^, 

T.  87.  S'il  ne  me  donne  le  blanc  pi£ 

Du  cerf  qui  est  et  bel  et  grant, 
Et  qui  tant  a  le  poil  luisant 
Por  poi  qu'il  ne  semble  dore. 
De  set  lions  est  bien  garde. 

T.  351-6. 
L'eve  estoit  grant  et  ravineuse  Tant  ont  chevauchie  et  err£ 

Et  lee  et  longue  et  perilleuse :  Que  andui  sont  venu  au  gue, 

Li  cers  outre  l'eve  passa.  A  la  grant  eve  ravineuse, 

T.  95-7.  Qui  molt  ert  parfonde  et  hisdeuse. 

S'estoit  com  chevalier  arme\  T.  433-6. 

T.  112. 

2  Rom.  Rev.,  vi,  p.  7,  n.  20:  ' . .  Appartiene  alia  classe  assai  povera  dei  "romances"  di 
argomento  brettone;  ma  effetivamente  resulta  da  due  elementi  mal  combinati.  I  primi 
quattro  versi  non  dovevano  in  origine  aver  che  fare  con  Lancilotto  e  la  caccia  del  cervo 
dal  piede  bianco :  circostanza  non  avvertita  dal  Men^ndez  y  Pelayo  nel  discorrere  di  questo 
"romance."'  Cf.  Baist  in  Grundriss,  n,  ii,  p.  433:  'In  anderen  Fallen  traten  interpre- 
tierende  Erweiterungen  hinzu,  so  in  Pr.  114  am  Ende,  in  Pr.  147  am  Anfang.' 


438  The  Adventure  of'Le  Cerf  au  Pied  Blanc ' 

(T.  321)  and  in  the  Roman  'ene  jonckvrouwe'  (L.  22275) ;  in  Spanish 
she  is  simply  'la  una'  (sc.  'dama').  Now,  in  T.  340-2,  the  Princess  is 
particularised  as 

Fille  de  roi  et  de  roine, 

Et  de  Logres  est  roi  mon  pere ; 

N'ont  plus  enfanz  li  ne  ma  mere. 

But  this  last  line  is  found  in  the  ballad  in  the  half-line  '  ...que  no  mas.' 
By  restoring  this  to  its  original  owner,  with  or  without  other  context, 
we  are  led  to  the  conclusion  that  the  original  form  of  the  Spanish 
version  had  two  propositions  in  the  Introduction:  viz.,  'Tres  fijuelos 
habia  el  rey,...E  una  fija,  que  no  mas';  and  this  gives  us  an  intelligible 
situation.  A  king  (the  King  of  Logres,  according  to  Tyolet)  had  one 
only  daughter,  who  was  his  heiress ;  but  he  also  had  sons  who,  in  an 
age  when  '  Valerosos  foram  sempre  os  bastardos,'  could  not  want  pre- 
cedents for  attempting  to  exclude  their  half-sister  from  her  rights.  By 
so  doing  they  earned  their  father's  curse  (curses  are  notoriously  most 
effective  when  made  from  a  death-bed),  which  turned  them  into  the 
form  of  beasts  or  heathen1. 

The  White-Hoofed  Stag  is  equipped  with  two  brothers,  respectively 
a  dog  and  a  Moor.  There  is  no  evidence  or  probability  that  they  entered 
the  tale  as  agents.  Personally,  I  incline  to  think  that  both  words  are 
derived  literally  from  the  French  source  of  this  variant  {can  =  chien ; 
moro  =  Saisne  or  pa'ien),  and  that  they  have  the  effect  of  a  compound 
epithet  such  as  '  chien  de  pa'ien '  or  '  perro  more'  A  Stag,  an  animal 
much  respected  by  experts  in  venery,  when  associated  with  dog  and 
Moor,  is  classified  into  the  category  of  things  evil2. 

The  remaining  peculiarities  of  the  ballad  are  capable  of  a  less  con- 
jectural commentary.  A  new  assonance  introduces  the  narrative.  Lancelot 

1  Two  Portuguese  ballads  (Bom  Pedro  Pequenino  and  Dom  Pedro  Menino)  begin 

0  marquez  tinha  tres  filhos, 
Tres  filhos  tinha  o  marquez. 

Braga,  Eomanceiro  Geral,  t.  i  (1906),  pp.  345,  348. 

But  they  are  too  late,  and  otherwise  too  different,  to  be  helpful.  There  is,  of  course, 
necessarily  an  element  of  conjecture  in  my  reconstruction  of  the  Introduction,  but  it  seems 
to  me  rather  less  than  in  the  dogmatism  of  Pio  Rajna.  On  any  theory  of  the  first  quatrain, 
it  ought  to  be  regarded  as  interpretative,  as  Baist  expressed  it;  yet,  as  it  stands,  it  only 
adds  obscurity.  In  brief,  I  affirm  that  the  Spanish  ballad  belongs  to  the  Princess- variant 
of  the  legend;  that  this  variant  requires  that  she  be  unique  ('que  no  mas. ..N'ont  plus 
enfanz  li  ne  ma  mere'),  or  it  is  robbed  of  its  denouement ;  and  thirdly,  the  three  brothers 
are  so  far  from  forming  a  trinity  that  probably  only  one  intervened  in  the  Spanish,  as  in 
the  other  stories — one  brother  and  his  two  adjectives. 

2  I  understand  that  Sr.  Laiglesias  refers  can  and  moro  to  the  petit  bracket  of  Tyolet,  and 
Morien  in  Dutch.  The  latter  appears  somewhat  arbitrary.  As  to  the  former,  we  note  that 
the  petit  bracket  is  absent  from  the  Spanish  tradition,  which  is  faithful  to  the  archetype  of 
all  these  stories  in  presenting  a  plurality  of  dogs  (los  sabuesos).  The  passivity  of  these  two 
brothers  makes  their  identity  a  matter  of  little  consequence. 


WILLIAM  J.  ENTWISTLE  439 

is  at  Court,  taking  his  ease  among  the  ladies.  The  Princess  makes  her 
appeal  in  a  speech  which  popular  retrenchment  has  impaired.  Other 
adventurers  are  neglected :  Lancelot  sets  out  on  the  chase  accompanied 
by  hunting-dogs.  This  is  an  archaism  peculiar  to  the  Spanish  tradition: 
both  the  other  versions  present  ladies'  lap-dogs  in  accordance  with 
twelfth-century  notions  of  propriety,  but  these  retain  by  compensation 
the  magical  sixth  sense  of  hostility  to  the  Stag,  which  the  greyhounds 
seem  to  lack.  And  so,  on  arriving  where  the  scent  failed,  at  the  Ford  of 
the  Ravinous  Water,  the  Spanish  hero,  unlike  his  parallels,  had  to  ask 
for  directions.  A  hermit,  perhaps  later  destined  to  be  Lancelot's  nurse, 
is  as  ready  to  present  himself  as  is  the  damsel  in  Tyolet  or  the  physician 
in  the  Roman.  Mutatis  mutandis,  he  must  have  repeated  the  information 
already  given  at  Court  by  the  Princess ;  but  the  ballad  makes  an  altera- 
tion of  capital  importance.  Omitting  all  reference  to  danger  from  the 
Princess's  appeal  and  reserving  this  for  the  hermit,  the  poet  gives  a  new 
and  sinister  twist  to  the  heroine's  character.  She  is  a  dangerous  siren : 
the  poet  laments  the  loss  of  brave  lives  for  frivolous  motives,  and,  to 
mark  his  reading  of  the  episode,  he  closes  with  two  lines  of  his  own : 
j  Ay  duena  de  Quintaiiones,  de  mal  fuego  seas  ardida, 
Que  tanto  buen  caballero        por  ti  ha  perdido  la  vida  ! 

It  was  the  pressure  of  the  new  plebeian  audience  and  the  change  of 
literary  medium  which  caused  and  favoured  this  novel,  bourgeois  and 
dramatic  interpretation,  which  is  the  essence  of  the  ballad  as  we  have  it. 
The  Stag  had  been  classified  by  dog  and  Moor,  and  mediaeval  dualism 
required  us  to  list  the  lady  among  the  angels.  But  when  by  successive 
stages  the  fille  au  roi  became  merely  la  una,  and  lost  all  intelligible 
relation  to  the  Stag,  the  way  was  open  to  her  acquisition  of  a  new  name 
and  character.  The  latter  came  from  the  shifting  of  significant  parts  of 
her  speech  to  that  of  the  hermit :  the  former  from  the  neighbouring 
ballad  of  that  Duena  Quintanona,  whom  Cervantes  had  the  tact  to  de- 
scribe by  her  accomplishments  rather  than  her  occupation. 

III. 

We  proceed  to  the  linear  discussion  of  the  ballad.    This  reveals  four 
movements :  there  are  three  scenes  distinguished  by  three  assonances 
and  an  interpretative  couplet  in  the  third  assonance. 
(a)  Introduction.   Assonance  &,. 

1.  Tres  hijuelos  habia  el  rey,         tres  hijuelos  que  no  mas 

2.  Por  enojo  que  hubo  de  ellos         todos  malditos  los  ha. 

3.  El  uno  se  torn6  ciervo,         el  otro  se  tornd"  can, 

4.  El  otro  se  torn6  moro,         pas6  las  aguas  del  mar. 


440  The  Adventure  of '  Le  Cerf  au  Pied  Blanc ' 

We  have  dealt  fully  with  these  lines.    We  make  these  additional 
comparisons. 
1.  Cf. 

0  marquez  tinha  tres  filhos, 
Tres  filhos  tinha  o  marquez, 

which  replaces  by  tinha  the  unusual  habia,  and 

Fille  de  roi  et  de  roine,  Diegene  die  mi  hier  heft  gesant, 

Et  de  Logres  est  roi  mon  pere ;  Si  es  coninginne  in  haer  lant, 

N'ont  plus  enfanz  li  ne  ma  me>e.  Ende  van  menegen  riddere  vrouwe. 
(T.  340-2.)  (L.  22313-5.) 

The  Spanish,  Dutch,  and  the  archetype  agree  to  leave  the  kingdom 

anonymous  :  Tyolet  names  '  Logres.' 

3.  For  the  ciervo  cf.  T.  87-112,  uti  supra. 

4.  For  the  equivalence  moro  =  Saisne,  cf. 

a  Sansuena  fue  a  llegar. 
Viernes  era  en  aquel  dfa         los  moros  hacen  solenidad : 
El  rey  Almanzor  va  a  la  mezquita.  (Primavera  173.) 

Professor  Morley  reminds  me  that  the  second  hemistich  is  traditional. 

;  Conde  Olinos,  Conde  Olinos,  es  niiio  y  pas6  la  mar ! 

(Men.  Pel.  Antologia,  t.  x,  p.  172.) 

(b)  Narrative  :  Court  Scene.    Assonance  a — o. 

5.  Andabase  Lanzarote         entre  las  damas  holgando, 

6.  Grandes  voces  did  la  una :         — Caballero,  estad  parado : 

7.  Si  fuese  la  mi  ventura,         cumplido  fuese  mi  hado, 

8.  Que  yo  casase  con  vos,         y  vos  conmigo  de  grado, 

9.  Y  me  die'sedes  en  arras         aquel  ciervo  del  pie  bianco. 

10.  Daroslo  he,  mi  sefiora,         de  coraz6n  y  de  grado, 

11.  Si  supiese  yo  las  tierras         donde  el  ciervo  era  criado. 

5.   This  is  not  the  attitude  of  Tyolet,  a  new  knight,  nor  of  Lancelot, 

for 

Ons  telt  vort  die  aventure 

Dat  Lancelot  ter  selven  ure 

Int  hof  was  onlange  comen.  (L.  22407-9.) 

But  it  is  true  of  Gawain  (Walewein)  that 

Hi  was  te  Kardole  binnen 

Met  Arturs  wive  der  coninginnen ; 

Ende  die  coninc  hine  was  daer  niet.  (L.  22755-7.) 

And  of  Lancelot,  when 

Nunca  fuera  caballero        de  damas  tan  bien  servido, 
Como  fuera  Lanzarote        cuando  de  Bretana  vino. 

(Prim.  148.) 

There  is  even  Dutch  authority  for  the  omission  of  Arthur's  name  in 

this  Arthurian  ballad. 


WILLIAM  J.  ENTWISTLE  441 

6.  la  una  (sc.  dama).  Cf.  pucele  (T.  321),  jonckvrouwe  (L.  22272). 
The  grandes  voces  are  in  T.  339, 

Sire,  je  sui  une  meschine : 

and  estad  parade-  in  L.  22282-3, 

Her  coninc,  doet  horen  mine  sprake : 
Hort  nu  mine  aventure  meest. 

7,  8  and  9.    Cf.  T.  339-356,  L.  22280-22348. 

The  speech  is  much  reduced,  and  the  description  of  the  heroine, 
which  is  most  conscientious  in  Dutch,  is  omitted.  Characteristic  of  the 
ballad  is  the  omission  of  all  reference  to  danger.    Cf.  also 

Een  hert  met  enen  witten  vote  ;  (L.  22300.) 

and 

S'il  i  a  de  vos  chevaliers 

Nul  qui  tant  soit  hardiz  ne  fiers 

Qui  le  blanc  pie  du  cerf  tranchast, 

Biau  Sire,  celui  me  donnast : 

Icelui  a  seignor  prendroie, 

De  nul  autre  cure  n'avroie.  ( T.  345-350.) 

10.  As  Lancelot  does  not  accept  the  offer  of  marriage,  the  Spanish 
version  lends  no  more  support  than  the  Dutch  to  G.  Paris'  remark,  '  II 
est  clair  que  dans  la  forme  francaise  du  recit,  Lancelot  epousait  reelle- 
ment  la  jeune  reine'  (Hist.  Litt.  de  la  France,  t.  xxx,  p.  114). 

11.  Cf. 

En  la  sale  n'ot  chevalier 

Qui  de  rien  feist  a  prisier 

Qui  ne  deist  que  il  iroit 

Querre  le  cerf,  s'il  le  savoit.  (T.  365-8.) 

(c)  Narrative :  Lancelot  at  the  Ford.   Assonance  i — a. 

12.  Ya  cabalga  Lanzarote,         ya  cabalga  y  va  su  via, 

13.  Delante  de  si  llevaba         los  sabuesos  por  la  trailla. 

14.  Llegado  habia  a  una  ermita,         donde  un  ermitano  habia: 

15.  — Dios  te  salve,  el  hombre  bueno,         — Buena  sea  tu  venida: 

16.  Cazador  me  pareceis         en  los  sabuesos  que  traia. 

17.  — Digasme  tu,  el  ermitano,         tu  que  haces  santa  vida, 

18.  Ese  ciervo  del  pie  bianco         i  donde  hace  su  manida  ? 

19.  — Quedaisos  aqui,  mi  hijo,         hasta  que  sea  de  dia. 

20.  Contaros  he  lo  que  vi,         y  todo  lo  que  sabia. 

21.  Por  aqui  pas6  esta  noche         dos  horas  antes  del  dia, 

22.  Siete  leonescon  el         y  una  leona  parida. 

23.  Siete  condes  deja  muertos         y  mucha  caballeria. 

24.  Siempre  Dios  te  guarde,  hijo,         por  doquier  que  fuer  tu  ida, 

25.  Que  quien  aca  te  envi6         no  te  queria  dar  la  vida. 


442  The  Adventure  of'Le  Cerf  au  Pied  Blanc' 

Nebrija  cites  lines  17  and  18  in  his  Grammatica,  lib.  II,  cap.  viii: 

Digas  tu  el  ermitano :        que  hazes  la  santa  vida 
Aquel  ciervo  del  pie  bianco        donde  haze  su  manida. 

But  in  lib.  II,  cap.  vi,  he  gives  a  variant  with  assonance  a — a : 

Digas  tu  el  hermitano         que  hazes  la  vida  santa : 
Aquel  ciervo  del  pie  bianco         donde  haze  su  morada 
Por  aqui  passo  esta  noche         un  ora  antes  del  alba, 

thus  omitting  lines  19  and  20.    I  do  not  know  what  would  be  the  effect 

of  applying  the  assonance  a — a  to  the  whole  scene.    It  is  possible  that 

time  elapsed  between  verses  23  and  24 ;  and  it  seems  difficult  to  save 

the  hemistich 

y  una  leona  parida 

for  the  variant  quoted. 

The  first  halting-place  of  the  other  versions  is  at  the  Ford  of  the 

Ravinous  Water,  which  both  lap-dogs  cross  without  hesitation. 

Le  brachet  s'est  en  l'eve  mist.  (T.  437.) 

Doe  sach  hi  dat  die  hont  sciere 

Int  water  spranc  oppenbare.  (L.  22434-5.) 

Lancelot  is,  however,  accompanied  by  hunting-dogs,  working  by  scent, 
so  that  he  is  under  the  necessity  of  asking  his  way.  The  same  necessity 
creates  the  hermit. 

12.  Cf. 

Et  Tyolet  s'est  adoube" 

Et  de  ses  armes  bien  arme... 

Tant  ont  chevauchie'  et  erre\         (T.  427-8  and  433.) 

Construe :    '  Lancelot  now  (being  fully  armed)  mounts  his  horse  and 

rides  his  horse,  and  follows  his  road.'     The  pregnant  use  of  caballo, 

cabalgar  (war-horse),  as  implying  that  the  person  is  fully  armed  and 

ready  for  action,  becomes  clearer  by  the  antithesis  of  mula  in 

Vos  con  gorra  de  fiesta,        yo  con  un  casco  afinado ; 
Vos  tra&s  ciento  de  mula,        yo  trescientos  de  caballo  ; 

(Prim.  16.) 

and 

Descabalga  de  una  mula,        y  en  un  caballo  cabalga. 

(Prim.  85  a.) 

13.  Cf.  « un  petit  brachet '  (T.),  and 

Maer  waer  dat  hondekin  woude 

Lopen,  dien  volgede  hi  mede.  (L.  22426-7.) 

'  Le  r61e  du  "  petit  brachet "  pourrait  bien  etre  un  reste  presque  efface* 
du  r61e  des  trois  chiens  merveilleux  dans  plusieurs  contes  de  ce  genre ' 
(G.  Paris  in  Romania,  t.  viii,  p.  41).  Owing  to  the  closer  intimacy  of 
the  ballad  and  the  Lai,  it  is  not  desirable  to  trace  the  Lai  and  Roman 


WILLIAM  J.  ENTWISTLE  443 

to  '  une  source  commune,  ou  se  trouvait  deja  le  petit  chien '  (G.  Paris, 
Hist.  Litt.  de  la  France,  t.  xxx,  p.  115). 

14.    Cf. 

Tant  on  chevauchie  et  erre 

Que  andui  sont  venu  au  gue, 

A  la  grant  eve  ravineuse.  {T.  433-5.) 

The  ford  is  nowhere  tenantless.   A  'pucele'  has  a  house  near  by  (T.  551), 

and, 

Daer  een  ersatere  woende  vroet.  (Z.  22820.) 

22.  Cf. 

De  set  lions  est  bien  garde  (T.  356.) 

and 

Seven  lione  waren  daer  doe.  (Z.  22457.) 

The  leona  parida  belongs  to  the  ballad,  and  perhaps  even  to  a  particular 
variant  of  it.  The  hermit's  information  is  transferred  from  the  Princess's 
speech. 

23.  This  masculine  stroke  is  all  that  the  poet  gives  of  the  mis- 
fortunes of  Lodoer-Kay  and  his  fellows. 

Querre  le  cerf  molt  i  alerent, 
Et  la  pucele  demanderent, 
•N'en  i  ot  nul  qui  la  alast 
Q'autretel  chancon  ne  chantast 
Que  Lodoer  chante"  avoit, 
Qui  vaillanz  chevaliers  estoit.  (T.  409-414.) 

And 

Ende  hebbic  hier  sinen  voet  brocht, 

Dien  menech  riddere  heft  becocht.  (Z.  22725-6.) 

The  striking  repetition  of  siete  is  thus,  like  the  leona  parida,  Spanish. 

24.  25.  These  lines  have  no  parallel,  but  are  likely  enough  from  a 
hermit.  Speaking  '  in  character,'  he  could  hardly  be  made  to  commend 
knight-errantry.  What  is  remarkable,  however,  is  the  emphasis  given 
to  these  remarks  by  the  poet. 

(d)  Moral.   Assonance  i — a. 

26.  j  Ay  duefia  de  Quintafiones,         de  mal  fuego  seas  ardida, 

27.  Que  tanto  buen  caballero         por  ti  ha  perdido  la  vida ! 

27  repeats  the  matter  of  line  23. 

26.  The  Lady  Centenarian  has  strolled  in  from  the  neighbouring 
ballad,  where  she  is  more  natural  as  a  blend  of  the  obliging  Lady  Male- 
hault  with  the  aged  Spanish  match-maker,  Trotaconventos-Celestina. 
To  insist  on  her  name  and  character  would  throw  the  ballad  into  more 
confusion :  here  she  merely  suggests  bad  faith. 


444  The  Adventure  of ' Le  Cerfau  Pied  Blanc' 

IV. 

It  remains  to  attempt  some  general  conclusions  as  to  the  formation 
of  the  ballad,  the  genealogy  of  the  legend,  and  its  relation  to  the  yet 
unpublished  Spanish  prose  Lancelot.  The  above  analysis  shows  that 
the  ballad,  as  we  have  it,  is  only  one  of  two  variants,  and  has  been  cut 
down  from  a  larger  narrative  to  the  point  of  obscurity.  The  consecrated 
methods  of  the  ballad-maker  have  been  applied — selection,  truncation, 
retrenchment,  contamination,  significant  repetition,  traditional  phrasing 
and  interpretation.  Signs  of  a  longer  rendering  are  the  frequent  changes 
of  assonance,  for  it  is  as  easy  to  write  forty  lines  of  Spanish  assonance 
as  four.  The  body  of  the  adventure  occupies  384  lines  in  Tyolet  and  856 
in  the  Roman  van  Lancelot,  while  the  part  corresponding  to  the  action 
of  the  ballad  occupies  126  and  163  lines  respectively,  to  which  we  add 
the  321  lines  of  prologue  in  Tyolet.  The  Spanish  totals  only  27  lines  or 
54  octosyllables.  All  descriptions  and  episodes  are  omitted,  and  the 
poet  restricts  himself  to  rapid  lines  of  action  and  dialogue.  From  some- 
thing prolix,  descriptive  and  luxurious,  he  has  carved  out  something 
curt,  dramatic  and  vigorous,  with  such  precision  of  choice  that  one  would 
demand  one  single  author  of  genius,  had  not  the  process  been  carried 
too  far.   As  it  is,  there  are  the  marks  of  more  than  one  creator. 

It  will  have  appeared,  too,  from  our  analysis,  that  every  essential 
statement  of  the  ballad,  and  a  number  of  minor  phrases,  belong  to  the 
traditional  stock  of  the  legend,  and  so  a  fortiori  to  its  own  immediate 
original.  The  process  of  hewing  ballads  from  prose  works  is  so  abun- 
dantly illustrated  in  the  Tratado  de  los  Viejos  Romances  that  we  can 
accept  without  hesitation  Baist's  assurance  that  this  incident  was  found 
in  a  Spanish  prose  Lancelot,  though  it  does  not  happen  to  appear  in 
the  manuscript  Lanzarote  de  Lago1.  The  cycle,  though  frequently  the 
subject  of  allusion  in  mediaeval  Spain,  has  received  comparatively  little 
attention,  so  that  it  would  be  well  to  collect  its  membra  disiecta.  There 
is  no  First  Part  in  Spanish,  Portuguese  and  Catalan.  We  must  be 
satisfied  with  a  French  version  which  has  a  long  history  in  Spain,  having 
been  copied  in  the  fifteenth  century,  perhaps  in  Catalonia,  and  passed 
through  the  hands  of  a  Count  of  Ampurias,  a  Lord  James  Roy  of  Pallars, 
and  D.  Gaspar  Galceran  de  Gurrea  y  Aragon,  Count  of  Guimera,  etc.2 

1  '  Es  ist  sicher,  dass  der  spanische  Lanzelot  die  Episode  enthalten  hat,  ebenso  wie 
der  niederlandische '  (Grundriss,  n,  ii,  p.  432). 

2  Bibl.  Nac.  Madrid,  MS.  485  (formerly  B  14).  French,  paper,  fifteenth  century.  284 
fols.  Initials  red.  No  titles.  On  fly-leaf  :  '  De  la  libreria  /  impressa  /  de  /  (Coat  of  Arms 
with  coronet  and  "  Sequar  et  duro  et  dulce")  /  Don  Gaspar  Galceran  de  Gurrea  y  Aragon,  / 
Conde  de  Gvimera,  /  Vizconde  de  Euol,  y  Alquerforadat.'  Title  on  binding:  'Flos  Mundi.' 
In  Gallardo's  Ensayo,  t.  n,  Appendix,  this  MS.  is  described  as  'Libros  de  caballerias' ;  by 


WILLIAM  J.  ENTWISTLE  445 

The  narrative  proceeds  without  novelty  from  the  beginning  to  the  affair 
of  the  Roche  aux  Saisnes,  and  then  tails  off  without  colophon  into  a 
number  of  scribbles.  The  Second  and  Third  Books  of  Lancelot  are  found 
in  the  well-known  unpublished  manuscript  Aa  103  (No.  9611)  of  the 
Biblioteca  Nacional,  Madrid,  entitled  Lanzarote  de  Lago.  This  manu- 
script was  executed  in  the  sixteenth  century  by  four  different  hands, 
who  were  working  against  time,  as  we  may  judge  by  the  deterioration 
of  their  writing.  They  copied  an  original  which  was  dated  1414,  and 
which  had  even  then  lost  its  First  Book.  The  narrative  opens  after  the 
Roche  aux  Saisnes  with  Gallehault's  dream  and  closes  with  a  reunion  of 
the  heroes  in  Camelot,  corresponding  to  P.  Paris,  Romans  de  la  Table 
Ronde,  t.  iv,  p.  87 — t.  v,  p.  315.  The  account  of  the  Two  Gueneveres 
corresponds  to  P.  Paris'  Variante,  and  there  is  a  blank  folio  at  the  place 
occupied  by  the  papal  interdict.  There  are  a  few  trifling  irregularities. 
The  exploits  of  Mordred  in  laisse  cxxxi  and  the  adventure  of  the  maitre 
du  pavilion  (P.  Paris,  t.  V,  p.  123)  are  omitted,  and  the  story  of  the 
Knight  with  the  two  swords  is  inserted1.  After  the  reunion  at  Camelot, 
which  ends  on  fol.  352  v.,  a  damsel  comes  on  behalf  of  Sir  Tristram. 
Lancelot  determines  to  seek  Sir  Tristram,  crosses  the  Bridge  of  Iron, 
occupies  Merlin's  Bed,  and  enters  a  bark  with  twelve  damsels.  The 
Third  Book  then  abruptly  terminates  with  the  promise  of  a  Book  of 
Sir  Tristram,  which  does  not  survive  in  Spanish.  The  various  Historias 
de  Don  Tristdn  are  parts  of  another  cycle.  One  cannot  do  better  than 
refer  to  the  Second  Book  the  ballad 

Nunca  fuera  caballero         de  damas  tan  bien  servido, 
Como  fuera  Lanzarote        cuando  de  Bretafia  vino. 

This  paraphrases  at  a  distance  the  episode  of  Meleagant,  but  with 
knowledge  of  the  opening  tableau  of  the  Mort  oVArtus.    Folios  85  r. — 

O.  Klob  in  Zeitschrift  filr  rom.  Phil.,  t.  xxvi,  as  'Libro  de  Artus.'  The  first  and  last  folios 
are  much  deteriorated.  On  the  back  of  the  last  are  a  number  of  scribbles ;  amongst  others, 
'  Almolt  alt  emolt  poderos  seyor  Infan  ....  mo  bur . .  comte  dampuries '  and  '  senyor  en  jac 
roy  d'  payllas.'  Fols.  26-35  have  been  placed  after  fols.  36-48,  and  fol.  241  after  fol.  246. 
Between  fols.  228  and  229  is  inserted  a  leaf  dated  1536  with  three  lines  of  the  Magnificat. 
An  explicit  starts  on  foL_247,  but  is  scratched  out.  Fol.  247:  'En  tel  joye  sejorna  li  roys 
&  sey  conpaigon  ala  roch  tous  les  jours....' 

1  Cf.  D.  A.  Bonilla  y  San  Martin,  Las  leyendas  de  Wagner,  Madrid,  1913,  who  reprints 
fols.  119  r.— 121  v.,  261  r. — 266  v.,  and  281  r. — 285  v.,  and  on  whose  authority  we  learn  that 
a  complete  edition  is  to  be  expected  from  Sr.  D.  Eduardo  de  Laiglesias.  MS.  in  Castilian : 
sixteenth  century ;  paper.  355  fols.  315  x  215  mm.  approx.  Numbering  and  binding  more 
recent,  and  some  margins  and  headings  cut  away.  Title :  DON  /  Langaro/te,  de  /  Lago. 
Fol.  1  r. :  Aqui  comienca  el  libro  segundo  /  de  Don  lanzarote  de  lago.  Como  el  Key  artur  / 
otorgo  a  lancarote  que  fuesse  con  galeote.  Fol.  277  r. :  Dexa  el  cuento  de  fablar  de  estor  e  / 
torna  a  don  Galuan . . .  Aqui  se  acaba  el  segundo  libro  de  /  Lancarote.  Fol.  355  v. :  Aqui  se 
acaua  el  segundo  y  tercero  libro  de  don  Lan-/carote  de  lago  y  a  se  de  comenzar  el  libro  de  / 
don  tristan  y  acabose  en  miercoles  veinte  y  quatro  /  dias  del  octubre  ano  del  nascimiento 
de  nuestro  sal-/uador  Jxuxpo  de  mill  e  quatrocientos  y  catorze  afios.  /  finis.  / 

M.  L.  R.  XVUI.  29 


446  The  Adventure  of  Le  Cerfau  Pied  Blanc ' 

90  r.  deal  with  the  adventure  of  Sir  Carados  (P.  Paris,  t.  iv,  pp.  315  ff.) 
and  so  run  parallel  to  the  single  surviving  folio  of  a  Catalan  Lancelot1, 
which  may  have  been  written  before  1441.  Both  versions  belong  to 
the  same  family,  but  without  identity.  As  the  Catalan  fragment  is 
numbered  (fol.)  clxxxvij  and  covers  fols.  88  r. — 90  r.  of  the  Castilian, 
it  must  have  formed  part  of  a  complete  Lancelot  romance.  The  Quest 
of  the  Holy  Grail  is  connected  in  Spanish  and  Portuguese  with  the  late 
and  dissipated  version  which  is  attributed  to  Robert  de  Boron :  but  the 
Spanish  copies  have  reinserted  in  chaps.  373-390  an  orthodox  conclusion 
to  the  adventure.  In  these  chapters  the  narrative  is  again  parallel  to 
a  Catalan  work,  the  manuscript  completed  on  May  16th,  1380,  by 
G.  Rexach  and  published  for  the  Institut  d'Estudis  Catalans  by  Pro- 
fessors Crescini  and  Todesco2,  but  again  without  there  being  identity 
of  phrase  in  the  two  versions.  Finally,  the  Mort  oVArtus  is  associated 
in  both  Spanish  and  Portuguese  literature  with  the  pseudo-Boron,  and 
is  wanting  in  Catalan ;  but  an  account  similar  to  that  of  Sir  Thomas 
Malory  was  summarised  in  the  Livro  dos  Linhagens  of  D.  Pedro  de 
Barcellos3,  which  may  represent  a  lost  member  of  the  Lancelot  cycle. 
The  place  occupied  by  the  episode  of  the  Gerf  au  Pied  Blanc  must  have 
been  the  same  as  in  Dutch,  the  usual  place  for  intruders,  viz.  between 
the  conclusion  of  the  Quest  and  the  opening  of  the  Mort. 

As  other  Spanish  and  Portuguese  romances  tend  to  fall  into  well- 
defined  cycles,  while  the  Catalan  seem  to  follow  from  the  personal 
initiative  of  Pedro  the  Ceremonious,  we  may  tentatively  reconstruct  the 
Spanish-Portuguese  prose  Lancelot  as  follows : 

1.  First  Book.    Lost.    Perhaps  similar  to  MS.  485  of  Bibl.  Nac. 

2.  Second  Book.  Bibl.  Nac.  Madrid,  MS.  9611,  fols.  1-277  r.,  to 
which  the  ballad,  Prim.  No.  148,  is  loosely  attached. 

3.  Third  Book.    Bibl.  Nac.  Madrid,  MS.  9611,  fols.  280  v.— 355  v. 

3  a.   A  book  of  Don  Tristdn  ?   Lost. 

4.  Quest.   Fragment  in  Merlin  y  Demanda,  pt.  ii,  cc.  373-390. 

4  a.   Episode  of  the  White-Hoofed  Stag.   Prim.  No.  147. 

5.  Mort  d'Artus.   Fragment  summarised  by  D.  Pedro  de  Barcellos. 

1  Transcribed  by  En  Mateu  Obrador  in  Bevista  de  Bibliografia  Catalana,  t.  in 
(1903). 

2  Crescini  e  Todesco,  La  versione  catalana  dell'  Inchiesta  del  Santo  Grial,  Barcelona, 
Institut  d'  Estudis  Catalans,  1915.  (Ambrosian  Library,  Milan,  MS.  I  79  sup.)  For  the 
orthodox  chapters  of  the  Spanish  Merlin  y  Demanda,  cf.  O.  Sommer,  '  The  Quest©  of  the 
Holy  Grail,'  in  Romania,  t.  xxxvi. 

i     3  Mod.  Lang.  Rev.,  vol.  xvn,  No.  4  (1922),  p.  388. 


WILLIAM  J.  ENTWISTLE  447 

In  Catalan  we  have  : 

1.  First  Book.  Lost.  Probably  similar  to  Bibl.  Nac,  MS.  485.  This 
First  Book  is  indicated  by  the  pagination  of  En  Mateu  Obrador's 
fragment. 

2.  Second  Book.  Fragment,  single  folio,  reproduced  by  En  Mateu 
Obrador. 

3.  Ambrosian  MS.  I  79  sup.  This  is  a  Quest,  and  is  brought  to  a 
close  by  its  colophon.   It  may  have  been  always  a  self-sufficient  work. 

The  ballad  Tres  hijuelos  was  certified  to  be  old  (viejo)  in  its  actual 
form  by  Antonio  de  Nebrija's  Grammatica  (1492),  which  carries  us  back 
at  least  towards  the  earlier  years  of  the  fifteenth  century :  but  as  the 
present  form  is  one  of  comparative  obscurity,  confusion  and  redaction, 
we  should  almost  certainly  date  back  the  original  poem  to  the  four- 
teenth century,  when  it  derived  from  the  prose  Lancelot.  Considering 
the  fact  that  the  Lanzarote  de  Lago  had  already  become  fragmentary 
by  1414,  and  taking  into  account  the  oft-quoted  allusion  of  Pero  L<5pez 
de  Ayala1,  we  may  reasonably  presume  that  the  cycle  was  already  trans- 
lated before  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century  :  and,  if  the  summary 
in  the  Livro  dos  Linhagens  refers  to  the  same  series,  we  should  have 
reason  to  prefer  the  first  quarter  of  the  century  to  the  second.  In  this 
fashion  the  prose  Lanzarote  de  Lago  would  be  the  contemporary  of  Joao 
Samchez's  Josep  Abarimatia  (1313),  the  first  Tristdn  (before  1343),  and 
the  Merlin  y  Demanda2.  The  source  of  Lanzarote  de  Lago  is  certainly 
a  French  prose  romance,  of  a  fully  developed  type,  without  many  notice- 
able peculiarities,  but  possibly  including  the  Cerf  au  Pied  Blanc  and 
the  Malorian  Mort,  a  thirteenth-century  cyclic  romance.  On  the  other 
hand  the  Dutch  Roman  van  Lancelot,  of  the  thirteenth  century,  is 
immediately  derived  from  a  French  cyclic  poem.  The  Spanish  ballad 
and  the  Lai  de  Tyolet  present  Princess- variants  of  the  episode :  the 
Roman  gives  a  Queen-variant.  But  none  of  these  narratives  is  the 
original  of  any  other.  The  kingdom  of  Logres,  the  Arthurian  ascription, 
Sir  Gawain,  the  little  dogs,  and  the  introduction  of  Lancelot  are  all 
marks  of  distance  from  the  archetype ;  yet  are  offered  differently  by  the 
different  versions.  The  classification  of  the  legend  which  seems  most 
probable,  therefore,  bracketing  conjectures,  is  : 

1  Rimado  de  Palacio,  copla  162. 

2  First  alluded  to  as  a  book  in  the  Cr&nica  de  1404,  but  incidents  are  quoted  in  Can- 
cioneiro  da  Vaticana,  No.  930,  and  probably  Cane.  Colocci-Brancutti,  No.  2. 

29—2 


448  The  Adventure  of  [  Le  Cerf  au  Pied  Blanc ' 

Princess-type.  Queen-type. 

I  I 

Lai  de  Tyolet.  (Lancelot. 

Fr.  verse,  xnth  cent.  Fr.  verse,  cyclic,  xnth  cent.) 

(Lancelot.  Roman  van  Lancelot. 

Fr.  prose,  xmth  cent.)  Du.  verse,  xmth  cent. 

(Lanzarote  de  Lago. 
Sp.  prose,  xivth  cent.) 

cf.  Lanzarote  de  Lago  of  1414,  &c. 


Tres  hijuelos.  Nunca  fuera  caballero. 

Sp.  ballad,  xiv — xvth  cent.         Sp.  ballad. 
(Prim.  147.)  {Prim.  148.) 

I  prefer  to  keep  an  open  mind  about  two  other  Lancelot  pieces.  The 
so-called  lai  of  Don  Ancaroth  {Cane.  Colocci-Brancutti,  No.  5)  is  referred 
by  Colocci's  note  to  Sir  Tristram.  Cf.  Sra.  Da.  C.  Michaelis  de  Vascon- 
cellos,  'Lais  de  Bretanha/  in  Revista  Lusitana,  vi.  The  Historia  de 
Oalvdn,  Leonel  y  Lanceloto  found  by  Gallardo  in  Seville  is  still  no  more 
than  a  name. 

William  J.  Entwistle. 

Manchester. 


KARL  PHILIPP  MORITZ'S  < BLUNT'  AND  LILLO'S 
'FATAL  CURIOSITY.' 

Up  to  the  appearance  of  Minor's  article  on  the  history  of.the  German 
'  Fate  Tragedy1'  it  had  been  generally  assumed  that  Karl  Philipp  Moritz's 
Blunt  oder  der  Gast,  the  first  German  play  based  on  the  theme  made 
famous  later  by  Zacharias  Werner's  Der  vierundzwanzigste  Februar,  had 
been  inspired  by  Lillo's  The  Fatal  Curiosity.  Both  Lillo  and  Moritz 
treat  in  dramatic  form  the  story  of  a  son  who,  though  believed  to  be 
dead,  returns  home  to  find  his  parents  reduced  to  poverty,  and,  posing 
as  a  stranger,  is  murdered  for  his  money.  Lillo's  collected  works  had 
been  published  in  London  in  1775;  a  German  translation  of  them  in 
two  volumes  had  appeared  very  shortly  afterwards  (1777, 1778);  in  1780 
the  first  version  of  Moritz's  Blunt  was  published  in  the  Berlin  Litteratur- 
und  Theater-Zeitung ,  and  in  1781  the  second  version  appeared  in  book 
form2.  Moritz's  work  is  shorter  and  in  every  way  cruder  than  Lillo's, 
and  the  tragedy  is  arbitrarily  averted  at  the  last  moment;  but  the 
identity  of  theme,  the  chronological  sequence  of  the  dates  of  publication, 
and  certain  minor  indications  of  indebtedness  to  Lillo3  seemed  to  justify 
the  assumption  that  The  Fatal  Curiosity  was  Moritz's  source.  Moreover, 
W.  H.  Bromel  had — also  in  1780 — prepared  a  free  adaptation  of  The 
Fatal  Curiosity  under  the  title  Stolz  und  Verzweiflung,  but  with  a  happy 
ending,  for  performance  at  the  Hamburg  theatre4.  It  was  therefore 
believed  that  Lillo,  to  whose  George  Barnwell  the  German  'burgerliche 
Trauerspiel'  owed  its  birth,  had  also  provided  the  original  stimulus 
which  ultimately  produced  the  gruesome  'Schicksalstragodien'  of  the 
Romanticists;  and  J.  Fath  traced  the  evolution  of  this  genre  from 
Bromel  and  Moritz  through  Tieck  to  Werner  and  his  successors5. 

1  J.  Minor,  Zur  Geschichte  der  deutschen  Schicksalstragodie  und  zu  Grillparzers  Ahnfrau, 
in  Jahrb.  der  Grillparzer-GeselUchaft,  ix,  1899,  pp.  1-85. 

2  The  only  copy  of  the  book  version  I  have  been  able  to  locate  is  in  the  Berlin  University 
Library.  Photographic  reproductions  of  it  are  available  in  the  Birmingham  University 
Library  and  the  Beit  Library,  Cambridge.  I  have  also  a  photographic  reproduction  of  the 
first  version. 

3  The  English  surname  Blunt  (the  name  of  Millwood's  butler  in  Lillo's  George  Barnwell), 
a  verbal  parallel,  and  the  introduction  of  some  motives  used  by  Lillo. 

4  For  a  description  of  Bromel's  stage  version  cp.  Minor,  I.e.,  pp.  47-50  and  note  20, 
pp.  82  f. 

8  J.  Fath,  Die  Schicksalsidee  in  der  deutschen  Tragodie,  Leipzig  Diss.,  Munich,  1895. 


450  Karl  Philipp  Moritz's  'Blunt'  and  Lillo's  'Fatal  Curiosity' 

Minor,  however,  in  his  article,  attacked — besides  some  weak  points 
in  Fath's  chain  of  development — the  accepted  belief  in  Moritz's  in- 
debtedness to  Lillo,  declaring  with  reference  to  the  first  version  of 
Blunt :  '  Auf  literarischem  Wege  hat  Lillo  auf  Moritz  gewiss  nicht  einge- 
wirkt '  (p.  38).  He  was  willing  to  admit  that  Moritz  might  in  his  youth 
have  heard  the  story  on  which  Blunt  is  based  from  some  one  who  knew 
Lillo's  play,  and  that  the  second  version  does  show  traces  of  Lillo's 
influence  (p.  46).  But  the  original  version  he  maintained  to  be  essen- 
tially independent ;  and  as  he  also  advanced  good  reasons  for  considering 
Brbmel's  Stolz  und  Verzweiflung  to  have  been  inspired  and  influenced 
by  Blunt,  Lillo's  share  in  the  genesis  of  the  '  Schicksalstragodie '  now 
appeared  to  be  insignificant.  This  view,  advanced  by  a  scholar  of  high 
reputation,  who  had  already  published  two  well  known  works  on  the 
1  Schicksalsdrama1,'  seems,  very  naturally,  to  have  been  generally  accepted. 
For  some  years,  it  is  true,  whether  from  ignorance  of  Minor's  article  or 
from  lack  of  conviction  by  his  argument,  the  older  theory  reappeared 
from  time  to  time  in  books  of  reference 2.  But  more  recent  publications 
usually  adopt  Minor's  view3;  and  no  attempt,  I  believe,  has  yet  been 
made  to  refute  it.  The  purpose  of  the  present  article  is  to  show  that,  in 
view  of  the  available  evidence — including  some  not  previously  taken 
into  account — the  original  assumption  of  Moritz's  indebtedness  to  Lillo 
is  almost  certainly  correct. 

Minor's  case  rests  primarily  on  the  preface  to  the  second  version, 
which  reads  as  follows : 

Ohne  zu  wissen,  dass  Lillo  den  Stoff  zu  diesem  Stuck  schon  bearbeitet  hat  und 
ohne  einmal  die  Ballade  zu  kennen,  woraus  dieselbe  genommen  ist,  veranlasste  mich 
eine  dunkle  Erinnerung  aus  den  Jahren  meiner  Kindheit,  wo  ich  die  Geschichte 
hatte  erzahlen  horen,  sie  dramatisch  zu  bearbeiten.  Ich  entwarf  einzelne  Scenen 
davon,  welche  ich  im  25sten,  29sten  und  33sten  Stuck  der  Berliner  Litteratur-  und 
Theater-Zeitung  von  1780  drucken  liess,  wo  sie,  so  viel  ich  aus  miindlichen  Urtheilen 
von  Kennern  schliessen  konnte,  nicht  ohne  Beifall  aufgenornmen  wurden.  Wie  mir 
nun  die  Zusammensetzung  des  Ganzen  gelungen  ist,  dariiber  muss  ich  das  Urtheil 
der  Kunstrichter  erwarten,  wenn  anders  dieser  Versuch  ihre  Aufmerksamkeit  ver- 
dienen  sollte. 


1  Die  Schicksals-Tragodie  in  ihren  Hauptvertretern,  Frankfort,  1883  (in  the  introduction 
to  which,  p.  vi,  Blunt  is  referred  to  as  '  nach  englischem  Muster');  Das  Schicksalsdrama , 
in  Kiirschner's  Deutsche  National-Litteratur,  vol.  cli,  Berlin  [1884]. 

2  E.g.,  A.  Bartels,  Handbuch  zur  Geschichte  der  deutschen  Litteratur,  Leipzig,  1906, 
p.  283  ('nach  Lillo,  erste  Schicksalstragodie  ') ;  G.  H.  Nettleton  in  the  Cambridge  History 
of  English  Literature,  x  (1913),  p.  80  (based  on  Sir  A.  W.  Ward's  edition  of  The  Fatal 
Curiosity  in  the  Belles  Lettres  Series,  1906) . 

3  E.g.,  L.  M.  Price,  English>  German  Literary  Influence,  Berkeley,  Cal.,  1919,  p.  352; 
M.  Enzinger,  Das  deutsche  Schicksalsdrama,  Innsbruck,  1922,  pp.  26 ff.  ;  but  P.  Hankammer, 
Z.  Werner,  Bonn,  1920,  p.  216,  still  accepts  the  older  theory  without,  however,  any  reference 
to  Minor's  article. 


FRANCIS  E.  SANDBACH  451 

Quoting  this  preface  (with  a  few  unimportant  inaccuracies)  Minor  adds : 
'Mit  diesen  Worten  sinkt  der  Stammbaum  unserer  Schicksalstragodie 
zusammen' — as,  indeed,  it  would,  if  Moritz's  statement  were  reliable. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  there  is  strong  reason  to  doubt  it ;  while  the  evidence 
in  support  of  it,  though  fully  and  forcibly  presented  by  Minor,  is  any- 
thing but  convincing  when  critically  examined. 

Minor's  arguments  may  be  summarised  and  commented  on  under 
three  headings  as  follows:  (i)  Moritz  might  easily  have  heard  the 
story  in  his  childhood,  since  it  is  frequently  met  with  in  varying  versions 
from  the  seventeenth  century  onwards — in  folk-songs,  chronicles,  news- 
papers, etc.  This  argument  certainly  adds  something  to  the  plausibility 
of  Moritz's  statement,  but  does  no  more.  Indeed,  no  real  corroborative 
evidence — to  say  nothing  of  positive  proof — that  Moritz  had  any  other 
source  than  Lillo  seems  to  exist.  Even  in  Anton  Reiser1,  that  fascinating, 
if  at  times  prolix  account  of  the  first  nineteen  years  *of  his  life  (i.e.,  to 
1776),  with  its  wealth  of  detail  about  his  literary  efforts,  aspirations  and 
projects — among  them,  dramatic  projects — there  is  not  the  slightest 
suggestion  of  his  ever  having  heard  such  a  story,  (ii)  The  correspond- 
ences between  The  Fatal  Curiosity  and  the  first  version  of  Blunt  are  not 
sufficiently  numerous  and  striking  to  warrant  disbelief  of  Moritz's  state- 
ment. As  they  will  be  examined  in  some  detail  below,  it  may  suffice  to 
remark  in  passing  that  Minor  failed  to  notice  some  of  them ;  that  four 
of  those  he  mentions  are  rather  summarily  dismissed;  and  that  in  any 
case  this  argument  again  does  no  more  than  show  Moritz's  disclaimer  to 
be  reasonably  plausible,  (iii)  There  are  important  differences  between 
The  Fatal  Curiosity  and  Blunt.  But  this  merely  proves  that,  if  Moritz 
did  receive  his  stimulus  from  Lillo,  he  was  no  slavish  imitator.  We  shall 
see  that  when  he  undoubtedly  did  borrow,  as  is  admitted  by  Minor  for 
one  striking  instance  in  the  second  version,  he  deliberately  disguised 
the  borrowed  motive. 

Probably  no  author  has  left  a  more  detailed  and  truer  picture  of  him- 
self than  Moritz  in  his  Anton  Reiser  and  Reisen  eines Deutschen  in  England 
im  Jahre  17822;  and  from  these  works  we  may  reasonably  infer  that  he 
was  not  above  deliberately  misrepresenting  facts  in  proclaiming  the 
independence  and  originality  of  his  drama.  He  pictures  himself  through- 
out as  always  ready  to  dissemble  and  tell  untruths  when  it  suited  his 

1  Anton  Reiser.  Ein  psychologischer  Roman,  Four  Parts,  Berlin,  1785-90 ;  reprinted, 
Deutsche  Litteraturdenkmale  des  18.  und  19.  Jahrh. ,  xxiii,  Heilbronn,  1886.  Moritz  had 
begun  to  write  this  autobiography  at  least  as  early  as  1783,  only  two  years  later  than  the 
preface  to  the  second  edition  of  Blunt.     Cp.  Geiger's  Introduction,  pp.  vii  ff . 

2  Beprinted,  Deutsche  Litteraturdenkmale  des  18.  und  19.  Jahrh.,  cxxvi,  1903. 


452  Karl  Philipp  Moritz  s  'Blunt'  and  Lillo's  'Fatal  Curiosity' 

purpose  or  ministered  to  his  vanity.    Of  Reiser  in  his  early  teens  Moritz 

says  (Reprint,  p.  41):  'Er  ward  ein  Heuchler  gegen  Gott,  gegen  andre, 

und  gegen  sich  selbst';  while  as  a  youth  of  nineteen  (p.  309):  'Ruhm 

und   Beifall  zu  erwerben,  das  war   von  jeher  sein   hochster   Wunsch 

gewesen; — aber  der  Beifall  musste  ihm  damals  nicht  zu  weit  liegen — er 

wollte  ihn  gleichsam  aus  der  ersten  Hand  haben.'      His  often 

morbid  desire  to  win  or  keep  the  good  opinion  of  others  is  repeatedly 

emphasised  as  a  dominant  trait  in  Anton  Reiser  and  reappears  in  the 

Reisen  eines  Deutschen  in  England;  and  many  striking,  and  sometimes 

amusing,  examples  of  the  untruths  into  which  this  vanity  betrayed  him 

might  be  quoted1. 

In  Anton  Reiser  there  occurs  also  an  interesting  account  of  his 

procedure  when  selected  from  among  his  school -fellows  to  compose  an 

address  in  celebration  of  the  birthday  of  the  Queen  of  England.     That 

he  should  turn  to  previous  addresses  for  ideas  is  natural  enough ;  but 

Moritz  continues : 

Diese  las  er  durch,  und  abstrahirte  sich  daraus  sein  Ideal,  ohne  sonst  aus  einer 
einzigen,  sich  auch  nur  eines  Ausdrucks  zu  bedienen — diess  vermied  er  so  sorgfaltig, 
als  er  nur  immer  konnte  ;  denn  vor  dem  Plagiat  batte  er  die  entsetzlichste  Scheu — 
sodass  er  sich  sogar  des  Ausdrucks  am  Schluss  seiner  Rede,  dassWaldundGebiirg' 
es  wiederhallen,  schamte,  weil  einmal  in  Werthers  Leiden  der  Ausdruck  steht : 
dass  Wald  und  Gebiirg  erklang — ihm  entschlupften  zwar  oft  Reminiszenzen, 
aber  er  schamte  sich  ihrer,  sobald  er  sie  bemerkte  (p.  286). 

This  passage  throws  light  on  the  rather  peculiar  character  of  a 

borrowing  from  Lillo — as  Minor  admits  (p.  46) — in  the  second  version 

of  Blunt.     In   The  Fatal  Curiosity  Chariot,  the  betrothed  of  Young 

Wilmot,  the  returned  son,  asks  her  friend  Maria  to  sing  to  her : 

The  song  compos'd  by  that  unhappy  maid, 
Whose  faithful  lover  'scaped  a  thousand  perils 
From  rocks,  and  sands,  and  the  devouring  deep  ; 
And  after  all,  being  arriv'd  at  home, 
Passing  a  narrow  brook,  was  drowned  there, 
And  perished  in  her  sight2. 

Moritz  inserts  as  a  topic  of  conversation  between  Mariane,  the  betrothed 

of  the  returned  son,  and  her  father  the  frequency  with  which  great 

dangers  are  escaped  and  small  ones  bring  destruction,  and  causes  the 

father  to  say : 

Da  erhielt  ich  gestern  erst  noch  eine  traurige  Nachricht,  von  einem  wurdigen 
Officier,  meinem  sehr  guten  Freunde,  der  sechs  Bataillen  mitgemacht  hat,  und  nun 
an  einem  Stiickchen  Glase  gestorben  ist,  das  er  sich  in  den  Finger  gestossen  hat 
(pp.  23  f.). 

1  E.g.  Anton  Reiser  (Reprint),  pp.  297,  333,  362,  385  f .,  391,  393 ;  and  Reisen  eines  Deut- 
schen in  England  (Reprint),  pp.  11  f. 

2  George  Lillo,  Works,  ii,  London,  1775,  p.  10. 


FRANCIS  E.  SANDBACH  453 

The  general  idea  is  borrowed,  but  the  setting  and  the  details  are 
changed. 

Moritz  was  a  zealous  student  of  English  and  English  literature  from 
his  school-days  onward.  By  the  age  of  nineteen,  as  Anton  Reiser  shows, 
he  knew  in  the  original,  in  translation  and  in  German  stage  versions, 
works  by  Shakespeare,  Defoe,  Sterne,  Young,  Richardson,  Pope  and 
Fielding;  and  that  he  retained  this  interest  in  subsequent  years  is  clear 
from  his  Reisen  and  from  K.  F.  Klischnig's  Erinnerungen  aus  den  zehn 
letzten  Lebensjahren  meines  Freundes  Anton  Reiser  (Berlin,  1794).  Only 
a  couple  of  years  before  his  Blunt  first  appeared,  he  was  supplementing 
his  scanty  income  by  translating  from  English,  and  was  praised  by 
Basedow,  at  whose  school  in  Dessau  he  taught  for  a  time,  for  'seinen 
Eifer  fur  die  englische  Litteratur1.'  This  was  precisely  the  time  when 
the  anonymous  German  translation  of  Lillo's  works  was  being  published 
in  Leipzig ;  and  though  it  might  seem  far-fetched  to  suggest  that  Moritz 
himself  was  the  translator — he  was  actually  in  Leipzig  during  part  of  the 
winter  of  1776-77 — one  would  at  any  rate  expect  him  to  notice  its 
appearance  and  to  read  it. 

We  come  now  to  the  similarities  between  The  Fatal  Curiosity  and 
the  first  version  of  Blunt,  published  in  the  Litteratur-  und  Theater- 
Zeitung2.  If  for  the  present  we  still  regard  the  identity  of  theme  as  a  pure 
coincidence,  we  must  accept  some  of  the  minor  resemblances  as  almost 
inevitable,  e.g.,  the  extreme  poverty  of  the  parents  and  the  consequent 
deterioration  of  character  (in  Lillo's  play  of  both,  but  especially  of  the 
mother ;  in  Blunt  of  the  father  only) ;  perhaps  also,  though  not  without 
some  hesitation,  the  fatalistic  element  common  to  both  plays,  the  insist- 
ence on  the  father's  false  pride,  the  reference  to  his  former  comfort  and 
high  standing,  the  fact  that  in  both  plays  the  parents  have  not  a  morsel 
of  food  in  the  house  and  have  been  selling  their  possessions  for  food,  the 

1  Cp.  0.  zur  Linde  in  his  Introduction  to  the  Reisen  eines  Deutschenin  England,  p.  xii. 
Later  on  Moritz  published  translations  of  English  novels.    Cp.  Goedeke,  v,  p.  491. 

2  A  short  description  of  this  unique  production  may  be  welcome.  The  first  instalment 
(pp.  385-99)  carries  the  action  to  the  moment  before  the  murder.  Bl.  (lasst  noch  einmal 
das  Messer  sinken — schnell  aber  zuckt  er  es  zum  drittenmale — seine  Hand  zittert  noch — ) 
(Der  Vorhang  fallt  zu).'  The  second  (pp.  449-56)  virtually  opens  with  Blunt's  'Ja,  ich 
tab's  gethan,'  introducing  a  scene  between  him  and  his  wife  (she  reproaches  him  and  urges 
him  to  help  in  disposing  of  the  corpse) ;  Mariane  and  her  father  pay  an  early  morning 
surprise  visit ;  the  truth  comes  out,  whereupon  Blunt,  stricken  with  remorse,  demands  to 
be  condemned.  As  a  touching  finale,  his  wife  wishes  to  die  with  him,  while  Mariane  faints. 
In  the  third  instalment  (pp.  513-27)  would-be  harrowing  scenes  depict  Mariane's  stupefied 
grief  and  Blunt's  repentance ;  he  exclaims :  '  0  dass  doch  dies  alles  ein  Traum  ware  ' 
(p.  518).  Then  follow  a  few  verses  (assigned  to  no  one)  appealing  to  'holde  Phantasie '  to 
recall  the  moment  before  the  murder.  The  action  is  resumed  at  the  point  reached  by  the 
first  instalment ;  the  son  wakes  and  is  saved ;  Mariane  and  her  father  arrive  and  proclaim 
his  identity ;  Blunt  is  remorseful,  his  son  nobly  forgiving,  and  a  general  reconciliation 
concludes  the  piece.     For  a  fuller  description  see  Minor's  article. 


454  Karl Philipp  Moritz  s ' Blunt'  and  Lillo's  'Fatal  Curiosity r 

son's  thoughts  of  former  happy  days  at  home,  his  difficulty  in  restraining 

himself  from  revealing  his  identity,  and  the  detail  that  in  both  plays  it 

is  a  valuable  casket  belonging  to  the  son  which  suggests  the  thought  of 

murder.    But  the  four  further  resemblances  dismissed  by  Minor  as  of  no 

account  are  less  easy  to  accept  as  mere  coincidences.    Lillo's  play  opens 

with  a  shipwreck  from  which  Young  Wilmot  is  saved;  and  his  mother, 

not  recognising  him,  says:  'Alas!  who  knows,  But  we  were  render'd 

childless  by  some  storm'  (p.  36).    Moritz  introduces  false  news  of  the 

son's  death  by  shipwreck  to  account  for  the  belief  that  he  is  no  longer 

alive,  and  later  on  represents  him  as  the  only  survivor  of  the  wreck.    In 

both  plays  the  son  has  left  behind  him  a  fiancee  who  has  remained  true 

to  him,  whom  he  visits  before  going  to  his  parents'  house,  to  whom  he 

tells  his  intention  of  passing  himself  off  as  a  stranger  at  home,  whose 

arrival  on  the  scene  immediately  after  the  murder  brings  out  the  horrible 

truth,  and  who  faints  on  learning  what  has  happened.   In  both  plays  the 

son  intends  to  give  a  banquet  to  celebrate  his  return.   And  lastly,  in  both 

there  occurs  a  rather  curious  epithet  applied  by  the  mother  to  the  father. 

Lillo  makes  Agnes  exclaim :  'Barbarous  man!'  when  Old  Wilmot  reproves 

her  for  her  murderous  suggestion  (p.  45);  in  Blunt  Gertrud  calls  her 

husband  a  'stolzer,  barbarischer  Mann'  when  he  says  he  is  too  proud  to 

accept  help  from  his  brother  (p.  387).    Minor's  comments  on  these  are: 

Das  Motiv  des  Schiffbruches  bot  sich  von  selber  da  [rather  an  arbitrary  assump- 
tion] und  ist  auch  in  den  beiden  Stiicken  ganz  verschieden  benutzt  [as  might  be 
expected  of  Moritz]... Auch  dass  er  in  der  Heimath  eine  Braut  zuriickgelassen  hat, 
die  ihm  treu  bleibt,  ist  sehr  nahe  gelegen  ;  und  dass  diese  Braut  ihm  das  Hinaus- 
schieben  auszureden  sucht  (was  bei  Lillo  ubrigens  nur  ganz  schwach  angedeutet  ist), 
dass  sie  zuletzt  an  der  Bahre  des  Geliebten  in  Ohnmacht  fallt,  sind  gewiss  keine  weit 
hergeholten  Zuge.  Pass  der  heimgekehrte  Sohn  endlich  ein  Gastmahl  bei  den  Eltern 
geben  will,  kommt  auch  in  den  Volksliedern  vor,  denen  Moritz  ja  auch  die  Figur  der 
Schwester  verdankt  (pp.  37  f.). 

The  other  two  motives  connected  with  the  fiancee's  role  are  not  men- 
tioned, and  there  is  no  comment  on  the  verbal  parallel ;  but'Alle  diese 
Ubereinstimmungen  konnen  Moritz'  Vorrede  nicht  widerlegen.'  If  they 
stood  alone,  perhaps  not ;  though  in  the  light  of  what  we  have  seen  to 
be  Moritz's  character,  they  certainly  cast  very  serious  doubt  upon  it. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  there  are  half  a  dozen  further  instances, 
apparently  overlooked  by  Minor,  in  which  it  seems  legitimate  to  suspect 
Lillo's  influence,  (i)  The  mother  accuses  the  father  of  having  driven 
their  son  from  home.   Lillo  makes  Agnes  say : 

Barbarous  man  ! 

Whose  wasteful  riots  ruin'd  our  estate, 

And  drove  our  son,... 

To  seek  his  bread  'mongst  strangers  and  to  perish 

In  some  remote,  inhospitable  land  (p.  45). 


FRANCIS  E.  SANDBACH  455 

And  when  Blunt  asks  Gertrud:  'Wo  Hegt  er  begraben,  Weib?'  she 

replies:  'In  den  Wellen  des  Meeres,  Bosewicht,  du  verstiessest  ihn — 

weil   du  arm  wurdest — Armuth  und   Noth   hatte   er  gerne  mit  uns 

getragen,  und  du  hast  ihn  verstossen !'  (p.  387)1. 

(ii)  The  son  rejoices  over  his  present  complete  happiness  after  all 

his  wanderings  and  troubles,  for  his  betrothed  has  remained  true  and 

his  parents  are  still  alive.     Young  Wilrnot  says  to  Chariot : 

My  joy's  compleat  ! 
My  parents  living,  and  possess'd  of  thee  ! — 
From  this  blest  hour,  the  happiest  of  my  life, 
I'll  date  my  rest.     My  anxious  hopes  and  fears, 
My  weary  travels,  and  my  dangers  past, 
Are  now  rewarded  all :  now  I  rejoice 
In  my  success,  and  count  my  riches  gain... 
No  more  shall  cruel  want,  or  proud  contempt, 
Oppress  the  sinking  spirits,  or  insult 
The  hoary  heads  of  those  who  gave  me  being  (p.  30). 

And  '  Der  Fremde '  soliloquises : 

Schlaft  wohl,  gute  Eltern,  noch  diese  Nacht,  auf  euren  harten  Betten,  und  in 
eurer  schlechten  Wohnung  !  bald  sollt  ihr  besser  schlafen,  und  besser  wohnen — Sind 
nun  nicht  alle,  alle  die  Wiinsche  meines  Herzens  erfiillt  ? — Mariane  !  du  willst  die 
Gefahrtin  meines  Lebens  werden,  und  meine  Eltern  leben  beide  noch,  das  war  ia 
alles,  was  ich  wahrend  meiner  langen  Wanderschaft  wunschte  und  hoffte — O  es  giebt 
doch  noch  frohe  Tag'  im  Leben,  und  nun  fangt  es  erst  an,  mir  wieder  lieb  zu  werden 
— Wie  manchen  Kummer,  wie  manche  angstliche  Besorgniss  wird  mir  der  morgende 
Tag  belohnen  ?  (p.  392). 

(iii)  The  son,  about  to  rest,  regrets  his  deception  and  considers  how 

the  fact  that  he  is  their  son  may  be  broken  gently  to  his  parents.    Young 

Wilmot  says  aside  : 

How  has  my  curiosity  betray'd  me 

Into  superfluous  pain  !  I  faint  with  fondness  ; 

And  shall,  if  I  stay  longer,  rush  upon  'em 

Till  their  souls,  transported  with  the  excess 

Of  pleasure  and  surprise,  quit  their  frail  mansions, 

And  leave  'em  breathless  in  my  longing  arms. 

By  circumstances  then  and  slow  degrees, 

They  must  be  let  into  a  happiness 

Too  great  for  them  to  bear  at  once  and  live. 

That  Chariot  will  perform  :  I  need  not  feign 

To  ask  an  hour  for  rest  (p.  39). 

'  Der  Fremde '  soliloquises : 

Mein  Vater  ! — wie  mir  das  Wort  auf  der  Zunge  erstarb,  als  ich  es  aussprechen 
wollte — Mein  Vater  !....  Itzt hatte  ich  mich  ihm  entdecken  sollen — aber  warum  denn 

itzt  ? Ich  will  nun  mit  den  frolicheu  Gedanken  einschlafen,  wie  ich  mich  morgen 

meinen  Eltern  nach  und  nach  zu  erkennen  geben  werde — erstlich  will  ich  ihnen  den 
Irrthum  zu  benehmen  suchen,  als  ob  ihr  Sohn  todt  ware... bis  sie  endlich  fragen,  wo 

1  It  will  be  noticed  that  this  page  contains  three  suggestions  ot  indebtedness  to  Lillo, 
two  of  them  being  reminiscent  of  Agnes's  speech  beginning  on  p.  45.  Similarly  Blunt, 
p.  397,  reminds  us  of  Lillo  in  almost  every  line. 


456  Karl  Philipp  Moritz's  'Blunt'  and Lillo's  'Fatal  Curiosity' 

ist  unser  Sohn,  wo  ist  unser  Wilhelm  I1  und  ich  ihnen  dann  um  den  Hals  falle,  und 
sage  :  ich  bins  !  ich  bins  !  (p.  397). 

(iv)  The  son  believes  that  Heaven  has  blessed  him  with  wealth  on 

purpose  that  he  may  rescue  his  parents  from  their  poverty.     When 

Kandal,  the  dismissed  servant,  begins  to  tell  Young  Wilmot  of  their 

sad  state,  the  latter  says : 

I've  heard  it  all,  and  hasten  to  relieve  'em : 

Sure  heaven  hath  bless'd  me  to  that  very  end : 

I've  wealth  enough  ;  nor  shalt  thou  want  a  part  (p.  33). 

And  'Der  Fremde'  prays:  'Vernimm  meinen  Dank,  dass  du  mich  so 
reichlich  gesegnet  hast,  damit  ich  dieienigen  glucklich  machen  kann, 
die  meinem  Herzen  so  nahe  sind '  (p.  397). 

(v)  After  the  discovery  that  the  murdered  stranger  is  his  son,  the 
father  feels  his  crime  to  be  one  that  should  forfeit  even  God's  mercy. 
Old  Wilmot,  who  has  stabbed  himself,  replies  to  Randal's  'May  all  your 
woes  end  here  !'  with 

0  would  they  end 
A  thousand  ages  hence,  I  then  would  suffer 
Much  less  than  I  deserve  (pp.  52  f.). 
Blunt : 

Erbarme  dich  meiner  nicht,  du  gerechter  Gott  im  Himmel,  in  meiner  letzten 
Todesstunde,  und  sende  keinen  Tropfen  Lindrung  in  meine  Seele,  wenn  der  Angst- 
schweiss  vor  meiner  Stirne  steht.  Schleudre  mich  in  den  tiefsten  Abgrund  der  Holle 
hinunter,  und  vergieb  mir  die  Menge  meiner  Siinden  nicht !  (pp.  455  f.). 

(vi)  Lillo  causes  Agnes,  the  mother,  who  had  instigated  the  crime, 
to  say  with  her  last  breath  : 

To  give  thee  life  for  life,  and  blood  for  blood, 

Is  not  enough.     Had  I  ten  thousand  lives, 

I'd  give  them  all  to  speak  my  penitence  (p.  51). 

In  Moritz's  play  the  whole  responsibility  for  the  crime  is  the  father's, 
and  he  says:  'Ach  konnt'  ich  mein  fliessendes  JBlut  in  deine  Adern 
giessen — und  wenn  ich  zehn  Leben  hatte,  mit  Freuden  wollt'  ich  sie 
hingeben'  (p.  517). 

There  is  still  one  more  parallel  worth  noting,  which  Minor  mentions 
in  connection  with  the  'vage  Vermuthung'  that  Moritz  may  have  had 
his  attention  drawn  to  The  Fatal  Curiosity  and  its  lack  of  success  on  the 

1  This  is  the  first  mention  of  the  son's  name.  The  only  other  passage  in  which  he  is 
named  is  a  short  speech  by  Mariane  near  the  end  of  the  play  (p.  514),  where  she  twice 
refers  to  him  as  Carl.  In  his  account  of  the  alterations  made  by  Moritz  in  the  second 
version  of  his  play,  Minor  says  :  •  Wilhelm  (so  heisst  der  verschollene  Liebhaber  jetzt  wie 
in  Burgers  "  Leonore  "  und  mit  Anklang  an  den  englischen  Namen  Wilmot).'  Presumably 
he  had  not  noticed  the  occurrence  of  this  name  in  the  first  version.  Similarity  of  names 
is  of  comparatively  little  importance  ;  but  it  may  be  observed  that  in  addition  to  the  use  of 
the  name  Blunt  (from  George  Barnwell)  and  this  resemblance  of  Wilhelm  to  Wilmot,  the 
name  Mariane  might  have  been  suggested  by  Lillo,  with  whom  the  similar  name  Maria 
seems  to  have  been  a  favourite.     He  uses  it  also  in  George  Barnwell  and  Arden  of  Fevertkam. 


FRANCIS  E.  SANDBACH  457 

English  stage,  before  the  third  instalment  of  the  first  version  of  Blunt 
appeared  in  print.  In  both  plays  the  son  awakens  at  the  last  moment. 
Young  Wilmot,  on  receiving  the  fatal  blow,  cries  out:  'O  father!  father!' 
(p.  48);  while  'Der  Fremde,'  opening  his  eyes  to  find  his  father  standing 
over  him  with  uplifted  knife,  says  with  trembling  voice:  'Mein  Vater!' 
(p.  519),  and  thus  causes  the  moment's  hesitation  in  which  Blunt 
abandons  his  intention  of  murder.  In  view  of  the  parallels  noticed 
before,  the  majority  of  which  occur  in  the  first  instalment,  i.e.,  in  just 
over  fourteen  small  pages,  it  is  more  likely  that  we  have  here  one  more 
borrowed  plume,  trimmed  to  the  borrower's  taste. 

The  cumulative  weight  of  all  this  evidence,  against  which  there  is 
only  Moritz's  own  statement  to  be  set,  justifies  the  conclusion  that 
Minor's  view  must  be  abandoned  and  the  older  theory  of  Lillo's  influence 
on  Moritz  once  more  accepted. 

Francis  E.  Sandbach. 

Birmingham. 


THE  GENESIS  OF  WAGNER'S  DRAMA 
'TANNHAUSER.' 

In  his  Mein  Leben  Wagner  describes  the  origins  of  Tannhauser  in 

a  passage  which  is  largely  a  reproduction  of  what  he  had  already  said 

in  Eine  Mitiheilung  an  meine  Freunde1 : 

Diesen  Stoff  hatte  mir  ein  zufallig  mir  in  die  Hand  gerathenes  Volksbuch  vom 
Venusberg  eingegeben.  Hatte  ich  im  unwillkiirlichen  Drange  dem,  was  ich  als 
deutsch  rait  immer  innigerer  Warme  sehnsiichtig  zu  erfassen  suchte,  mich  immer 
mehr  zugewandt,  so  ging  mir  diess  hier  plotzlich  in  der  einfachen,  auf  das  bekannte 
alte  Lied  vom  Tannhauser  begriindeten  Darstellung  dieser  Sage  auf.  Zwar  kannte 
ich  alle  zu  ihr  gehorigen  Elemente  bereits  durch  Tieck's  Erzahlung  in  seinem  Phan- 
tasus;  doch  hatte  mich  diese  Fassung  des  Gegenstandes  mehr  auf  das  phantastische, 
friiher  durch  Hoffmann  in  mir  begriindete  Gebiet  zuriickgefiihrt,  und  keineswegs 
hatte  ich  dieser  vollstandig  ausgebildeten  Erzahlung  den  Stoff  zu  einer  dramatischen 
Arbeit  zu  entnehmen  mich  verleitet  fuhlen  kbnnen.  Was  allerdings  dem  Volksbuch 
sogleich  nach  dieser  Seite  hin  ein  grosses  Ubergewicht  bei  mir  gab,  war,  dass  Tann- 
hauser hier,  wenn  auch  nur  durch  sehr  fliichtige  Bezeichnung,  mit  dem  Sangerkrieg 
auf  Wartburg  in  Verbindung  gesetzt  war.  Auch  diesen  kannte  ich  bereits  durch 
eine  Jloffmann'sche  Erzahlung  in  dessen  '  Serapionsbriidern ' ;  nur  fiihlte  ich,  dass 
der  alte  Stoff  hier  sehr  entstellt  dem  Dichter  aufgegangen  war,  und  suchte  nun  mir 
naheren  Aufschluss  iiber  die  achte  Gestalt  dieser  anziehenden  Sage  zu  verschaffen. 
Da  brachte  mir  Lehrs  ein  Jahresheft  der  Konigsberger  deutschen  Gesellschaft,  in 
welchem  Luhas  den  '  Wartburgkrieg '  kritisch  naher  behandelte,  namentlich  auch 
den  Text  davon  in  der  Ursprache  gab.  Trotzdem  ich  von  dieser  achten  Fassung  fur 
meine  Absicht  materiell  so  gut  wie  gar  nichts  benutzen  konnte,  zeigte  er  mir  doch 
das  deutsche  Mittelalter  in  einer  pragnanten  Farbe,  von  welcher  ich  bis  dahin  keine 
Ahnung  erhalten  hatte. 

One  difficulty  in  accepting  this  statement  has  always  been  recognised : 
no  Volksbuch  of  Der  Venusberg  or  Tannhauser  is  known  to  exist2.  But 
it  will,  I  think,  be  seen  that  in  other  respects  Wagner's  words  bear 
witness  to  the  fallibility  of  his  memory,  even  in  1851,  when  the  Mit- 
iheilung was  written. 

The  sources  of  Wagner's  drama  are,  in  the  first  instance,  the  story 
entitled  Der  Kampf  der  Sanger  in  the  second  volume  of  Hoffmann's 
Serapionsbrilder  (1819),  and  an  indifferent  '  Dichterspiel,'  Der  Sanger- 
krieg auf  der  Wartburg,  published  by  Friedrich  de  la  Motte  Fouque  in 
1828.  A  consideration  of  his  use  of  these  two  works  shows  that  the  first 
conception  of  Wagner's  drama  was  not  a  Tannhauser  at  all,  but  a  Sanger- 

1  R.  Wagner,  Mein  Leben,  Munich,  1911,  i,  pp.  254  f.;  Eine  Mitiheilung,  in  Gesammelte 
Schriften  und  Dichtungen,  2nd  ed.,  Leipzig,  1887,  iv,  p.  269.  The  present  paper  is  an 
elaboration  of  views  expressed  in  a  course  of  public  lectures  on  Wagner  as  Poet  and  Thinker, 
which  I  held  at  Bedford  College,  University  of  London,  in  the  spring  of  the  present  year. 

2  P.  Riesenfeld  (Heinrich  von  Ofterdingen  in  der  deutschen  Literatur,  Berlin,  1912, 
p.  85)  suggests  that  Wagner  was  thinking  of  Ludwig  Bechstein's  Der  Sagenschatz  xind  die 
Sagenkreise  des  Thilringer  Landes,  Hildburghausen,  1835.  But  Bechstein  merely  mentions 
(i,  p.  137)  the  fact  that  Tannhauser  had  been  invited  to  the  Wartburg  by  the  Landgraf. 


J.  G.  ROBERTSON  459 

krieg  auf  Wartburg,  the  hero  of  which  was  Heinrich  von  Ofterdingen. 

I  deal  first  with  Hoffmann's  story1. 

One  spring  night,  when  the  wind  is  howling  round  the  house,  the 

narrator,  Cyprian,  poring  at  his  fire  over  Wagenseil's  old  book  on  the 

art  of  the  Mastersingers,  has  a  dream.    He  sees  himself  in  a  forest. 

Der  Morgenwind  erhob  sich,  und  bahnte,  das  Gewolk  vor  sich  her  aufrollend, 
dem  hellen  lieblichen  Sonnenschein  den  Weg,  der  bald  auf  alien  griinen  Blattern 
flimmerte  und  die  schlafenden  Vogelein  weckte,  die  in  frohlichem  Trilleriren  von 
Zweig  zu  Zweig  flatterten  und  hiipften.   Da  erschallte  von  feme  her  lustiges  Horner- 

getbn Die  Horner  schwiegen,  aber  nun  erhoben  sich  Harfenklange  und  Stimmen 

so  herrlich  zusammentonend,  wie  die  Musik  des  Himmels.  Immer  naher  und  naher 
kam  der  liebliche  Gesang,  Jager,  die  Jagdspiesse  in  den  Handen,  die  blanken  Jagd- 
horner  um  die  Schulter  gehangt,  ritten  hervor  aus  der  Tiefe  des  Waldes2. 

Wagenseil  now  appears  to  the  dreamer  in  person  and  explains  to  him 
who  the  gay  company  is.  The  stately  gentleman  in  the  princely  mantle 
is  the  Landgraf  Hermann  von  Thiiringen ;  the  lady  is  the  Grafin  Mathilde 
von  Falkenstein,  a  young  widow  at  his  court ;  their  companions  are  the 
joyous  Minnesinger  Walther  von  der  Vogelweid,  Reinhard  von  Zwekh- 
stein,  Heinrich  Schreiber,  Johannes  Bitterolff,  and,  a  courtly  knight  with 
blue  eyes  on  a  milk-white  steed  at  Mathilde's  side,  Wolfframb  von 
Eschinbach.  But  there  is  another  in  the  company,  a  pale  youth  with 
flaming  eyes  and  a  face  distorted  as  if  by  pain,  Heinrich  von  Ofterdingen. 
Round  Ofterdingen  is  a  mystery  which  even  the  Landgraf  fails  to  solve ; 
he  is  melancholy  and  unhappy ;  his  songs  are  of  unsatisfied  longing  and 
death  ;  his  brother  singers  are  filled  with  pity  for  him.  To  none  of  these 
is  Ofterdingen  drawn  as  to  Wolfframb,  and  Wolfframb  '  erwiederte  dies 
aus  dem  tiefsten  Grunde  seines  Gemuths '  (p.  30).  Wolfframb  succeeds 
in  discovering  Heinrich's  secret:  he  is  eating  out  his  heart  for  the 
Grafin  Mathilde3,  the  Mathilde  whom  Wolfframb  himself  loves.  He 
suggests,  by  way  of  consolation,  that  Heinrich  might  just  as  easily  win 
Mathilde's  favour  by  his  songs,  as  he  himself  had  won  it  (p.  33). 

One  evening,  when  wandering  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Wartburg, 
Ofterdingen  is  suddenly  confronted  by  a  devil,  who  tells  him  that  he 
and  his  fellow-singers  have  no  idea  of  the  deeper  sources  of  their  art ; 
he  bids  Ofterdingen  seek  out  the  magician  Meister  Klingsohr  in  Sieben- 
burgen,  who  will  teach  him  how  to  win  honour,  riches,  women's  favour, 

1  There  is  a  comparison  of  Tannhauser  with  Der  Kampfder  Sanger  in  W.  Golther,  Zur 
deutschen  Sage  und  Dichtung,  Leipzig,  1914,  pp.  49  ff.  Some  points  where  I  am  indebted 
to  Golther  are  noted  below. 

2  In  the  edition  of  Hoffmann's  Samtliche  Werke  by  C.  G.  von  Maasen,  vi,  Munich, 
1912,  p.  23.   Cp.  Tannhauser,  Act  i,  sc.  iv. 

3  In  his  confession  to  Wolfframb  Heinrich  says  (p.  32) :  'Da  fuhr  ein  funkelnder  Blitz 
durch  die  Finsterniss,  und  ich  schrie  laut  auf :  Mathilde ! — Ich  war  erwacht,  der  Traum 
verrauscht.'   Golther  (p.  50)  compares  Tannhauser,  259  :  'Bleib'  bei  Elisabeth! ' 


460      The  Genesis  of  Wagner  s  Drama  '  Tannhauser ' 

Mathilde  herself.  Ofterdingen  suddenly  disappears,  and  he  is  mourned 
for  as  dead ;  '  nun  erst  zeigte  sich  recht,  wie  sie  ihn  alle  geliebt  trotz 
seines  zerrissenen  oft  bis  zur  hohnenden  Bitterkeit  miirrischen  Wesens ' 
(p.  42).  In  the  following  spring  he  returns  from  Siebenburgen1  as  un- 
expectedly as  he  had  disappeared.  He  is  welcomed  by  his  brother 
singers.  'Mit  freudigem  Erschrecken  erkannten  alle  in  ihm  den  verloren 
geglaubten  Heinrich  von  Ofterdingen.  Die  Meister  gingen  auf  ihn  zu 
mit  freundlichen,  herzlichen  Griissen  '  (p.  42) 2.  He  is  entirely  changed ; 
his  melancholy  has  disappeared.    He  takes  part  in  a  singing  contest : 

Er  wiirdigte  die  Meister  keines  Wortes,  sondern  setzte  sich  schweigend  auf  seinen 
Platz.  Wahrend  die  andern  sangen,  sah  er  in  die  Wolken3,  schob  sich  auf  dem  Sitz 
hin  und  her,  zahlte  an  den  Fingern,  gahnte,  kurz  bezeigte  auf  alle  nur  mogliche  Weise 
Unmuth  und  Langeweile.  Wolfframb  von  Eschinbach  sang  ein  Lied  zum  Lobe  des 
Landgrafen,  und  kam  dann  auf  die  Ruckkehr  des  verloren  geglaubten  Freundes,  die 
er  so  recht  aus  dem  tiefsten  Gemtith  schilderte,  dass  sich  alle  innig  geriihrt  fiihlten. 
Heinrich  von  Ofterdingen  runzelte  aber  die  Stirn  und  nahm,  sich  von  Wolfframb 
abwendend,  die  Laute,  auf  ihr  einige  wunderbare  Akkorde  anschlagend.  Er  stellte 
sich  in  die  Mitte  des  Kreises,  und  begann  ein  Lied,  dessen  Weise  so  ganz  anders  als 
alles,  was  die  andern  gesungen,  so  unerhort  war,  dass  alle  in  die  grosste  Verwunde- 
rung,  ja  zuletzt  in  das  hochste  Erstaunen  geriethen.  Es  war,  als  schluge  er  mit 
seinen  gewaltigen  Tbnen  an  die  dunklen  Pforten  eines  fremden  verhangnissvollen 
Keichs,  und  beschwore  die  Geheimnisse  der  unbekannten  dort  hausenden  Macht 
herauf.  Dann  rief  er  die  Gestirne  an,  und  indem  seine  Lautentone  leiser  lispelten, 
glaubte  man  der  Spharen  klingenden  Reigen  zu  vernehmen.  Nun  rauschten  die 
Akkorde  starker,  und  gliihende  Dufte  wehten  daher,  und  Bilder  uppigen  Liebes- 
gliicks  flammten  in  dem  aufgegangenen  Eden  aller  Lust.  Jeder  fiihlte  sein  Inneres 
erbeben  in  seltsamen  Schauern.  Als  Ofterdingen  geendet,  war  alles  in  tiefem 
Schweigen  verstummt,  aber  dann  brach  der  jubelnde  Beifall  sturmisch  hervor.  Die 
Dame  Mathilde  erhob  sich  schnell  von  ihrem  Sitz,  trat  auf  Ofterdingen  zu,  und 
druckte  ihm  den  Kranz  auf  die  Stirne,  den  sie  als  Preis  des  Gesanges  in  der  Hand 
getragen  (pp.  43  f.)4. 

It  is  needless  to  point  out  how  much  all  this  has  meant  for  the  final 
scene  of  Wagner's  first  act  and  for  his  second  act.  He  has  modified  the 
situation,  in  so  far  as  he  implies  that  Heinrich  had  won  Mathilde's 
affection  before  his  departure,  and  that  his  arrogant  outburst,  after  his 
offensive  praise  of  the  Duke  of  Austria,  described  by  Hoffmann  later, 
also  preceded  that  event5.  But  several  singing  contests  are  described 
in  Hoffmann's  confused  tale,  and  in  planning  his  second  act,  Wagner 
combined  that  which  I  have  quoted  with  the  more  elaborate  final  con- 
test, which  takes  place  before  '  thousands  of  spectators.'    Here  lots  are 

1  Tannhauser,  244 :  'Ich  wanderte  in  weiter,  weiter  Feme.'  Also  346:  'Fern  von  hier, 
in  weiten,  weiten  Landen.' 

2  Ibid.,  237  ff. 

3  In  Wagner  he  '  scheint  sich  in  Traumereien  zu  verlieren  '  (461). 

4  One  might  say  that  it  was  of  this  song  Elisabeth  is  thinking  when  she  says 
(Tannhauser,  366  ff.) :  'Doch  welch'  ein  seltsam  neues  Leben  rief  euer  Lied  mir  in  die 
Brust ! '  etc.  Cp.  also  Wolfram  (268  ff.) :  '  Als  du  in  kuhnem  Sange,'  etc.  In  his  treatment 
of  the  singing  contest  Wagner  has  probably,  as  will  be  seen,  been  influenced  by  Baupach. 

8  Tannhauser,  231  f. :  '  den  Kreis,  den  du  in  Hochmuth  stolz  verliessest. ' 


J.  G.  ROBERTSON  461 

drawn,  and  it  falls  to  Wolfframb  to  open  the  contest1.  To  heighten  the 
colour  of  the  scene,  Wagner  borrowed  from  a  later  episode  in  Hoffmann's 
tale,  where  the  devil  Nasias  is  sent  to  Wolfframb  by  Klingsohr.  Nasias 
sings  to  him  '  ein  Lied  von  der  schonen  Helena  und  von  den  uberschwen- 
glichen  Freuden  des  Venusbergs.'  But  Wolfframb,  rememberingMathilde, 
'  hatte  nichts  vernommen  von  dem  Gesang  des  Bosen ;  als  dieser  aber 
nun  schwieg,  begann  Wolfframb  ein  Lied,  das  in  den  herrlichsten,  ge- 
waltigsten  Tonen  die  Himmelsseligkeit  der  reinen  Liebe  des  frommen 
Sangers  pries '  (p.  62).  In  the  final  contest  Wolfframb,  to  his  horror, 
hears  Heinrich  repeat  the  song  which  Nasias  had  sung  to  him ;  again, 
however,  the  vision  of  Mathilde  presents  itself  to  him,  and  he  wins  the 
prize.    Heinrich  disappears  in  a  cloud  of  smoke. 

The  end  of  Der  Kampf  der  Sanger  is  that  Wolfframb  receives  a 
letter  from  Heinrich,  who  subsequently  rises  to  high  honour  at  the 
Austrian  court,  thanking  him  for  having  saved  him.  'An  dem  Rande 
des  Abgrundes  stand  ich,  und  Du  hieltst  mich  fest,  als  schon  verderbliche 
Schwindel  mich  betaubten.  Dein  schoner  Sieg  ist  es,  der,indem  er  Deinen 
Gegner  vernichtete,  mich  dem  frohen  Leben  wiedergab '  (p.  72).  Thus 
the  ultimate  motive  of  Hoffmann's  story  is  one  that  was  particularly 
dear  to  Wagner's  heart,  '  Erlosung ' ;  but  the  '  Erloser '  is  here,  not  the 
woman  Heinrich  loves,  but  Wolfframb. 

Before  leaving  Der  Kampf  der  Sanger,  it  is  worth  noting  that  the 
opening  of  Wagner's  third  act  may  have  been  suggested  by  Hoffmann's 
scene  where  Mathilde  returns  to  Wolfframb : 

Die  Grafin  Mathilde  hatte  sich  indessen  nach  dem  Garten  der  Wartburg  begeben, 
und  Wolfframb  von  Eschinbach  war  ihr  dahin  nachgefolgt.  Als  er  sie  nun  fand,  wie 
sie  unter  schonen  bliihenden  Baumen  auf  einer  blumigen  Rasenbank  sass,  die  Hande 
auf  dem  Schooss  gefaltet,  das  schone  Haupt  in  Schwermuth  niedergesenkt  zur  Erde, 
da  warf  er  sich  der  holden  Frau  zu  Fiissen,  keines  Wortes  machtig  (p.  70). 

She  believes  that  she  has  been  the  victim  of  an  evil  dream,  and  seeks 
his  forgiveness.  Lastly,  Wolfram's  song  to  the  evening  star  in  Tann- 
hduser  was  also  suggested  by  more  than  one  passage  in  Hoffmann2. 

1  '  Darauf  trat  der  Marschall  vor  die  Meister  hin  mit  einem  silbernen  Gefass,  aus  dem 
jeder  ein  Los  Ziehen  musste  '  (p.  68) ;  Wagner,  460  :  '  Vier  Edelknaben...sammeln  in  einem 
goldenen  Bechervon  jedem  der  Sanger  seinen  auf  einBlattchen  geschriebenen  Namen  ein.' 
Cp.  W.  Golther,  op.  cit.,  p.  51;  he  also  points  out  that  Wolfram's  song  (462  ff.):  'Blick' 
ich  umher '  has  been  suggested  by  Hoffmann's  words  (pp.  39  f.) :  '  Gewiss,  vielgeliebter 
Leser !  befandest  du  dich  einmal  in  einem  Kreise,  der,  von  holden  Frauen,  sinnvollen 
Mannern  gebildet,  ein  schoner,  von  den  verschiedensten  in  Duft  und  Farbenglanz  mitein- 
ander  wetteifernden  Blumen  geflochtener  Kranz  zu  nennen.' 

2  Hoffmann,  pp.  26  f. :  '  Da  stieg  ein  in  milchweissem  Licht  herrlich  funkelnder  Stern 
empor  aus  der  Tiefe  und  wandelte  daher  auf  der  Himmelsbahn,  und  ihm  nach  zogen  die 
Meister  auf  glanzenden  Wolken,  singend  und  ihr  Saitenspiel  riihrend.'  Also  p.  28.  Cp. 
Tannhauser,  759  ff.;  also  470,  564. 

M.L.R.  XVIII.  30 


462       The  Genesis  of  Wagner  s  Drama  '  Tannhduser ' 

The  value  of  Wagner's  second  source,  Fouque's  'Dichterspiel/1  for  his 
purposes  was  twofold.  It  suggested  the  structure  of  his  second  act,  and, 
more  particularly,  the  part  which  Elisabeth  plays  in  it.  Fouque's  '  erste 
Abentheure' — it  is  preceded  by  a  'Vorspiel' — opens  with  a  scene  in  the 
Wartburg  garden  between  Heinrich  and  Sophia  Biterolf  with  whom  he 
is  in  love.  There  is,  however,  little  love  story  in  the  play,  which  keeps 
closely  to  its  source ;  and  the  character  of  Sophia  Biterolf  is  without 
significance.  In  the  subsequent  singing  contest  Heinrich  falls  into  dis- 
favour by  his  praise  of  the  Duke  of  Austria,  and  in  his  anger  draws  his 
sword2.  The  company  adjourns  to  the  hall  of  the  castle,  where  the 
Landgrafin  Sophia  interposes  :  like  Elisabeth,  she  takes  Heinrich  under 
her  protection:  'Derweil  bleibt  Ihr  in  meinem  Schutz '  (p.  96)3.  As  a 
consequence  of  her  pleading,  the  Landgraf  grants  Ofterdingen  a  respite, 
banishing  him  from  the  Wartburg  for  a  year : 

Fiir  eines  Jahreswechsels  Frist 
Gonn'  ich  zu  seinem  schwier'gen  Werk  dem  Pilgrim  Raum. 
Kehrt  er  zum  Wartburgschlosse  bis  dahin  nicht  heim, 
So  acht'  ihn  der  Altsassen  furchtbar  Sangesrecht. 
Bis  dahin  ruh's,  und  schweig'  davon  auch  das  Geriicht4.    (pp.  106  f.) 

The  reference  to  Heinrich  as  a  '  pilgrim '  may  have  provided  Wagner 

with  a  hint.    Heinrich,  however,  does  not  pilgrimage  here  to  Rome,  but 

to  Klingsohr  in  Siebenburgen.    The  scene  continues  as  follows,  clearly 

suggesting  the  end  of  Wagner's  second  act : 

Heinrich.  Gern  will  ich  in  die  Fremde  wallen5 ! 

Doch  wallt  zum  Ileil  der  Pilgrim  nicht, 

Auf  welchen  Zornesstrahlen  fallen 

Von  edlem  Stern,  sonst  lieb  und  licht. 

Lasst,  hohe  Herrin,  Euern  Seegen 

Mit  mir.... 
Landgrafin.       Vorhin  schon  hab'  ich's  Euch  gesprochen, 

Bedrangter  Sangmann:  geht  mit  Gott!... 

Gott  mit  Euch !    Demuth  Euerm  Muth6 ! 
Heinrich.  Hold  sprach  und  ernst  mein  Engelsrichter7. 

Getrost  beginn'  ich  fernen  Lauf. 
Landgraf.         Mit  Gott,  Bedrangt'ster  aller  Dichter ! 

Wagner  has  also  taken  over  traits  from  the  final  singing  contest, 

which  is  represented  in  Fouque's  second  'Abentheure.'    The   formal 

preparations  for  the  '  Turnier '  were  of  use  to  him  : 

1  The  drama  is  described  at  length  by  P.  Eiesenfeld,  op.  cit.,  pp.  190  ff.  Attention  has 
already  been  drawn  to  the  fact  that  Wagner  was  influenced  by  Fouque,  by  Koch  and  others; 
but  the  nature  of  his  indebtedness  has  not  been  defined.  A  memory  of  this  play  in  Wagner 
may  be  traced,  I  think,  as  late  as  Parsifal. 

2  Cp.  Tannhauser,  542 ff.  3  Ibid.,  600 ff.  4  Ibid.,  640 ff. 
8  Ibid.,  683  :  '  Doch  will  ich  biissend  wallen.' 

6  Ibid.,  692  :  '  in  Demuth  siihnet  eure  Schuld  !  ' 

7  Ibid.,  687 f. :  '  O,  dass  nur  er  versohnet,  der  Engel  meiner  Noth.'  Cp.  621  and  below, 
p.  463,  note  3. 


J.  G.  ROBERTSON  463 

Trompetenstoss.  Landgraf  Hermann  und  Landgrafin  Sophia  treten  auf  im  feier- 
lichen  Zuge,  vor  ihnen  her  Edelknaben  und  Hoffraulein  ;  desgleichen  in  ihrem  Gefolg. 
Sie  nehmen  Platz  auf  einem  erhoheten  Sitz.  Bald  nach  ihnen  treten  ein  die  Sanges- 
meister  Wolfram  von  Eschenbach,  Walter  von  der  Vogelweide,  Reimar  von  Zweter, 
Heinrich  der  Schreiber,  Biterolf  von  Eisenach  und  Heinrich  von  Ofterdingen.  Sie 
griissen  die  Herrschaften  mit  Kniebeugung.  Dann  nehmen  sie  auf  niedern  Sesseln 
Platz,  dem  Hochsitz  gegenuber  (p.  227) \ 

The  Landgraf  opens  the  proceedings  by  addressing  the  singers  : 

Dieweil  noch  nicht  der  Kampfesrichter  hier  erschien, 

Dem  jener  Purpursessel  auf  erhohtem  Stand 

Zum  feierlichen  Sitze  ward  bestimmt, — wohlauf, 

Ihr  Meister  des  Gesanges,  hebt  inzwischen  noch, 

Wenn's  Euch  gefallt,  ein  heitres  Rathselvorspiel  an2,   (p.  228.) 

Here,  too,  as  before,  the  Landgrafin  interposes  on  Heinrich's  behalf: 

0,  haltet  ein  mit  ungrossmuth'gem  Kampf ! 
Seht  Ihr  denn  nicht,  wie  im  verzerrten  Krampf 
Sich  des  erschreckten  Knappen  Glieder  strecken  ?... 
Getrost,  Du  Zagender!   Dich  schutzt  mein  Bitten. 
Niemand  hat  Hohn  vor  mir  noch  je  erlitten3.    (p.  235.) 

Finally,  Heinrich's  words  to  the  Landgrafin  (p.  296)  would  seem  to  have 
been  in  Wagner's  mind  when  he  wrote  the  last  scene  of  his  Tannhauser  : 

Ihr  scheint  und  seid  ein  wunderseel'ger  Engel  mir4, 
Ein  Bild,  wie's  siind'gen  Menschen  selten  nur  erscheint, 
Wohl  Manchem  an  des  Sterbelagers  Bettung  erst. 
Ich  Gliicklicher !    Im  heitern  Leben  sah  ich  Euch ! 
Ich  Seeliger !    Mit  letztem  Hauch  wohl  ahn'  ich  Euch. 
Bete  fur  Euch ;  Vertretet  mich  Euch  im  Gebet. 
Wollt  ihr  ? 

Another  literary  source  which  comes  into  question  for  the  middle 

act  of  Tannhauser  is   Raupach's   drama,  Konig   Enzio,  for  the  first 

Leipzig  performance  of  which  (February  2,  1832)  Wagner  composed 

incidental  music.    In  the  Prologue  to  that  drama  King  Enzio  proposes 

to  the  young  Bolognese  noblemen  assembled  at  his  table,  love  as  the 

theme  of  their  songs  : 

Die  Wahl  ist  sehon  getroffen  : 
Die  nachsten  Lieder  sollen  uns  belehren, 
Was  Liebe  sey.   Wir  lieben  allzumal, 
Und  Keiner  weiss,  was  Liebe  ist. 

1  Ibid.,  426  ff.:  '  Trompeten. — Grafen,  Eitter  und  Edelfrauen  in  reichem  Schmucke 
werden  durch  Edelknaben  eingefuhrt....  Die  Eitter  und  Frauen  haben  die  von  den  Edel- 
knaben ihnen  angewiesenen,  in  einem  weiten  Halbkreise  erhohten  Platze  eingenommen. 
Der  Landgraf  und  Elisabeth  nehmen  im  Vordergrunde  unter  einem  Baldachin  Ehrensitze 
ein. — Trompeten. — Die  Sanger  treten  auf  und  verneigen  sich  feierlich  mit  ritterlichem 
Grusse  gegen  die  Versammlung;  darauf  nehmen  sie... die  fur  sie  bestimmten  Platze  ein.' 
See  also  below,  p.  469.  Wagner,  it  will  be  seen,  substituted  Fouqu^'s  spelling  of  the 
proper  names — except '  Walter ' — for  Hoffmann's,  even  'Reimar,'  which  is  the  form  in  the 
early  editions  of  the  opera. 

2  Cp.  Tannhauser,  433:  '  In  weisen  Eathseln  wie  in  heit'ren  Liedern.' 

3  Ibid. ,  600  ff . 

*  Ibid.,  893 :  'Ein  Engel  bat  fur  dich  auf  Erden ' ;  also  898,  901. 

30—2 


464       The  Genesis  of  Wagners  Drama  *  Tannhduser ' 

Rainero  maintains  the  standpoint  of  Wolfram  : 

So  beten  wir  noch  jetzt  die  Frauen  an ; 
Und  dieser  Gottesdienst  1st  nun  die  Liebe. 

While  Matteo,  like  Tannhauser,  proclaims  love  to  be  '  Sinnlichkeit  und 
weiter  nichts1.' 

All  this,  it  seems  to  me,  points  convincingly  to  Wagner's  original 
conception  being  a  Sdngerkrieg  auf  Wartburg  with  Ofterdingen  as  hero. 
Subsequent  to  the  spring  of  1842,  when  he  found  Ofterdingen  identified 
with  Tannhauser  in  Lucas's  treatise,  Tiber  den  Krieg  von  Wartburg2, 
Wagner  superimposed  the  story  of  Tannhauser  on  an  original  Sanger- 
krieg auf  Wartburg,  a  process  which  is  indicated  by  the  double  title 
the  drama  still  bears3.  Internal  evidence  of  the  change  is  not  wanting; 
for  Wagner,  as  is  to  be  seen  in  his  Ring  des  Nibelungen,  was  often  care- 
less in  the  final  revision  of  his  texts.  When,  for  instance,  in  answer  to 
Elisabeth's  question  (352)  :  '  Was  war  es  dann,  das  euch  zuruckgefuhrt  ?' 
Tannhauser — and  he  still  retains  the  original  name  'Heinrich' — answers : 
'  Ein  Wunder  war's,  ein  unbegreiflich  hohes  Wunder,'  he  was  not  origin- 
ally thinking  of  '  die  Wunder  deiner  Gnade '  (218)  whereby  he  escapes 
from  Frau  Venus's  thrall,  but  the  love  that  had  drawn  him  back  from 
'  weiten,  weiten  Landen '  to  Elisabeth. 

Den  Gott  der  Liebe  sollst  du  preisen, 
er  hat  die  Saiten  mir  beriihrt, 
er  sprach  zu  dir  aus  meinen  Weisen, 
zu  dir  hat  er  rnich  hergefuhrt.    (342  ff.) 

And  it  is  inconceivable  that  Wagner,  had  he  already  written  his  Venus- 
berg  scene,  could  have  let  his  Tannhauser  address  Elisabeth  in  words  so 
tactlessly  reminiscent  of  what  he  had  not  long  before  said  to  Venus4. 

It  has  been  seen  that  the  introduction  of  the  Venusberg  into  Wagner's 
drama  was  not  necessarily  dependent  on  the  substitution  of  Tannhauser 
for  Heinrich  von  Ofterdingen ;  it  had  already  been  suggested  by  Hoff- 
mann's Kampf  der  Sanger.  The  temptation  to  substitute  Venus  for 
Hoffmann's  Klingsohr  might  have  been  further  prompted  by  another 

1  Tannhauser,  529:  'Im  Genuss  nur  kenn'  ich  Liebe.' 

2  Historische  und  litterarisehe  Abhandlungen  der  koniglichen  deutschen  Gesellscha/t  zu 
Konigsberg,  iv,  2,  Konigsberg,  1838,  p.  270.  Beyond  this  identification,  Wagner  owes  very 
little  to  Lucas's  treatise.  This  in  itself  seems  to  support  my  contention  that  Tannhauser 
belongs  essentially  to  Wagner's  pre-Parisian  period.  Lucas  is,  however,  one  of  the  main 
sources  for  Lohengrin. 

3  As  late  as  April  7,  1843  (Letter  to  Lehrs,  published  in  the  Bayreuther  Blatter,  xxv, 
1902,  p.  181),  however,  Wagner  still  referred  to  his  work  as  Der  Venusberg.  Of  minor 
importance  is  the  question,  at  what  stage  did  Wagner's  heroine  become  Elisabeth?  The 
temptation  to  replace  '  Mathilde '  or  '  Sophia '  may  have  been  present  from  the  first ;  for 
(the  historically  later)  Saint  Elisabeth  is  referred  to  in  both  sources,  in  Hoffmann  and 
Fouque\  as  well  as  in  Lucas. 

4  Notably  Tannhauser,  55 :  •  Gepriesen  sei  dein  Lieben  ! ' 


J.  G.  ROBERTSON  465 

story  of  that  writer's  in  which  we  know  Wagner  to  have  been  interested, 

Die  Bergiuerke  zu  Falun.   It  is  the  first  volume  of  the  Serapionsbrilder, 

and  provided  Wagner,  I  believe,  with  the  first  suggestion  for  what 

ultimately  became  Der  fliegende   Hollander1.     In  the  bowels  of  the 

earth  the  hero  of  this  tale  has  an  experience  not  dissimilar  to  Tann- 

hauser's : 

Er  blickte  in  die  paradiesische  Gefilde  der  herrlichsten  Metallbaume  und  Pflanzen, 
an  denen  wie  Friichte,  Bluthen  und  Blumen  feuerstrahlende  Steine  hingen.  Er  sab. 
die  Jungfrauen,  er  schaute  das  hohe  Antlitz  der  machtigen  Konigin.  Sie  erfasste 
ibn,  zog  ihn  hinab,  driickte  ihn  an  ihre  Brust,  da  durchzuckte  ein  gliihender  Strahl 
sein  Inneres  und  sein  Bewusstseyn  war  nur  das  Gefiihl  als  schwamme  er  in  den 
Wogen  eines  blauen  durchsichtig  funkelnden  Nebels2. 

It  is,  however,  difficult  to  see  how  the  present  Venusberg  scene 

could  have  been  conceived   before   the    change  from  Ofterdingen  to 

Tannhauser  had  been  decided  upon.   At  most,  the  three  strophes  which 

Tannhauser  sings  in  praise  of  Venus,  might  have  originally  had  their 

place  in  the  Singing  Contest,  and  given  more  substantial  ground  there 

for  the  offence  Ofterdingen  causes.    The  ballad  of  Tannhauser  Wagner 

knew  from  Heine's  Elementargeister,  published  in  the  third  volume  of 

the  Salon  (1837).    It  is  quoted  here  from  Des  Knaben  Wunderhorn,  and 

Heine  appends  his  own  Tannhauser  ballad.     From  his  characteristic 

comment  I  quote  the  following  : 

Eine  Weile  lang  geht's  gut.  Aber  der  Mensch  ist  nicht  immer  aufgelegt  zum 
Lachen,  er  wird  manchraal  still  und  ernst  und  denkt  zuriick  in  die  Vergangenheit ; 
denn  die  Vergangenheit  ist  die  eigentliche  Heimath  seiner  Seele,  und  es  erfasst  ihn 
ein  Heimweh  nach  den  Gefiihlen,  die  er  einst  empfunden  hat,  und  seien  es  auch 
Gefiihle  des  Schmerzes3. 

It  has,  however,  been  pointed  out4  that  Tannhauser's  motive  for  re- 
turning to  the  world  in  Wagner  is  not  the  repentance  of  the  ballad ; 
and  it  is  more  than  Heine's :  '  Ich  schmachte  nach  Bitternissen.'  His 
yearning  is  to  see  the  sky  and  the  stars,  meadow  and  cornfield,  to  smell 
the  forest  and  hear  the  nightingale.  This  motive — if  it  is  necessary  to 
seek  a  suggestion  for  it — is  to  be  found  in  another  story  of  the  Romantic 
age,  which  must  be  regarded  as  the  main  source  of  Wagner's  Venusberg, 
Ludwig  Tieck's  Der  getreue  Eckart  und  der  Tannenhauser,  published  in 
his  Romantische  Dichtungen  (1799)  and  subsequently  in  Phantasus  (1812). 
Tannenhauser's  friend,  Friedrich  von  Wolfsburg,  meets  him  as  a  pilgrim 
after  his  long  disappearance,  and  learns  that  he  has  been  in  Rome.  He 
is  induced  to  tell  his  story. 

1  It  is  interesting  to  note  Wagner's  indebtedness  in  the  case  of  both  operas  to  Heine. 

2  Ausgewahlte  Schriften,  Berlin,  1827,  i,  p.  257.  Cp.  Wagner's  own  description  of  this 
scene  in  his  sketch,  Die  Bergwerke  zu  Falun,  Schriften,  xi,  1911,  p.  131. 

3  Samtliche  Werke,  ed.  E.  Elster,  iv,  p.  429.  Cp.  Tannhauser,  46:  '  Aus  Freuden  sehn' 
ich  mich  nach  Schmerzen.' 

4  E.  Elster,  Tannhauser  in  Geschichte,  Sage  und  Dichtung,  Bromberg,  1908,  p.  20. 


466       The  Genesis  of  Wagner's  Drama  'Tannhduser' 

Der  Tannenhauser  verbarg  sein  Haupt  im  griinen  Grase,  und  reiehte  unter 
lautem  Schluchzen  seinem  Freunde  abgewandt  die  rechte  Hand,  die  dieser  zartlich 
driickte.  Der  triibselige  Pilgrim  richtete  sich wieder  auf,  und  begann  seine  Erzahlung1. 

He  describes  at  great  length  his  unhappy  love2  and  how  the  devil  shows 
him  the  way  to  the  Venusberg.  He  pushes  past  the  warning  Eckart 
and  makes  his  way  into  the  mountain. 

Alsbald  vernahm  ich  Musik,  aber  eine  ganz   andre,  als  bis  dahin  zu  meinem 

Gehor  gedrungen  war,  meine  Geister  in  mir  arbeiteten  den  Tonen  entgegen So 

kam  mir  das  Gewimmel  der  frohen  heidnischen  Gotter  entgegen,  Frau  Venus  an 

ihrer  Spitze,  alle  begrussten  mich Alle  Freuden,  die  die  Erde  beut,  genoss  und 

schmeckte  ich  hier  in  ihrer  vollsten  Bliithe,  unersattlich  war  mein  Busen  und  un- 
endlich  der  Genuss.  Die  beriihmten  Schonheiten  der  alten  Welt  waren  zugegen,  was 
mein  Gedanke  wiinschte  war  in  meinem  Besitz,  eine  Trunkenheit  folgte  der  andren, 
mit  jedem  Tage  schien  um  mich  her  die  Welt  in  bunteren  Farben  zu  brennen. 
Strome  des  kostlichsten  Weines  loschten  den  grimmen  Durst,  und  die  holdseligsten 

Gestalten  gaukelten  dann  in  der  Luft Wie  viele  Jahre  so  verschwunden  sind, 

weiss  ich  nicht  zu  sagen  :  denn  hier  gab  es  keine  Zeit  und  keine  Unterschiede3,  in 
den  Blumen  brannte  der  Madchen  und  der  Liiste  Reiz 

Doch  wie  es  geschah,  kann  ich  so  wenig  sagen  wie  fassen,  dass  mich  nun  in  aller 
Sunderherrlichkeit  der  Trieb  nach  der  Ruhe,  der  Wunsch  zur  alten  unschuldigen 
Erde  mit  ihren  diirftigen  Freuden  eben  so  ergriff,  wie  mich  vormals  die  Sehnsucht 
hieher  gedrangt  hatte.  Es  zog  mich  an,  wieder  jenes  Leben  zu  leben,  das  die 
Menschen  in  aller  Bewusstlosigkeit  fiihren,  mit  Leiden  und  abweehselnden  Freuden : 
ich  war  von  dem  Glanz  gesattigt  und  suchte  gern  die  vorige  Heimath  wieder.  Eine 
unbegreifliche  Gnade  des  Allmachtigen  verschaffte  mir  die  Riickkehr,  ich  befand 
mich  plotzlich  wieder  in  der  Welt,  und  denke  nun  meinen  siindigen  Busen  vor  den 
Stuhl  unsers  allerheiligsten  Vaters  in  Rom  auszuschiitten,  dass  er  mir  vergebe  und 
ich  den  ubrigen  Menschen  wieder  zugezahlt  werde.   (pp.  210  f.) 

Tieck  is  content  to  say  that  Venus  meets  Tannenhauser  with  a  '  Ge- 
wimmel der  frohen  heidnischer  Gotter';  Wagner  definitely  peoples  his 
Venusberg  with  naiads,  sirens  and  bacchantes.  Subsequently,  he  was  to 
elaborate  the  scene  with  still  more  classical  mythology,  a  feature  which 
the  uninitiated  beholder,  who  feels  that  a  Germanic  Frau  Holda  would 
have  been  more  in  harmony  with  the  work  than  a  classical  Venus,  finds 
not  a  little  incongruous.  Wagner  found  Holda  identified  with  Venus  in 
Lucas  (p.  160),  and  further  support  for  this  identification  in  Grimm's 
Deutsche  Mythologie  (1835,  pp.  887  ff.) ;  he  prefaced  the  1845  edition  of 
the  opera  with  a  brief  note — omitted  in  1851 — explaining  the  matter 
on  the  basis  of  these  authorities.  But  opera  tradition  was,  no  doubt, 
largely  responsible  for  Wagner's  classical  treatment  of  the  scene. 

In  the  ballad — not  in  Heine's  version — when  Venus's  temptations 
fail,  and  Tannhauser  has  called  her  '  eine  Teufelinne,'  she  says : 

1  Schriften,  Berlin,  1828-46,  iv,  p.  201.  Cp.  Tannhduser,  Act  in,  sc.  iii.  But  the 
motive  might  also  have  been  suggested  by  Marschner's  Hans  Heiling.    See  below,  p.  468. 

2  Even  this  has  left  its  traces  on  Wagner's  version.  Cp.  27  f . :  'Hast  du  so  bald  ver- 
gessen,  wie  du  einst  gelitten?'  words  which  have  no  particular  meaning  applied  to  Wagner's 
hero. 

3  Tannhauser,  25  f. :  'Die  Zeit,  die  hier  ich  weil',  ich  kann  sie  nicht  ermessen.' 


J.  G.  ROBERTSON  467 

Tannhauser,  ach,  wie  spreoht  Ihr  so, 
Bestehet  Ihr  mich  zu  schelten  ? 
Sollt't  Ihr  noch  langer  bei  uns  sein, 
Des  Worts  miisst  Ihr  entgelten. 

Tannhauser,  wollt  Ihr  Urlaub  han, 
Nehmt  Urlaub  von  den  Greisen, 
Und  wo  Ihr  in  dem  Land  umfahren, 
Mein  Lob,  das  sollt  Ihr  preisen. 

Here  Wagner  introduces  the  definite  motive  of  a  curse  pronounced  by 
Venus  on  Tannhauser  (125)  :  '  Suche  dein  Heil — und  find'  es  nie/  which 
is  a  repetition  of  that  which  lies  on  his  Flying  Dutchman  (43  f.) :  '  Das 
Heil,  das  auf  dem  Land'  ich  suche,  nimmer  werd'  ich  es  finden.' 

Tannhauser's  admirable  description  of  his  pilgrimage  to  Rome  is 
elaborated  from  the  narrative  of  the  ballad,  again  with  occasional  touches 
from  Heine1.  In  Tieck  there  is  no  description  of  the  scene  with  the 
pope;  but  after  months  Tannenhauser  comes  again  to  Friedrich,  'bleich 
und  abgezehrt,  in  zerrissenen  Wallfahrtskleidern2.'  '  Der  heilige  Vater,' 
he  says,  '  will  und  kann  mir  nicht  vergeben,  ich  muss  in  meinen  alten 
Wohnsitz  zuriick.'  He  returns  to  the  Venusberg.  It  is  hardly  likely 
that  at  any  time  Wagner  was  prepared  to  accept  this  simple  tragic 
close :  in  any  case,  it  was  foreign  to  the  original  Ofterdingen  plan. 

Another  and  necessarily  potent  source  of  Wagner's  inspiration  was 
the  operatic  literature — I  am  not,  of  course,  concerned  with  the  music — 
of  his  time.  This  has  not,  so  far,  been  adequately  brought  into  connec- 
tion with  his  work.  The  Venusberg  scene  had,  in  particular,  a  long 
operatic  tradition  behind  it.  Wagner  could  not  but  have  thought  of 
the  Elysian  fields  in  Gluck's  Orfeo3;  he  might  have  remembered  the 
opening  scene  in  fairy- land  of  Weber's  Oberon.  The  plan  of  beginning  an 
opera  dealing  with  supernatural  motives  with  a  scene  in  the  underworld 
was  an  heritage  from  the  '  Wiener  Posse '  and  much  in  favour  with  the 
fabricators  of  romantic  dramas  and  operas.  It  is  a  feature  of  both 
Marschner's  Vampyr  (first  Leipzig  performance  1828)  and  Hans  Heiling 
(1833),  works  that  had  very  considerable  influence  on  Der  fliegende 

1  It  has  been  suggested  that  Tannhauser's  appeal  in  the  ballad  to  'Maria  Mutter,  reine 
Magd'  inspired  Wagner's  '  Mein  Heil  ruht  in  Maria !  '  (193) ;  but  Lucas  had  spoken  of 
Tannhauser  *  sich  von  Frau  Venus  zur  Jungfrau  Maria  wendend '  (p.  272).  More  reminiscent 
of  the  ballad  is  873  ff . :  '  Willkommen,  ungetreuer  Mann  !  '  etc.  In  the  first  form  of  the 
opera  (Dresden,  C.  F.  Meser,  1845)  Venus  did  not  reappear  in  the  last  act.  Cp.  also  Wagner, 
JJber  die  Auffiihrung  des  Tannhauser,  Schriften,  v,  p.  140. 

2  Tannhauser,  764 :  '  Tannhauser  tragt  zerrissene  Pilgerkleidung,  sein  Antlitz  ist  bleich 
und  entstellt.'  M.  Koch,  Richard  Wagner,  ii,  Berlin,  1913,  p.  110,  compares  the  words  of 
Wagner's  Tannhauser  to  Wolfram  (who  assumes  here  the  role  of  the  '  trusty  Eckart ') : 
'Hor'  an!  Du,  Wolfram,  du  sollst  es  erfahren  '  (790),  with  those  of  Tieck's  Tannenhauser 
to  his  friend :  '  Nun,  so  mag  dein  Wille  erfullt  werden,  du  sollst  alles  erfahren,'  etc.  (p.  201). 

3  Tannhauser  in  the  Venusberg  suggests,  too,  Rinaldo  in  Armida's  magic  palace  in  the 
last  act  of  Gluck's  later  work. 


468       The  Genesis  of  Wagner  s  Drama  '  Tannhauser ' 

Hollander.   The  second  of  these  operas — its  text  was  by  Philipp  Eduard 

Devrient — indeed,  particularly  foreshadows  Wagner's  Venusberg.    Hans 

Heiling  has  resolved  to  leave  his  underground  kingdom  and  betake 

himself  to  the  earth,  there  to  become  a  man  among  men.    The  scene  is 

described  as  follows : 

Weitgewolbte  Iiohle  im  tiefsten  Grund  der  Erde,  welehe  Eingange  zu  mehreren 
Seitenhbhlen  zeigt,  von  rothlich-triibem  Licht  erhellt.  Scharfgekliiftete  Wande  von 
Bergkrystall  starren  bis  an  die  Decke  der  Wolbung  :  aus  ihrem  Grunde  sprudeln 
silberne  Bergwasser  hervor. 

Dwarfs,  gnomes  and  earth-spirits  form  a  '  lebhaftes  Bild.'    They  beseech 

him  to  stay :  but  Heiling  descends  from  his  throne : 

Genug,  beendet  euer  emsig  Treiben  ! 

Es  treibt  mick  fort,  ich  kann  nicht  langer  bleiben, 

Hinauf  zur  liebebliihnden  Erde  wieder ! 

'So  willst  du,'  says  his  mother,  the  queen  of  the  earth-spirits,  'heut' 

auf  immer  von  uns  scheiden  ? '    She  warns  him,  as  Venus  Tannhauser  : 

Fremd  wirst  du  den  Menschen  bleiben 
Und  ihr  enges  Treiben 
Scheint  dir  widrig  bald  und  leer. 
Bald  wird  dich  die  Reue  finden 
Und  du  sehnest  dich  zuriick1. 

And  the  scene  culminates  similarly  to  the  first  version  of  Wagner's 
Venusberg ;  with  the  queen's  passionate  pleading :  '  Mein  Sohn,  mein 
Sohn  !   Kehrst  du  mir  niemals  wieder,  nie  ? ' 

It  has  not,  I  think,  been  observed — in  spite  of  the  fact  that  Wagner 
himself  suggests  the  comparison2 — that  the  basic  idea  of  Tannhauser  is 
similar  to  that  of  the  opera  which  loomed  largest  on  the  musical  horizon 
of  the  thirties  and  forties,  Meyerbeer's  Robert  le  Diable,  the  text  of 
which  was  written  by  Scribe  and  Delavigne.  The  first  performance  in 
Leipzig  took  place  on  August  30,  1833.  That  work — if  we  penetrate 
beneath  its  dazzling,  bewildering  and  absurd  phantasmagory — has 
practically  the  same  ethical  kernel  as  Wagner's.  Like  Tannhauser,  Duke 
Robert  of  Normandy  is  ensnared  by  evil  powers,  and  saved  by  the  pure 
love  of  a  woman,  his  foster-sister  Alice,  his  '  Erlosung '  being  celebrated 
with  solemn  choruses  of  monks  in  the  cathedral  of  Palermo.  Isabelle, 
it  is  true,  the  princess  whom  he  loves,  is  no  Venus ;  but  he,  the  victim 
of  evil  passions,  has  deeply  injured  her.  The  bacchanalian  scene  on  the 
lido  of  Palermo,  with  which  Meyerbeer's  opera  opens,  might  be  compared 

1  Cp.  Tannhauser ,  first  version  (after  25) : 

Bald  weicht  der  Stolz  aus  deiner  Seel' — 
Demiithig  seh'  ich  dich  mir  nahn,  — 
Zerknirscht,  zertreten  suchst  du  mich  auf, 
Flehst  um  die  Wunder  meiner  Macht. 

2  Uber  die  Auffilhrung  des  Tannhauser,  Schriften,  v,  p.  137. 


J.  G.  ROBERTSON  469 

with  the  Venusberg,  were  it  not  that  the  grotesque  orgy  at  the  close  of 
the  third  act,  where  nuns  are  converted  into  houris  to  assist  the  dark 
powers  in  retaining  their  hold  on  Robert,  provides  a  closer  parallel. 
Technically  the  Wagner  of  Tannhduser  learned  much  from  Meyerbeer : 
the  contrast  of  religious  and  bacchanalian  effects  is  a  motive  which 
Meyerbeer  rides  to  death  in  this  opera ;  and  Wagner's  use  of  processional 
scenes,  so  effective  in  both  Tannhduser  and  Lohengrin,  was  modelled  on 
works  like  Robert  le  Diable  and  Hal6vy's  La  Juive1. 

Modern  writers  on  Wagner,  not  looking  back  beyond  1841,  find  in 
Tannhduser  a  personal  confession  of  the  disgust  with  which  he  turned 
away  from  the  frivolity  of  Paris  to  the  German  fatherland.  Considera- 
tions like  the  above  show,  I  think,  that  this  view  requires  modification ; 
they  tend  to  minimise  this  particular  subjective  basis.  I  believe  that 
Tannhduser,  like  Der  fliegende  Hollander,  belongs  in  its  essential  plan 
to  the  years  before  Wagner  visited  Paris  at  all.  Like  the  earlier  opera, 
it  was,  in  the  first  instance,  inspired  by  Hoffmann ;  Fouques  play, 
Wagner's  use  of  which  almost  certainly  pre-dated  his  substitution  of 
Tannhauser  for  Ofterdingen,  would  hardly  have  been  accessible  to  him 
in  Paris ;  and  other  works,  the  influence  of  which  comes  into  question, 
Wagner  had  already  seen  on  the  Leipzig  stage  in  the  early  thirties. 
The  ties  of  Tannhduser  with  the  literature  of  the  theatre — French  as 
well  as  German — of  its  day  are  closer  than  has  hitherto  been  suspected. 
As  poetry,  it  is  essentially  a  work  of  the  Young  German  era,  embodying 
the  conflict  which  was  uppermost  in  the  literature  of  the  time,  between 
the  flesh  and  the  spirit;  and  in  that  conflict  which  was,  at  bottom, 
Young  Germany's  struggle  of  life  and  death  with  the  old  Romanticism, 
it  is  significant  for.Wagner's  place  in  the  movement  of  his  time  that  his 
sympathies  were  on  the  Romantic  side. 

None  of  Wagner's  works  shows  such  inequality  in  its  poetic  diction 
as  Tannhduser.  In  itself  this  is  a  testimony  to  the  time  that  must  have 
elapsed  between  its  earlier  and  later  parts.  Particularly  tawdry '  libretto ' 
verses  disfigure  some  of  what  I  have  called  the  Ofterdingen  scenes,  more 
especially  where  the  poet  is  faced  with  the  task  of  writing  verses  adapted 
for  concerted  composition;  here  the  poet  disappears  and  the  opera 
librettist  takes  his  place.  The  second  act  stands  on  a  higher  level  than 
the  latter  part  at  least  of  the  first ;  but  there  is  again  a  relapse  when 
the  Elisabeth-Tannhauser  dialogue  becomes  a  duet.  The  Landgraf's 
address  to  the  singers  is  poetry,  but  again  not  sustained,  notably  in  the 

1  It  might  be  added  that  the  scene  with  the  crucifix  in  Act  in  of  Robert  was  probably 
in  Wagner's  memory  when  he  conceived  his  Thuringian  valley. 


470       The  Genesis  of  Wagners  Drama  * Tannhduser ' 

lines  given  to  Walther  and  Biterolf.  Very  much  higher  stands  the  third 
act.  The  song  of  the  pilgrims  (716  ff.)  marks  a  quite  extraordinary 
advance;  the  Wolfram-Tannhauser  dialogue  is  excellent,  and  Tann- 
hauser's  account  of  his  pilgrimage  reaches  a  very  high  level  indeed ;  it 
forms  unquestionably  the  poetic  apex  of  the  work. 

Whatever  may  be  said  of  the  music,  it  is  not  possible  to  regard 
the  verses  which  Wagner  added  to  Tannhduser  for  Paris  in  1860  as 
advantageous  to  the  work.  The  elaboration  of  the  spectacular  element 
of  the  Venusberg  was — however  Wagner  may  have  tried  to  justify  it 
on  higher  grounds — merely  a  concession  to  the  French  craving  for  such 
things  which  had  been  fostered  by  the  'grand  opera';  it  was  an  attempt 
to  bring  Tannhduser  into  line  with  that  species  of  composition1.  As  the 
new  verses  of  this  scene  had  to  be  grafted  on  to  what  was  poetically 
a  weak  part  of  the  old  drama,  the  contrast  is  the  more  glaring.  In 
the  new  conception  Venus  is  no  longer  merely  the  '  Teufelinne '  of  the 
saga  who  holds  the  hero  in  her  thrall ;  she  becomes  a  tragic  personality, 
an  Isolde  of  passion,  who  has  been  '  bekampft  und  besiegt,'  '  verhohnt 
mit  jubelndem  Stolz.'  The  curse  she  pronounces  on  Tannhauser  is 
elaborated  in  the  poet's  later  style :  scorn  shall  pursue  him ;  crushed 
and  trampled  upon,  his  dishonoured  head  covered  with  dust,  he  will  be 
obliged  to  return  to  her.  Venus,  who,  like  a  Briinnhilde,  opens  her 
kingdom  only  to  heroes,  pictures  Tannhauser  coming  back,  not  in  search 
of  the  happiness  he  has  renounced,  but  seeking  sympathy  from  the 
woman  he  has  so  lightly  abandoned.  The  words  of  the  old  version :  '  so 
sei  verfluchet  von  mir  das  ganze  menschliche  Geschlecht ! ' — words  pro- 
bably inserted  without  much  thought  of  what  they  might  mean  on 
Venus's  lips — become  transformed  into  a  kind  of  Nibelung's  curse  (70  f.): 
'  Ach  kehrest  du  nicht  wieder,  dann  trafe  Fluch  der  Welt.'  Like  Freya, 
she,  the  goddess  of  love,  will  withdraw  her  light  from  the  world :  '  fur 
ewig  lag'  sie  ode,  aus  der  die  Gottin  schwand ! '  While  Tannhauser, 
another  Tristan,  seeks,  not  happiness,  but  death  :  '  mich  drangt  es  hin 
zum  Tod ! ' 

The  Tannhduser  legend  is,  no  doubt,  raised  by  this  new  conception 
of  Venus  to  a  higher  poetic  plane ;  but  the  change  was  too  radical  to 
be  effected  otherwise  than  by  a  fundamental  remodelling  of  the  whole. 
As  it  is,  the  new  scene  is  disastrous  to  the  harmony  of  the  old  naive 
Tannhduser  of  1845.  J.  G.  Robertson. 

London. 

1  See  especially  Der  volUtandige  poetische  Entwurf  zum  Ballet  im  Tannhduser  in  der 
Pariser  Bearbeitung,  Die  Musik,  iv,  2,  19,  pp.  250  ff.,  now  in  the  Samtliche  Schriften,  xi, 
pp.-  414  ff . 


MISCELLANEOUS  NOTES. 
Old  English  Notes. 

I. 

In  the  Laud  MS.  of  the  A.S.  Chronicle  sub  anno  1086  there  occurs 
a  passage  in  irregular  verse  containing  12  rhyming  pairs.  Of  these 
pairs  3  end  in  strongly  stressed  monosyllables :  swearc,  marc ;  stift,  nifr ; 
wa,  swa ;  the  remaining  9  pairs  of  rhymes  (or  assonances)  end  in  dis- 
syllables stressed  / x ,  viz.  wihte,  rihte ;  leode,  neode ;  feallan,  ealle ; 
deorfri&,}>eerwift\  hinde,  blendian;  headeor,  feeder ;  haran,  faran ;  libban, 
habban ;  eahta,  sehta.  Of  these  pairs  6  have  the  first  syllable  long  by 
position ;  of  the  other  3,  two,  viz.  leode,  neode  and  deorfrifS,  peerwitS, 
have  stem-vowels  long  by  nature.  There  remains  the  pair  haran,  faran ; 
the  evidence  of  all  the  other  rhyming  'trochees'  strongly  inclines  us  to 
regard  the  stem-vowel  of  these  two  words  as  long.  If  this  be  the  case, 
we  have  an  instance  of  the  lengthening  of  O.  E.  short  vowels  in  an  open 
syllable  much  earlier  than  any  hitherto  noted.  Further,  if  the  pair 
deorfrift,  jpeerwift  represents  a  perfect  rhyme  [derwij? :  Jjerwi)>]  concealed 
by  the  traditional  spelling,  and  if  the  same  holds  good  of  the  pair 
headeor,  feeder  [heder  :  feder],  then  we  have  evidence  of  very  early 
'smoothing'  of  O.E.  diphthongs.  The  assumed  pronunciation  of  feeder 
[feder]  would  be  another  early  example  of  the  lengthening  of  a  short 
vowel  in  an  open  syllable.  These  rhyming  lines  and  others  of  the  kind 
met  with  in  the  later  part  of  the  A.S.  Chronicle  were  clearly  of  a 
popular  character  and  the  rhymes  in  all  probability  represent  the  actual 
popular  pronunciation  of  the  period. 

II. 

The  well-known  '  crux '  of  Beowulf,  11.  223,  224,  pa  wees  sund  liden 
eoletes  eet  ende,  involves  two  difficulties:  (1)  the  word  eoletes,  which 
occurs  nowhere  else,  and  (2)  liden,  which  is  apparently  the  past  participle 
of  li&an,  '  to  travel,'  especially  on  the  sea.  Scholars  have  seen  that  the 
sense  of  the  passage  seems  to  require  '  sea '  as  the  meaning  of  eoletes, 
and  various  emendations  have  been  suggested.  Thorpe,  realising  that 
liSan  does  not  admit  of  a  passive  meaning,  proposed  to  read  sundlida, 
*  sea-traverser,'  i.e.  boat,  for  sund  liden,  and  he  further  suggested  ea-ldde 
eet  ende,  '  at  the  end  of  its  water-way.'  But  ea-ldde  is  metrically  in- 
admissible.   Professor  R.   W.   Chambers  in  his  note  on  this  passage 


472  Miscellaneous  Notes 

suggests  that  the  eo-  of  eoletes  may  be  due  to  the  Anglian  confusion  of 
eo  and  ea.  In  this  I  think  he  is  correct ;  the  same  idea  occurred  to  me 
independently,  but  I  carry  it  further.  The  original  reading  I  consider 
to  have  been  eotoles  or  eoteles,  Anglian,  or  probably  Northumbrian, 
forms  of  eatoles  or  eateles.  The  word  atol  or  eatol  occurs  fairly  often 
in  O.  E.  poetry  with  the  meaning  '  horrible,'  '  repulsive,'  '  terrible.' 
In  Beowulf  it  is  chiefly  but  not  exclusively  used  as  an  epithet  for 
Grendel ;  in  1.  848  occurs  the  expression  atol  y&a  geswing,  '  the  horrible 
heaving  or  surging  of  the  waves,'  with  which  we  may  compare  Exodus, 
line  455,  atol  y&a  gewealc.  The  transposition  of  I  and  t  is  due  to  the 
scribe's  ignorance  of  the  meaning  of  the  form  eoteles.  Reading  eatoles 
and  sundlida  we  translate  '  then  was  the  sea-crosser  at  the  end  of  the 
terrible  sea.'  For  this  absolute  use  of  the  adjective  to  denote  'sea'  we 
may  compare  Fates  of  Men,  1.  15,  sumne  sceal  hreoh  fordrifan,  '  another 
man  the  savage  (sea)  must  shipwreck.' 

W.  J.  Sedgefield. 
Manchester. 


Milton,  James  I,  and  Purgatory. 

Milton's  third  Latin  epigram  in  the  group  entitled  In  Proditionem 
Bombardicam  begins  with  the  line  '  Purgatorem  animae  derisit  Iacobus 
ignem ' — 'James  scoffed  at  the  fire  the  purger  of  the  soul1'.  It  has  been 
supposed  that  Milton  merely  assumed  that  King  James  as  a  Protestant 
would  naturally  scoff  at  the  Roman  Catholic  doctrine  of  Purgatory. 
His  positive  statement,  however,  is  justified,  as  will  now  appear. 

In  1609  James  republished  his  Apologie  for  the  Oath  of  Allegiance, 
an  oath  which  offended  his  Roman  Catholic  subjects.  The  first  edition 
had  provoked  a  reply  from  Bellarmine,  the  great  Roman  Catholic  con- 
troversialist ;  together  the  two  books  had  aroused  the  interest  of  Europe, 
and  hence  this  second  edition  of  the  Apologie.  To  it  was  prefixed 
'  A  Premonition  To  All  Most  Mightie  Monarches  Kings,  Free  Princes, 
and  States  of  Christendome,'  which  aimed  at  revealing  to  the  nations  of 
Europe  the  menace  of  the  Papacy  to  their  sovereign  rights2.  Many 
matters  of  Roman  faith  are  there  subjected  to  the  royal  criticism,  and 
among  them  Purgatory,  of  which  Jame's  says  : 

As  for  Purgatorie  and  all  the  trash  depending  thereupon,  it  is  not  worth  the 
talking  of ;  Bellarmine  cannot  finde  any  ground  for  it  in  all  the  Scriptures.  Onely 
I  would  pray  him  to  tell  me  ;  If  that  faire  greene  Meadow  that  is  in  Purgatorie  have 

1  Oxford  Milton,  p.  140. 

2  C.  H.  Mcllwain,  The  Political  Works  of  James  I,  1918,  pp.  lx-lxi. 


Miscellaneous  Notes  473 

a  brooke  running  thorow  it ;  that  in  case  I  come  there,  I  may  have  hawking  upon  it. 
But  as  for  me ;  I  am  sure  there  is  a  Heaven  and  a  Hell,  prcemium  et  poena,  for  the 
Elect  and  reprobate;  How  many  other  roomes  there  be,  I  am  not  on  God  his  counsell. 
Multce  sunt  mansiones  in  domo  Patris  mei,  saith  Christ,  who  is  the  trew  Purgatorie 
for  our  sinnes  :  But  how  many  chambers  and  anti-chambers  the  divell  hath,  they 
can  best  tell  that  goe  to  him :  But  in  case  there  were  more  places  for  soules  to  go  to 
then  we  know  of,  yet  let  us  content  us  with  that  which  in  his  Word  he  hath  revealed 
unto  us,  and  not  inquire  further  into  his  secrets.  Heaven  and  Hell  are  there  revealed 
to  be  the  eternall  home  of  all  mankinde;  let  us  indeavour  to  winne  the  one  and 
eschew  the  other ;  and  there  is  an  end  K 

Walter  MacKellar. 

Ithaca,  N.  F.,  U.S.A. 


The  Mid  Front  Vowel  in  «  Steak,'  «  Great,'  '  Break.' 

It  is  clear  that  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  eighteenth  century  words 
which  had  the  vowel  [e:]  in  Middle  English,  e.g.,  sea,  beat,  teach,  were 
pronounced  by  good  society  in  two  different  ways.  The  [e:]  pronuncia- 
tion regular  in  the  sixteenth  century  still  survived,  but  was  challenged 
by  a  newer  [i:]  pronunciation,  which  seems  to  have  originated  in  some 
class  or  regional  dialect  round  about  1600.  Before  the  end  of  the  century 
the  [i:]  pronunciation  had  prevailed,  and  hence  modern  [si:],  [bi't],  [ti'tf]. 
In  steak,  great,  and  break  we  have  three  notable  exceptions.  Yet  there 
is  evidence  that  the  [i :]  pronunciation  of  great  and  break  was  well  in 
vogue  in  the  eighteenth  century,  and  it  is  still  heard  in  some  regional 
dialects.    Why  not  also  in  standard  English  ? 

None  of  the  explanations  that  have  been  suggested,  e.g.,  the  influence 
of  the  regional  dialects  of  the  South  West,  or  (in  the  case  of  great  and 
break)  the  influence  of  the  preceding  r,  appears  to  be  satisfactory.  See 
Wyld,  History  of  Modern  Colloquial  English,  p.  212. 

1.  Steak.  I  would  suggest  that  the  retention  of  the  mid  vowel  is 
connected  with  the  fact  that  the  word  was  more  often  than  not  the 
second  part  of  a  compound.  Beefsteak  was  especially  common — one 
may  call  to  mind  the  Beefsteak  Club  of  the  time  of  Addison — and 
there  were  also  rump-steak,  veal-steak,  etc.  In  these,  and  especially  in 
beefsteak,  the  main  accent  fell  on  the  first  part  of  the  compound,  and 
the  vowel  of  the  second  part  was  consequently  shortened,  i.e.  [brfstek]. 
This  short  [e],  remaining  unchanged,  may  have  prevented,  in  the  un- 
compounded  word,  the  newer  pronunciation  [sti'k]  from  obtaining  any 
hold. 

2.  Great.  The  survival  of  the  older  pronunciation  is  probably  con- 
nected with  sound-symbolism.   Jespersen  (Language,  p.  402)  has  pointed 

1  Ibid.  pp.  125-6. 


474  Miscellaneous  Notes 

out  that  in  several  languages,  including  English,  the  [i:]  sound  is  con- 
sidered especially  appropriate  to  express  what  is  small,  weak,  or  insig- 
nificant. So  in  the  eighteenth  century  there  may  have  been  at  least  a 
sub-conscious  feeling  that  [grrt]  was  a  pronunciation  unsuitable  to  the 
meaning  of  the  word.  The  phonetician  Walker,  in  his  Dictionary  of  1775, 
actually  says  so.  Had  it  been  a  matter  of  a  gradual  sound-change  from 
[e :]  to  [i :]  I  do  not  believe  that  this  feeling  would  have  had  a  retarding 
effect,  but  it  may  quite  well  have  been  sufficient  to  turn  the  scale  in 
favour  of  one  of  two  possible  pronunciations  that  were  current  at  the 
same  time. 

3.  Break.  Walker  again  attributes  the  anomalous  pronunciation  to 
a  kind  of  sound-symbolism :  '  Break  is  more  expressive  of  the  action 
when  pronounced  brake  than  breek,  as  it  is  sometimes  affectedly  pro- 
nounced.' Certainly  the  crack  of  a  broken  stick  or  the  crash  of  falling 
china  would  not  be  well  expressed  by  the  thin  [i:]  sound.  But  the 
survival  of  the  older  pronunciation  may  be  partly  due  to  the  analogy 
of  those  verbs  ending  in  -r  which  were  conjugated  in  the  same  way  as 
break,  and  in  which  a  mid  vowel  was  also  preserved,  i.e.,  tear,  bear,  wear, 
and  swear.  Break  and  tear  are  associated  in  meaning  as  well  as  in 
conjugation.  I  admit  that  this  analogy  has  not  prevented  us  from 
preferring  the  [i:]  pronunciation  in  the  case  of  steal. 

W.  S.  Mackie. 

Capetown. 

Romanic  Etymologies. 
Portuguese  abanar,  Spanish  abanar. 
Meyer-Liibke's  dictionary  gives  Portuguese  abanar  as  the  source  of 
Spanish  abanar  (because  of  n<  nn  instead  of  normal  n)  and  refers  it  to 
euannere,  but  fails  to  explain  how  *evaner  became  abanar.  The  Portu- 
guese b  indicates  borrowing  from  the  speech  of  northern  Portugal,  which 
(like  Galician)  does  not  distinguish  b  and  v.  Probably  the  Spanish  word 
came  from  Galician  abanar,  representing  euannere  modified  by  abentar 
< *aduentare '  fan'  (based  on  ad  uentum).  Meyer-Liibke  mentions  Spanish 
aventarse  l  flee,'  but  ignores  aventar  '  air,  fan,  winnow.' 

Portuguese  achacar,  Spanish  achacar. 

Meyer-Liibke   refers   these   words   to   an   Arabic   verb,   translated 

'  klagen '  and  transcribed  schakar.    Arabic  verbs  were  not,  however, 

adopted  as  such  in  Hispanic.    An  infinitive  was  adopted  as  a  noun,  from 

which  a  verb  could  be  formed.   Arabic  sakir- '  be  full,'  with  the  infinitive 


Miscellaneous  Notes  475 

sakar,  and  the  variant  sakar-  '  be  grateful,'  with  the  infinitive  sukr, 
might  have  given  *axacarar,  *axocrar,  in  early  Hispanic.  They  could 
not  have  made  achacar.  Neither  could  sakah,  from  the  root  s-k-w-  'com- 
plain'; for  the  sound  s  (written  x)  was  kept  unchanged  between  vowels 
in  early  Spanish  and  Portuguese.  Arabic  s  (derived  from  Spanish  re- 
verted s)  made  ts  in  Spanish  albdrchiga  'peach':  evidently  because  rts 
existed  in  Hispanic,  while  rs  did  not,  except  in  word-groups.  But 
Arabic  lacks  the  affricate  ts,  so  we  must  seek  elsewhere  the  source  of 
achacar. 

Its  source  is  mentioned  by  Korting,  though  he  does  not  give  it 
serious  consideration:  *afflaccare.  The  presumably  original  sense 'make 
weak '  has  become  '  ascribe  (something  to  a  person)  as  a  fault  or  weak- 
ness '  in  Spanish.  Portuguese  achacar,  meaning  '  get  ill,'  shows  the  old 
sense  with  little  or  no  change.  As  Spanish  normally  has  11  for  fl  and 
medial  ffl,  the  Spanish  form  seems  to  imply  borrowing  from  Galician  or 
Portuguese.  Spanish  achaque  and  Portuguese  achaque,  meaning  'illness,' 
are  based  on  the  verb-stem,  parallel  with  toque  beside  tocar.  There  are 
several  similar  words  in  Arabic  :  saqq  '  distress  '  (root  s-q-q-) ;  sdqd  and 
saqwah  '  distress '  (root  s-q-w-) ;  sdkwd  '  illness,  grief,  complaint '  (root 
s-k-w-),  and  other  forms  with  stress  on  the  second  vowel,  such  as  sakah, 
mentioned  above.  We  might  suppose  that  some  of  these  affected  or 
helped  to  preserve  the  sense  of  the  Hispanic  nouns.  But  they  cannot 
represent  the  formal  source.  Galician  has  the  noun  achacia,  which 
according  to  the  dictionary  of  Valladares  'dicese  de  un  animal  flaco, 
delgado  o  seco,'  showing  palatalization  of  the  &-sound  and  therefore  a 
Latin  stem. 

Portuguese  adrede,  Spanish  adrede. 

These  adverbs,  meaning  '  purposely,'  are  based  on  iter  in  the  sense 
'plan':  ad  de  iter  or  ad  de  Here.  The  Spanish  final  e,  contrary  to  bondad 
and  merced,  indicates  an  older  form  *adedre. 

Portuguese  amarelo,  Spanish  amarillo. 
The  Hispanic  words  for  '  yellow '  may  be  explained  as  coming  from 
Arabic  al-armdl  'the  sands'  (plural  of  ar-raml).  Arabic  a  often  became 
e,  as  in  Spanish  alfiler  <  al-yildl,  so  that  al-armdl  would  readily  make 
*almarel  and  by  dissimilation  *amarel.  The  ending  was  adapted  to  the 
derivative  of  Latin  -ellum,  found  in  many  Hispanic  adjectives,  whence 
early  Spanish  -iello  and  later  -Mo. 

Rumanian  toamna. 
In  the  Modern  Language  Review  for  October,  1914  (vol.  ix,  p.  496), 


476  Miscellaneous  Notes 

I  discussed  the  Rumanian  words  apparently  containing  an  o  derived 
from  stressed  u,  and  showed  that  they  did  not  belong  in  the  same  class 
as  Italian  and  western  gola  <  gula.  With  regard  to  the  derivative  of 
autumna  I  said :  '  The  o  that  made  oa  in  toamnd,  where  u  would  be 
expected,  was  due  to  some  external  influence.'  At  that  time  I  was  not 
acquainted  with  the  corresponding  verb  tomna,  recorded  in  Meyer- 
Liibke's  dictionary.  It  seems  clear  that  the  o  of  the  verb-stem  changed 
u  to  o  in  the  noun.  Early  verb-forms  were  *atumno  <  autumno,  *atumna 
<  autumnat,  beside  the  infinitive  *atomnare  and  numerous  other  forms 
with  regular  stressless  o  <  u.  By  analogy  the  general  o-stem  was  ex- 
tended to  all  forms,  producing  *atomno,  *atomna,  and  the  noun  *atomna. 
With  a  normal  development  *atomnare  should  have  become  *tumnare 
and  *tumnd ;  but  the  influence  of  the  forms  with  stressed  o  prevented 
the  change,  so  that  now  the  noun  and  all  the  verb-forms  have  analogic 
vowels. 

Edwin  H.  Tuttle. 
North  Haven,  Conn.,  U.S.A. 


Notes  on  the  Critical  Text  of  Dante's  Epistles. 

The  very  thorough  edition  of  Dante's  Epistles  by  Dr  Paget  Toynbee, 
followed  by  that  of  A.  Monti,  and  the  testo  critico  edited  by  Ermenegildo 
Pistelli  for  the  Societa  Dantesca  Italiana  still  leave  room  for  some  recti- 
fication of  the  text  from  the  standpoint  of  scholastic  philosophy. 

In  Epistle  V,  line  93  (§  8,  23),  all  editions  print  the  word  innotiora. 
Dr  Toynbee  reads :  '  et  si  ex  notioribus  nobis  innotiora ;  simpliciter 
interest  humanae  apprehensioni,  etc.1'  Here  the  accepted  text  intro- 
duces a  monstrous  word  innotiora  (for  ignotiora),  misuses  the  word 
simpliciter,  and  misreads  Aristotle's  Physics,  I,  1. 

The  text  should  be  :  '  et  si  ex  notioribus  nobis  in  notiora  simpliciter; 
interest  humanae  apprehensioni,  etc.,'  which  means :  '  if  we  pass  from 
things  better  known  to  us,  on  to  things  better  known  absolutely,  etc' ; 
the  things  better  known  to  us  being  the  '  sensibilia,'  the  things  better 
known  absolutely  being  '  substantiae  separatae  quae  sunt  magis  nota 
secundum  naturam.'  So  St  Thomas'  commentary  on  the  quoted  passage 
of  Aristotle.  The  old  translation  of  Aristotle  reads  :  '  et  si  ex  notioribus 
nobis  in  notiora  naturd.'  Dante  replaces  naturd  by  its  equivalent, 
simpliciter.    That  it  is  an  equivalent,  if  we  did  not  otherwise  know,  we 

1  The  testo  critico  similarly,  but  '  si  simpliciter.' 


Miscellaneous  Notes  477 

could  discover  from  St  Thomas'  commentary  on  Post.  Anal.  Book  I 
(lectio  3),  where  he  says :  '  ea  ex  quibus  procedit  demonstratio  sunt 
priora  et  notiora  simpliciter  et  secundum  naturam,  et  non  quo  ad  nos.' 
And,  in  the  commentary  to  the  quoted  text  of  the  Physics,  he  says : 
•  Notandum  autem  est  quod  non  eadem  dicit  nota  esse  nobis  et  nota 
simpliciter.  Simpliciter  autem  notiora  sunt  quae  secundum  se  sunt 
notiora ;  sunt  autem  secundum  se  notiora  quae  plus  habent  de  entitate  : 
magis  autem  entia  sunt  quae  sunt  magis  in  actu  unde  ista  maxime  sunt 
cognoscibilia  naturaV 

In  Epistle  III  (iv),  line  4  (§  1,  2),  the  text :  '  de  passione  in  passionem, 
dico,  secundum  eandem  potentiam  et  obiecta  diversa  numero  sed  non 
specie,'  is  translated  by  Signor  Monti,  with  no  improvement  on  his  pre- 
decessors, as  follows  :  'di  passione  in  passione,  dico,  rimanendo  medesima 
la  potenza  ed  essendo  gli  oggetti  diversi  di  numero  (!)  ma  non  di 
qualita  (!),'  with  a  footnote  that  '  secundum  eandem  potentiam '  means 
'  di  modo  che  la  passione  successiva  abbia  la  stessa  forza  (!)  della  pre- 
cedente,'  which  is  fantastical !  For,  in  the  first  place, '  secundum  eandem 
potentiam '  has  nothing  to  do  with  '  forza,'  potentia  being  here,  as 
regularly,  used  to  indicate  a  psychological  faculty  or  power.  And, 
secondly,  the  question  here  raised  is  whether  this  same  psychological 
power  can  be  affected  by  successive  passions  for  different  individuals  of 
the  same  species :  numero  is  the  word  always  used  to  denote  individual 
differentiation ;  so  that  man  differs  from  a  stone,  genere ;  a  lion  from  a 
horse,  specie;  and  John  from  James,  numero.  The  passage  should,  then, 
be  translated  as  follows :  '  whether  the  same  faculty  of  the  soul  can 
have  more  than  one  passion,  so  as  to  be  successively  affected  by  different 
individuals  of  the  same  species.' 

In  line  40  (§  5,  8)  of  the  same  Epistle,  if  potentiam  (rather  than 
prudentiam)  is  read,  the  word  must  be  taken  in  the  same  sense.  Dante 
would  then  urge  us  to  take  refuge  out  of  the  potentia  sensitiva  to  the 
potentia  intellectiva,  'by  means  of  which  (reading  qua)  the  thrusts  of 
fortune  may  be  endured.'  (Cf.  Gonvivio  IV,  11,  83 :  '  Quanto  piu  l'uomo 
soggiace  alio  intelletto  tanto  meno  soggiace  alia  Fortuna.') 

Epistle  II,  line  20  (§  2,  4):  'sed  quamquam,  sensualibus  amissis, 
doloris  amaritudo  incumbat,  si  considerentur  intellectualia  quae  super- 
sunt,  sane  mentis  oculis  lux  dulcis  consolationis  exoritur.'  Dante  here 
strives  to  console  the  Counts  of  Romena  by  reminding  them  that  their 
uncle's  body  and  its  acts  (sensualia)  surely  are  dead  and  gone,  yet  his 
mind  and  its  activities  (intellectualia)  still  live.  Dr  Toynbee's  trans- 
lation runs :  '  But  although  the  bitterness  of  grief  weigh  upon  us  for 

m.l.r.  xviii.  31 


478  Miscellaneous  Notes 

the  loss  of  corporeal  things,  yet,  when  we  consider  the  intellectual  things 
which  remain,  surely  before  the  eyes  of  the  mind  must  arise  the  light 
of  sweet  consolation.'  And  Signor  Monti,  like  Giuliani,  etc.,  interprets 
'sensualibus'  as  'oggetti  percettibili  coi  nostri  sensi,'  and  '  intellectualia ' 
as  'cose  pertinenti  alio  spirito.'  What  the  translators  here  have  done  is 
to  take  sensualia  as  though  it  were  sensibilia;  and  intellectualia  as 
though  it  were  intelligibilia,  confusing  the  words  for  inner  faculties 
with  those  for  external  objects,  and  thereby  stripping  the  passage  of  its 
pertinence. 

The  same  considerations  apply  to  line  29  (§  2,  6).  There  '  sensualia 
postergare,  nisi  prout  vobis  exemplaria  esse  possunt '  is  translated  by 
Dr  Toynbee  '  to  put  behind  you  bodily  concerns,  save  in  so  far  as  they 
may  serve  you  for  examples';  and  by  Signor  Monti  'sensualia  poster- 
gare '  is  interpreted  as  '  dare  la  precedenza  alle  cose  dell'  intelletto  sulle 
cose  tangibili.'  But  how  can  '  cose  tangibili '  serve  as  examples?  And  if 
they  could,  what  of  it  in  this  connection  ?  The  phrase  then,  expanded, 
clearly  means  :  '  not  to  think  too  much  of  the  dead  uncle's  bodily 
attributes  (of  the  acts  he  performed  while  yet  in  the  flesh),  except  in  so 
far  as  these  acts  may  serve  as  examples  to  them.' 

In  Epistle  X,  line  40  (§  2,  7),  Moore  and  Dr  Toynbee  for  the 
unanimous  manuscript  reading  '  intellectu  ac  ratione  degentes '  (retained 
by  Pistelli)  would  substitute  'intellectu  ac  ratione  vigentes,'  for  the 
reason  that  the  Latin  translation  of  Aristotle's  Politics  has  '  intellectu 
vigentes'  and  Dante  in  Monarchia  I,  3,  91,  says:  'intellectu  scilicet 
vigentes ' ;  the  assumption  being  that,  if  two  thoughts  are  similar,  one 
must  be  expressed  as  an  exact  quotation  of  the  other.  But,  if  this  were 
so,  further  change  should  be  introduced  in  this  Epistle,  for  Aristotle  has 
merely  '  intellectu '  instead  of  '  intellectu  ac  ratione.'  Should  we  not, 
then,  rather — remembering,  for  example,  that  in  the  commentary  on 
Boethius'  De  Scholarium  Disciplina  (Frette's  St  Thomas,  Opera,  xxvn, 
p.  571)  we  do  find  'arte  ac  ratione  degentes,'  and  that  St  Thomas  also 
says  (vol.  xxxn,  p.  440)  'genus  humanum  vivit  arte  et  ratione'  and 
Dante's  Gonvivio  II,  1,  has  :  '  Hanno  vita  di  scienza  e  d'arte ' — say  that 
thoughts  and  their  expressions  may  be  similar  without  necessarily  having 
to  be  identical  and  conclude  that  the  author  of  this  Epistle  may  well 
have  used  degentes  ? 

In  this  same  Epistle,  line  273  et  seq.  (§  20,  54),  we  read :  '  Sed  con- 
stat, quod  habere  esse  a  se  non  convenit  nisi  uni,  scilicet  primo,  seu 
principio,  qui  Deus  est,  quum  habere  esse  non  arguat  per  se  necesse 
esse,  et  per  se  necesse  esse  non  competat  nisi  uni,  scilicet  primo  seu 


Miscellaneous  Notes  479 

principio,  quod  est  causa  omnium '  (Paget  Toynbee,  Pistelli).   This  text 
does  violence  to  logic ;  for  the  argument,  developed,  is  as  follows : 
Everything  which  is,  has  being  either  from  Self  or  from  Another.  (1) 
But  it  is  manifest  that  Being-from-Self  pertains  to  One  only,  (2) 
For :  having  being  does  not  argue  necessary  Being-from-Self  ;  (3) 
(That  is :  there  are  some  beings  which  do  not  have  necessary  Being-from-Self) ;  (4) 
And  necessary  Being-from-Self  pertains  only  to  One  ;  (5) 
Ergo :  All  but  One  have  being  from  Another.  (6) 
There  is  absolutely  no  sequential  pertinence  in  (3)  as  it  will  appear 
if  we  restate  it  as  (4).    Besides,  after  having  divided  being  into  being- 
from-Self  and  being -from- Another,  how  is  the  argument  going  to  be 
advanced  by  falling  back  on  being  as  yet  undivided  ? 

Local  remedy  might  be  applied  to  this  passage  so  as  to  render 
it  tolerably  logical,  by  leaving  out  non  in  line  275  (with  the  Codice 
Mediceo)  and  replacing  it  by  a  se  (slipped  out,  as  it  is  wont  to,  after  esse), 
reading  therefore :  '  Quum  habere  esse  a  se  arguat  per  se  necesse  esse,' 
and  reasoning  thus : 

Everything  that  is  has  being  either  from  self,  or  from  another.  (1) 
But  only  one  thing  has  being-from-self,  (2) 
For :  being-from-self  argues  necessary  self-existence ;  (3) 
Necessary  self-existence  pertains  only  to  one  ;  (4) 
Ergo  :  being-from-self  pertains  only  to  one,  (5)  and 
Everything  else  has  being  from  another.  (6) 
For  the  proof  of  (4),  viz.  that  necessary  self-existence  pertains  only 
to  one,  see,  among  many  others,  Contra  Gentiles  II,  15,  5 :  '  quod  est  per 
se  necesse  esse... non  potest  esse  nisi  unum.'   The  proof  of  (3),  i.e.  that 
Being-from-self  argues  necessary  self-existence,  is  the  commonplace  '  ex 
se  necesse  esse  idem  quod  non  habere  esse  ab  alio.' 

DlNO   BlGONGIARI. 

New  York. 

Two  Charms  in  Low  German  Verse. 
I. 

£ne  segenywge  vor  dat  helsche  vur. 

O  Leue  herre  Jhesu  Crist, 

Du  alles  dy«ges  mechtich  bist : 

giff  hiite  dyne  mylde  crafft, 

dat  desse  mynsche  beholde  syne  macht, 

also  he  is  dyn  creatur  : 

he  sy  gesegent  vor  dat  helsche  vur. 

In  nomine  \>atris  et  filii  et  spmVus  sancti.   Amen. 

31—2 


480  Miscellaneous  Notes 

II. 

Wedder  den  ram  segge  aid  us : 

Unse  herre  got  vnde  sente  Peter  de  ginge?i 

ouer  enen  dam. 
Sente  Peter  den  wart  de  ram. 
Sente  Peter  sik  do  nedder  settede, 
vnse  leue  herre  got  em  dat  b0tede 
Myt  synen.  vorderew  dumew  : 
'  Ram  du  most  desse  stede  rumen.' 
In  godes  namea.   amen. 

dat  scnfft  sente  Lucas  nicht. 

The  above  charms  are  taken  from  MS.  Sloane  3002  of  the  British 
Museum,  a  fifteenth-century  MS.  written  by  a  Low  German  scribe, 
fol.  44v  and  68r.  For  a  detailed  description  of  it  I  refer  to  vol.  II  (1901), 
p.  31  of  my  Deutsche  Handschriften  in  England.  The  principal  contents 
of  the  MS.  consist  in  an  extensive  treatise  attributed  to '  meester  Albrecht 
van  Borgumen  in  Vlandernlande,' which  is  of  special  interest  as  apparently 
forming  the  chief  source  of  the  Low  German  Dildesche  Arstedie,  pub- 
lished by  Sven  Norrbom,  Hamburg,  1921  (cp.  Mod.  Lang.  Review, 
xviii,  pp.  232  ff.).  Albrecht  therefore  must  have  enjoyed  considerable 
authority,  and  the  presence  Of  these  charms  in  his  work,  side  by  side 
with  empiric  prescriptions  for  the  same  diseases,  proves  that  superstitious, 
sympathetic  cures  were  still  in  vogue  in  serious  medical  works ;  the 
scribal  remark1  at  the  end  of  the  second  charm  shows  that  this  one,  at 
any  rate,  cannot  be  merely  an  addition  by  the  copyist  of  a  late  date. 

For  the  names  of  the  diseases  cp.  M.  Hofler,  Deutsches  Krankheits- 
namenbuch,  1899,  pp.  136  and  149.  Helsch  vur  ('  hell  fire  '),  a  corruption 
for  helich  vur  =  ' ignis  sacer,'  is  accordingly  'jede  roseahnliche  oder 
rotlaufartige  Entztindung  der  Haut  mit  Neigung  zu  brandigem  oder 
geschwtirigem  Zerfall  des  Gewebes' ;  and  ram  (cp.  Anglo-Saxon  hramma) 
= '  spasm,'  '  cramp2.'  While  the  first  charm  takes  the  form  of  a  simple 
invocation  to  the  helper,  Christ,  the  second  preserves  the  old  narrative 
form,  ending  with  the  direct  appeal  to  the  disease  (demon  '  Ram ')  to 
leave  forthwith  the  person  attacked. 

R.  Priebsch. 

London. 

1  Proverbial ;  cp.  Wander,  Deutsches  Sprichworter-lexicon,  iii,  p.  281.  The  meaning  is  : 
'  this  is  not  so '  or  '  this  is  mere  folly.' 

2  Low  German  ramme,  ram,  which,  I  think,  should  be  kept  apart  from  (a)  ramp, 
(b)  krampe.    Cp.  Grimm,  D.Wb.,  viii,  76;  v,  2011-13. 


REVIEWS. 

Konig  Alfreds  des  Grossen  Bearbeitung  der  Soliloquien  des  Augustinus. 
Herausgegeben  von  W.  Endter.  (Bibliothek  der  angelsdchsischen 
Prosa,  XL  Band.)    Hamburg,  Henri  Grand,  1922.    98  pp. 

Professor  Hecht  and  the  publisher  of  the  Bibliothek  der  ags.  Prosa 
are  to  be  congratulated  on  the  fortitude  which  has  enabled  them  amid 
almost  unexampled  difficulties  to  continue  the  publication  of  this  justly 
famous  series  of  Anglo-Saxon  texts.  Their  indefatigable  zeal  and  faith 
in  the  future  of  Old  English  studies  in  Germany  merit  the  gratitude 
and  support  of  scholars  all  over  the  world. 

The  Soliloquies  of  Alfred  the  Great,  or  Alfred's  Blooms,  as  it  is  fami- 
liarly called  in  England,  is  a  welcome  addition  to  the  series.  Hargrove's, 
the  last  edition  of  the  Soliloquies,  was  published  over  twenty  years  ago, 
and  more  recent  research  has  made  a  new  edition  desirable.  It  has  been 
the  peculiar  good  fortune  of  Herr  Endter  (a  pupil  of  Professor  Holthausen) 
to  have  had  the  very  generous  assistance  of  Dr  Jost  of  Basel,  who  has 
become  a  recognised  authority  on  the  Soliloquies.  Dr  Jost  not  only 
placed  his  collections  of  material  at  the  disposal  of  Herr  Endter,  but 
also  submitted  his  text  to  a  careful  revision,  the  value  of  which  is 
apparent,  and  which  receives  due  acknowledgment  from  the  editor. 
Full  account  has  also  been  taken  of  the  work  of  other  scholars.  The 
only  important  omission  I  have  noticed  is  Mr  K.  Sisam's  article  on 
'  The  Beowulf  Manuscript '  (Modern  Language  Review,  xi,  pp.  335-7), 
an  omission  probably  due  to  war  conditions. 

The  fact  that  the  Soliloquies  exists  only  in  a  very  careless  manuscript 
belonging  to  the  second  quarter  of  the  twelfth  century  (it  is  now  bound 
up  with  the  Beowulf  manuscript)  makes  it  almost  hopeless  to  attain  a 
completely  satisfactory  text,  except  in  the  unlikely  event  of  the  dis- 
covery of  a  better  manuscript.  Herr  Endter's  edition  has  the  great  merit 
of  adhering  closely  to  the  manuscript,  noting  all  divergences,  and  dis- 
cussing difficulties  and  emendations  in  a  scholarly  commentary  and 
footnotes.  Considerations  of  cost  have  unfortunately  required  the  ex- 
cision of  his  grammatical  introduction. 

Herr  Endter  is  conservative  on  the  question  of  authorship.  '  The 
author  of  the  Soliloquies  was  Alfred  the  Great.'  He  groups  the  Soli- 
loquies with  the  Boethius,  and  places  it  at  the  close  of  the  king's  life. 
As  regards  the  sources,  he  is  content  to  quote  Brandl  (Geschichte  der 
englischen  Literatur,  I,  p.  1066),  but  refers  to  the  suggestion  of  Professor 
Forster  (and  Dr  Jost)  that  a  single  Latin  source  may  yet  be  discovered 
for  Book  in,  which  has  hitherto  been  regarded  as  a  selection  of '  blooms ' 
collected  from  various  Fathers  of  the  Church.  The  Latin  text  of  the 
Soliloquies  of  S.  Augustine  is  reproduced  wherever  it  is  relevant,  untrans- 
lated portions  being  distinguished  by  difference  of  type. 


482  Reviews 

In  a  new  edition  the  following  points  might  be  worthy  of  recon- 
sideration : 

(a)  Herr  Endter  explains  in  his  preface  and  on  p.  xiii  of  his  introduction  that 
he  has  adhered  strictly  to  the  text  of  the  manuscript  except  that  here  and  there  he 
has  inserted  a  dot  under  letters  that  are  to  be  deleted  ('Tilgungspunkte')  etc.,  in 
order  to  make  the  meaning  clearer.  This  seems  to  be  a  proceeding  of  very  dubious 
value,  especially  with  a  twelfth  century  MS.  Herr  Endter's  correction  in  a  great 
many  cases  amounts  to  no  more  than  the  substitution  of  an  earlier  O.E.  form  for 
a  perfectly  well  authenticated  twelfth  century  form  (e.g.  ]>incg,  2519,  eahgan,  ll10, 
soSfeestnesse,  nom.  519,  heafst,  2315,  etc.,  etc.).  Since  there  can  be  no  question  in  the 
extremely  corrupt  state  of  the  manuscript  of  restoring  the  original  text  of  Alfred,  it 
would  surely  have  been  better  to  have  corrected  obvious  scribal  errors,  giving  the 
MS.  reading  in  the  foot-notes,  but  leaving  well-attested  transition  or  late  spellings 
in  the  text. 

The  assimilation  of  t  +  s,  d  4-  s  to  s  appears  to  be  a  feature  of  the  scribe's  dialect 
and  should  be  left  unchanged.  E.g.  forlest  131,  ondrest  25u,  byst  ( =  bydst)  517,  ongyst 
6026,  gelsest  482,  etc. 

(b)  P.  I13.  '  7  para  7  peer  murge  7  softe  mid  meege  on  eardian.'  Possibly  we  may 
retain  the  MS.  reading' and  translate,  'and  there  and  therewith  may  very  pleasantly.' 
Still,  peer... on  would  perhaps  be  more  natural. 

P.  26.   Eead  topere  Isene  parallel  with  23. 

P.  321.  Cf.  stod  seo  dygle  stow  dryhtne  in  gemyndum  \  idel  7  semen,  Gu&lac  II, 
11.  215-6  (Gollancz,  p.  116). 

P.  41.  semenne  should  not  be  changed  to  semettan  with  Jost,  if  it  is  left  in  321 
where  it  seems  to  be  a  noun.  The  three  things  enumerated  in  321-22  are  then 
repeated  in  a  different  order  in  41-2. 

P.  517.   Why  change  the  MS.  ?   wrehft=wrecS  is  common  enough. 

P.  61.    Read  Ic  pe  bidde,  Drihten,  pu  pe,  etc. 

P.  82.    Read  gehwurfest,  not  gehwurfast  with  Jost. 

P.  98.  Delete  dot  under  the  s  of  gesceaftas :  the  pi.  in  -as  is  correct  for  this 
text. 

P.  910.  be  pinre  Mse  he  hweorftS  seo  heofene.  Delete  hi  which  is  possibly  ditto- 
graphy  for  Mse  or  Aeofene. 

P.  173-4.  Delete  dots  under  -sse  of  gescea[d]msnesse  and  translate,  'and  the  desire 
to  make  his  reason  more  profitable.'   [Cf.  however  B-t.  Supp.  s.v.  nytt.] 

P.  202.  Holthausen's  emendation  is  not  attractive.  Keep  the  MS.  nat  ic  hu  nyt 
pu  me  pi  par  tsece,  where  pipar=pider. 

P.  2114.  In  view  of  the  Latin  Mi  enim  sapientem  errare  noluerunt,  I  think  we 
must  read  for&am  hi  ssedon  pset  naefre  nan  wis  man  maarre,  in  spite  of  the  editor's 
plea  that  naere  will  give  a  suitable  sense. 

P.  2320.   In  buton  ge  be  gesegenum,  ge  is  possibly  an  anticipation  of  gesegenum. 

P.  309.  hlaford  of  course  gives  good  sense,  but  it  is  difficult  to  see  why  such  a 
common  word  should  have  been  transmuted  into  hofent  or  hofeut.  Hofding  might 
have  been  transformed,  but  I  have  Dr  Craigie's  authority  for  stating  that  he  is  quite 
certain  Alfred  did  not  write  hofding,  which  is  a  late  Scandinavian  word,  and  not 
used  of  a  ship's  captain. 

P.  316.   Something  has  been  omitted  between  mdran  and  pe  psene  creft,  etc. 

P.  3618.  For  dnpeod,  which  E.  explains  as  3  sg.  ind.  of  onpeod(d)an,  read  under- 
peod  with  Holthausen.  Even  were  E.'s  explanation  of  the  form  probable,  it  is  impos- 
sible here  as  the  construction  requires  the  subjunctive,  not  the  indicative. 

P.  401  (note).  Holthausen  is  right.  Both  sense  and  gender  require  graf=l  grove.' 
The  grove  is  cut  down,  but  the  roots  are  not  yet  removed. 

P.  4023-24.  The  assumption  of  a  lacuna  seems  hardly  necessary.  '  Then  said  she: 
But  how  if  they  hinder  and  impede  you,  [I  mean]  the  infirmities  of  the  body.  Then 
said  I,  True  [They  probably  will],  but,  etc'  [For  the  construction  cf.  he  wot  self—se 
\oisdom  4817.] 


Reviews  483 

P.  482.  The  emendation  in  the  text  and  Jost's  suggestion  are  both  unnecessary. 
fionne  ic  nat  peak  me  licie  seo  to  <5am  wel  pset,  etc.  = '  then  perhaps  it  will  please  me 
so  much  that.'   For  ndt  peak,  cf.  unc&S  J>$ah  509. 

p.  498.    Read  ahebbe  in  the  text. 

P.  5013  (note).  There  is  no  doubt  at  all  that  secgen,  =secgan  or  secan  (Jost),  is 
dependent  on  uton. 

P.  6722.  Bracket  gaef>  and  translate,  'But  it  has  been  promised  us  beyond  a 
doubt  when  we  leave  this  world  and  the  soul  is  released  from  the  prison-house  of 
the  body ' — reading  etc  us  hys  gehaten  butan  selcum  tweon  swa  swa  we  of  pisse  weorulde 
weorftah,  7  seo  sawle  of  psere  carcerne  [gseft]  J>ms  lichaman  aletan  6y&",  etc. 

The  annotations  as  a  rule  are  scholarly  and  to  the  point,  but  some 
space  might  have  been  saved  by  the  omission  of  a  number  of  notes  of 
the  type  of  'Augustinus  (354-430),  Bischof  von  Hippo  Regius,  Vertreter 
der  strengen  Pradestinationslehre,Verfasser  zahlreicher  Schriften'.(p.72), 
'  Platon  (427-347),  griechischer  Philosoph,  Begriinder  der  Ideenlehre.' 
Remarks  like  these  savour  too  much  of  glimpses  into  the  obvious,  and 
are  surely  not  required  even  by  the  modern  specialist  in  English. 

S.  J.  Crawford. 

Southampton. 

An  Enterlude  of  Welth  and  Helth.  Eine  englische  Moralitat  des  XVI. 
Jahrhunderts.  Herausg.  von  F.  Holthausen.  Zweite,  verbesserte 
Auflage.  (Englische  Textbibliothek,  xvii.)  Heidelberg :  C.  Winter. 
1922.    8vo.   xix  +  50  pp. 

The  first  edition  of  this  little  book  appeared  in  1908  as  a  '  Festschrift ' 
of  the  University  of  Kiel.  In  its  present  form,  it  has  been  considerably 
altered  and  improved.  Professor  Holthausen  with  justice  draws  attention 
to  his  success  in  interpreting  the  Flemish  and  Spanish  passages,  which 
Mr  Farmer  had  been  content  to  dismiss  as  hopeless  jargon.  Some 
additional  light  has  been  thrown  on  the  local  and  historical  allusions  in 
the  play.  It  is  almost  superfluous  to  remark  that  the  editing  has  been 
done  in  a  thoroughly  scholarly  manner.  It  calls  for  little  comment 
except  perhaps  in  the  following  passages : 

(1)  Ye  know  that  we  twayne  [go]  afore  any  other  : 

Lyberty  must  nedes  haue  styll. 
Lybertie  on  vs  is  glade  to  wayte.     (259-61.) 

Professor  Holthausen  inserts  go  after  twayne,  and  translates  haue  (260) 
as,  'betake  oneself  to,'  'go.'  He  adds  that  he  regards  his  emendation  as 
an  improvement  upon  Farmer  who  takes  we  twayne  (i.e.  Welth  and  Helth) 
as  subject,  Lyberty  as  object  and  haue  as  predicate.  Farmer's  way  strikes 
us  as  much  more  natural  than  Dr  Holthausen's. 

(2)  Ic  ben  de  manikin  van  de  koining(s) -daughter, 

De  grot  keyser(s)  kind  ;  ic  bene  sin  musketer.     (391-2.) 

England  must  have  been  almost  too  familiar  with  people  like  Hance, 
towards  the  end  of  the  15th  century.  In  1487  Margaret  of  Burgundy 
sent  over  2000  mercenaries  from  the  Low  Countries  to  the  assistance  of 
Lambert  Simnel.  Martin  Schwartz,  their  captain,  was  killed  in  the  Battle 
of  Stoke  (1487).    He  afterwards  became  a  hero  in  his  way,  and  was 


484  Reviews 

honoured  with  mention  by  Skelton  and  in  an  interlude  called,  '  The 
Longer  thou  livest,  the  more  Fool  thou  art.'  After  Stoke  there  must 
have  been  a  plethora  of  Dutch  bombardiers  and  musketeers  in  England. 

(3)  And  to  these  many  charges  come  now-a-dayes.     (569.) 

Professor  Holthausen  notes  :  '  charges  :  der  Sinn  dieses  vieldeutigen 
Wortes  ist  mir  nicht  klar.'  The  sense  will  be  quite  good,  if  we  take  it 
to  mean  '  burdens,'  and  refer  it  to  the  heavy  burdens  of  taxation  imposed 
upon  the  wealthy  by  Henry  VII  and  his  ministers  Empson,  Dudley,  and 
Cardinal  Morton. 

(4)  Yet  be  of  good  chere,  and  show  how  you  were  infect ! 
To  remedy  you  and  succour  you  I  wold  be  very  glad, 

For  God  wyl  punish  the  people,  when  they  be  detelt.     (784-6.) 

Professor  Holthausen  reads  defect  for  detelt.  Detect  would  suit  the 
context.  Remedy  is  urging  Helth  to  tell  him  who  had  mishandled  him, 
and  proposes  to  have  them  punished  when  he  finds  out  their  names. 

(5)  Whan  man  is  wel  punished  then  he  wyl  beware. 

Who  that  knoweth  what  nede  is,  wil  after  drede  care.     (895-6.) 

'  after  drede :  nach  dem  Schrecken,  wenn  der  Schrecken  voriiber  ist  ? ' 
(Holthausen).  But  this  seems  to  be  going  out  of  the  way  to  create  a 
difficulty.  Why  not  translate — 'When  a  man  has  been  severely  punished, 
he  will  beware.  He  who  knows  what  need  is  (i.e.  he  who  has  once  ex- 
perienced it)  will  afterwards  dread  sorrow '  ? 

S.  J.  Crawford. 

Southampton. 


The  Foundations  of  Shakespeare's  Text.    By  A.  W.  Pollard  (British 
Academy).    London :  H.  Milford.    1923.    8vo.   18  pp.    Is. 

Professor  Pollard's  British  Academy  Lecture  sets  out  in  pleasant 
and  luminous  form  speculations  as  to  the  nature  of  the  copy  for  the 
First  Folio  and  the  way  in  which  it  was  dealt  with  by  the  printers, 
which  he  and  others  have  already  made  familiar  in  more  technical 
detail.  The  conclusion  is  one  of  qualified  optimism  and  decent  gratitude. 
One  rather  new  point  attracts  my  attention.  Professor  Pollard  thinks 
that  it  would  be  natural  to  send  a  prompt  copy  to  the  printers,  on  the 
ground  that  the  production  of  the  manuscript  on  which  the  censor's 
licence  was  inscribed  '  would  carry  all  before  it,'  as  a  means  of  persuading 
the  wardens  of  the  Stationers'  Company  that  a  play  might  be  printed 
without  special  '  authority '  being  obtained  for  it.  It  is  no  doubt  the 
case  that  from  the  end  of  1606  onwards  the  register  entries  of  nearly 
all  London  plays  record  the  '  hand '  upon  the  copy  of  Edmund  Tilney 
or  Sir  George  Buck  or  a  deputy,  and  I  understand  Professor  Pollard  to 
suppose  this  '  hand '  to  be  merely  the  authority  of  the  Master  of  the 
Revels  for  performance  and  not  a  fresh  authority  for  printing.  I  had 
myself  supposed  that  separate  authority  was  required  for  printing,  and 
that  an  arrangement  was  made  in  1606  whereby  the  Master  of  the 


Reviews  485 

Revels  acted  as  an  ecclesiastical  licenser  for  this  purpose.  Professor 
Pollard's  theory  has  its  attractions.  I  should  however  like  him  to  reflect 
upon  two  points,  which  at  least  require  some  elaboration  of  the  theory. 
One  is  that  two  of  the  plays  thus  printed  with  Buck's  hand  to  them, 
Histriomastix  and  What  you  Will,  are  generally,  and  I  think  rightly, 
taken  to  have  been  produced  upon  the  stage  before  we  have  any  reason 
to  suppose  that  Buck  was  acting  as  Master.  The  other  is  that  George 
Chapman  wrote  a  letter  (Athenaeum,  April  6,  1901),  almost  certainly  to 
the  Master  of  the  Revels  about  Byron  in  1608,  in  which  he  complains 
that  the  play,  although  it  had  '  the  thrice  allowance  of  the  Counsaile  for 
the  presentment,'  had  been  further  revised  by  the  Master  for  the  press, 
and  also  refers  to  '  both  the  copies '  in  a  way  which  suggests  that  the 
copy  offered  for  a  printing  licence  was  not  the  same  as  that  licensed  for 
acting.  Of  course  I  should  admit  that  Byron  may  have  been  a  special 
case.  It  had  led  to  diplomatic  trouble,  and  had  apparently  been  subse- 
quently licensed  for  continued  performance,  presumably  in  a  revised 
form,  not  by  the  Master  but  by  the  Privy  Council  itself. 

E.  K.  Chambers. 
London. 

The  Stagery  of  Shakespeare.   By  R.  Crompton  Rhodes.   Birmingham  : 

Cornish  Brothers.    1922.    xi  +  102  pp.    4s.  6d. 
Shakespeare's  First  Folio.  A  Study.   By  R.  Crompton  Rhodes.  Oxford : 

Blackwell.    1923.    147  pp.   4s.  6d. 

The  first  of  these  tractates  deals  with  the  nature  of  the  stage- 
directions  in  Shakespearian  texts,  with  the  use  of  doors  and  balconies 
on  the  stage,  with  the  '  assembling '  of  texts,  and  with  the  problems  of 
continuous  performance  and  change  of  locality.  Mr  Rhodes  has  the 
advantage  of  practical  acquaintance  with  theatrical  productions  as  a 
dramatic  critic  of  experience,  and  perhaps  the  habit  of  composing  in  the 
foyer  shortly  before  midnight  helps  to  explain  a  certain  want  of  lucidity 
in  his  exposition  which  has  occasionally  puzzled  me.  He  has  some 
sensible  things  to  say,  but  I  do  not  feel  that  he  grapples  fully  with  such 
matters  as  the  difficulty  of  working  with  a  three-door  stage  or  the  com- 
parative disuse  of  the  after-stage  recess  in  the  seventeenth  century. 
And  I  am  sure  that  he  fetters  himself  unduly  by  deliberately  concen- 
trating his  attention  upon  the  Shakespearian  texts.  That  is  far  too 
narrow  a  basis  for  induction,  as  his  own  observations  upon  the  practical 
absence  in  Shakespearian  stage-directions  of  references  to  curtains,  dis- 
coveries, or  balconies  should  have  shown  him.  After  all,  Shakespeare 
did  not  write  for  stages  of  which  he  had  the  monopoly.  The  second 
tractate  is  a  'tercentenary'  publication.  It  covers  a  good  deal  of  ground 
already  well  trodden  by  bibliographical  students  of  the  Folios  and 
Quartos,  and  is  liberal  in  conjectures  which  I  find  it  difficult  to  discuss 
in  the  absence  of  any  evidence  by  which  to  control  them.  Mr  Rhodes  is 
a  believer  in  the  'assembling'  of  texts,  and  shares  credit  with  Mr  Dover 


486  Reviews 

Wilson  for  the  formulation  of  the  doctrine.  He  suggests  that  the  copy- 
derived  from  parts  proved  particularly  legible  and  intelligible,  and  that 
this  may  have  been  'due  to  the  Roman  script  in  the  players'  parts 
instead  of  old  English,  as  in  the  older  prompt-books.'  And  he  suggests 
that,  while  the  prompt-books  of  certain  plays  may  have  been  burnt  at 
the  Globe,  the  parts  'had  been  taken  to  the  Blackfriars.'  This  is  an 
arrangement  which  is  more  likely  to  have  occurred  to  the  players  after 
the  fire,  when,  as  Ben  Jonson  points  out,  the  loss  of  their  thatched  roof 
left  them  with  'wit  since  to  cover  it  with  tiles.'  But  of  course  the 
conjecture  is  the  mere  superfluity  of  naughtiness,  for  Mr  Rhodes  calls 
attention  elsewhere  to  the  want  of  proof  that  any  books  at  all  were 
burnt.  I  am  more  interested  in  Mr  Rhodes's  theory  that  a  protection 
against  the  printers  given  to  the  King's  men  by  William  Earl  of 
Pembroke  as  Lord  Chamberlain  may  have  been  motived  by  Jaggard 
and  Pavier's  reprints  of  1619.  Perhaps  the  document  in  which  this 
protection  is  mentioned  has  not  passed  quite  so  completely  into  oblivion 
as  Mr  Rhodes  thinks.  It  was  cited  in  the  Collections  of  the  Malone 
Society  for  1911,  where  a  similar  protection  by  Lord  Essex  is  printed. 
I  may  add  that  the  Earl  of  Pembroke  ceased  to  be  Lord  Chamberlain, 
not  in  1625  as  Mr  Rhodes  says,  but  in  1626,  and  that,  as  the  protection 
is  said  in  1637  to  have  been  given  to  '  his  majesties  servants '  and  not 
to  '  his  late  majesties  servants,'  there  is  some  prima  facie  probability 
that  it  was  given  in  1625-6,  rather  than  in  1619.  Unfamiliarity  with 
general  history  has  perhaps  led  Mr  Rhodes  into  writing  'Lord  Harrison' 
(p.  68),  instead  of  '  Lord  Stanhope  of  Harrington,'  and  '  Lord  Robert 
Cecil '  (p.  94),  instead  of  '  Lord  Cecil '  or  '  Sir  Robert  Cecil.'  But  some- 
thing else  must  explain  the  appearance  of  '  Perowne '  (p.  139),  instead 
of '  Berowne,'  as  a  character  in  Love's  Labours  Lost. 

E.  K.  Chambers. 
London. 


Der  Weg  zu  Shakespeare  und  das  Hamletdrama.    Eine  Umkehr.   Von 
L.  Morsbach.    Halle:  Max  Niemeyer.    1922.    8vo.   viii  +  lllpp. 

Every  student  of  Hamlet  has  his  own  way  out  of  its  difficulties,  and 
has  to  confess  that  difficulties  still  remain.  Professor  Morsbach  is  as 
confident  that  he  has  found  a  solution  as  any  of  the  rest  of  us,  but  we 
doubt  if  his  solution  will  gain  much  acceptance.  He  considers  that 
Shakespeare  subordinates  character  to  plot.  He  had  further  found  in 
Belleforest  that  Hamlet  is  a  man  of  determination  and  that  if  he  is 
slow  in  acting,  his  slowness  is  due  to  his  prudence,  the  hindrances  in 
his  way  being  very  formidable.  Shakespeare  in  the  first  Act  of  the 
tragedy  therefore  represents  Hamlet  as  a  determined  character  (this 
perhaps  may  be  disputed)  and  it  is  not  his  way  to  undo  in  later  Acts 
the  impression  he  has  produced  in  the  first.  Hamlet  has  not  merely  to 
avenge  his  father,  but  to  set  the  world  right,  and  the  task  needs  much 
thought  and  caution.    His  delay  does  not  spring  from  any  internal 


Reviews  487 

weakness  or  reluctance,  bub  from  circumstances  without.  Professor 
Morsbach  apparently  holds  that  Hamlet  intended  to  achieve  his  end  in 
the  Play-scene,  but  somehow  missed  his  opportunity  (this  is  not  made 
very  clear).    But  he  keeps  his  character  throughout  as  a  resolute  man. 

The  obvious  answer  to  this  theory  is  found  first  in  the  confessions 
and  self-upbraidings  of  Hamlet's  soliloquies,  and  secondly  in  the  ease 
with  which  Laertes  in  a  similar  situation  to  Hamlet  roused  the  people 
on  his  side.  Surely  for  Hamlet,  with  his  claims  to  the  kingdom,  the  task 
would  have  been  a  much  easier  one.  • 

Professor  Morsbach  discounts  evidence  drawn  from  the  soliloquies 
on  the  ground  that  they  were  uttered  in  moments  of  passion,  and  do 
not  really  reflect  Hamlet's  character.  Laertes,  he  thinks,  is  not  set  in 
contrast  to  Hamlet.  Laertes  had  less  to  consider  and  could  naturally 
act  with  more  promptitude. 

In  minor  points  Professor  Morsbach  is  conservative.  He  makes  no 
doubt  that  Hamlet  was  written  in  the  winter  of  1601-2  and  that  Kyd 
was  the  author  of  the  Ur-Hamlet.  He  makes  the  ingenious  suggestion 
that  the  reference  to  Claudius's  drinking-habits  in  Act  I  gives  point  to 
his  being  forced  to  drink  the  poisoned  cup  at  the  end. 

G.  C.  Moore  Smith. 

Sheffield. 

Shakespeare  and  the  Universities  and  other  Studies  in  Elizabethan  Drama. 
By  Frederick  S.  Boas.  Oxford:  Basil  Blackwell.  1923.  viii  + 
272  pp.   12s.  Qd. 

The  delightful  and  instructive  papers  here  collected  are  some  of 
them  new,  some  of  them  reprinted  from  The  Contemporary,  The  Fort- 
nightly and  The  Times  Literary  Supplement.  But  readers  of  those 
journals  will  be  glad  to  possess  Professor  Boas's  studies  in  their  new 
setting  and  in  the  beautiful  type  of  the  Shakespeare  Head  Press. 
The  author  claims  that  the  collection  has  a  unity  of  interest : 
The  individual  chapters... are  intended  to  have  a  general  inter-relation.  They 
illustrate  for  the  most  part  the  influence  on  the  presentation  by  professional  actors 
of  stage  plays  in  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries  of  two  external  bodies — 
the  Universities  and  the  Office  of  the  Kevels. 

After  an  introductory  chapter,  we  have  in  Chapter  II  a  discussion  of 
the  claim  made  in  the  First  Quarto  of  Hamlet  that  the  play  had  been 
acted  '  in  the  two  Vniuersities  of  Cambridge  and  Oxford.'  The  claim  is 
a  puzzling  one,  but  our  general  knowledge  of  University  life  at  this 
time  and  of  the  attitude  of  the  Universities  to  professional  actors — an 
attitude  on  which  Dr  Boas  here  and  elsewhere  has  himself  thrown  so 
much  new  light — seems  to  me  to  compel  us  to  accept  his  conclusion 
that  Hamlet  had  not  been  acted  in  any  University  or  college  hall  either 
by  members  of  the  University  or  by  professional  actors.  To  explain  the 
claim  Dr  Boas  makes  a  rather  bold  suggestion.  There  is  no  evidence, 
he  says,  that  the  Lord  Chamberlain's  company  travelled — as  has  so 
frequently  been  assumed — in  1601.  On  the  other  hand,  the  company 


488  Reviews 

(then   Lord  Strange's  men)  was  at  Oxford  (no  doubt  acting  in  an 
inn  yard)  in  October  1593  and  at  Cambridge  in  1594-5. 

Why  should  not  Hamlet,  as  it  appears  in  the  first  quarto,  have  been  written 
between  1592  and  1594  I 

The  objection  that,  if  it  had  been  acted  before  1598,  it  must  have  been 
mentioned  by  Meres  is  a  serious  one.  But  it  is  pointed  out  that  Meres 
did  not  mention  Henry  VI,  so  that  his  list  need  not  be  considered  ex- 
haustive. In  support  of  his  theory  that  Hamlet  had  been  handled  by 
Shakespeare  years  earlier  than  is  generally  believed,  Dr  Boas  appeals 
to  the  famous  testimony  of  Gabriel  Harvey  written  in  Speght's  Chaucer, 
and  brings  forward  fresh  grounds  for  considering  that  entry  to  have 
been  made  in  1598.  In  spite  of  the  difficulties  in  the  way,  I  have 
myself  always  been  of  that  opinion.  Even  so,  however,  we  seem  to 
require  further  evidence  that  Shakespeare's  play  goes  back  as  far  as 
1593. 

Chapter  in  gives  us  an  interesting  synopsis  of  the  different  ways  in 
which  Shakespeare  touched  the  two  Universities  during  three  centuries : 
Chapter  iv,  while  it  hardly  bears  on  any  influence  exerted  on  players 
by  the  Universities  or  the  Master  of  the  Revels,  ably  defends  against 
impugners  the  truth  of  a  delightful  story  of  the  acting  of  Hamlet  on 
4  Sept.  and  of  Richard  II  on  30  Sept.  1607  on  board  a  merchant-ship 
off  Sierra  Leone  in  honour  of  a  negro  visitor  of  high  standing. 

The  remaining  chapters  deal  mainly  with  some  of  the  fifteen  plays 
contained  in  Egerton  MS.  1994,  and  show  in  two  cases  the  character  of 
the  alterations  demanded  by  the  official  Censor.  The  fact  that  the  very 
manuscript  which  had  been  submitted  to  the  Master  of  the  Revels  was 
afterwards  used  in  the  theatre  has  an  important  bearing  on  some  present- 
day  controversies  in  regard  to  Shakespeare's  text : 

The  manuscript  of  The  Lanchinge  of  the  Mary  is  of  exceptional  interest.  Written 
on  shipboard,  censored  by  the  Master  of  the  Revels,  revised  by  the  author,  anno- 
tated by  the  playhouse  manager,  it  exhibits  all  the  stages  through  which  the  '  copy ' 
of  a  play  passed  before  (if  ever)  it  was  sent  to  the  printer's...  The  manuscript  in 
the  condition  in  which  it  has  come  down  to  us  is  a  document  that  lends  support  to 
the  view  that  in  the  case  of  Shakespeare  and  the  other  great  Elizabethan  dramatists 
the  author's  autograph  copy  was  used  and  annotated, in  the  theatre,  and  that  it  was 
from  this  copy  that  the  printer  set  up  his  text. 

But  the  various  chapters  given  to  The  Lanchinge  of  the  Mary  have 
far  more  than  this  bibliographical  interest.  The  discovery  of  the  author- 
ship of  the  play,  the  detection  of  its  source,  the  romantic  life-history 
of  the  dramatist,  who  wrote  the  play  in  1632  on  a  long  twelve-months' 
voyage  back  from  India  in  order  to  ingratiate  himself  with  his  masters, 
the  Directors  of  the  East  India  Company, — all  are  the  fruits  of  a  bril- 
liant piece  of  literary  research.  The  play  itself,  with  its  defence  of 
foreign  trade  and  the  insight  it  gives  us  into  the  methods  of  the  East 
India  Company  and  the  life  led  by  its  agents  abroad  and  their  forsaken 
wives  at  home,  is  a  vivid  historical  document,  and  shows,  if  not,  as 
Dr  Boas  laments,  actual  poetical  quality,  at  any  rate,  some  literary  power. 

Of  the  three  other  plays  of  which  Dr  Boas  treats,  two  are  from  the 


Reviews  489 

same  Egerton  MS.,  the  third  (John  Wilson's  play,  The  Cheats)  from  a 
Worcester  College  MS.  The  text  of  the  last  differs  much  from  the 
printed  text,  chiefly  because  it  is  in  the  form  in  which  it  was  submitted 
to  the  Master  of  the  Revels  about  1662  and  contains  passages  which  he 
ordered  to  be  excised.  Herbert's  censorial  principles,  as  Dr  Boas  shows, 
remained  the  same  to  the  end. 

In  the  case  of  the  other  two  plays,  Edmond  Ironside  and  Thomas  of 
Woodstock  (called  by  Keller  Richard  II,  Erster  Teil),  Dr  Boas  gives 
many  cogent  reasons  for  dating  them  both  about  1590  in  spite  of  the 
fact  that  in  the  Egerton  MS.  they  bear  the  names  of  actors  of  the 
middle  of  the  seventeenth  century  and  are  associated  with  plays  of  that 
period.  Dr  Boas's  reasons  do  not  apparently  quite  convince  himself,  but 
I  believe  that  many  of  his  readers  will  think  them  hard  to  get  over. 

The  volume  contains  perhaps  more  misprints  than  one  would  expect, 
and  on  p.  156  the  line  at  the  top  should  be  transferred  to  the  bottom. 
And  there  are,  of  course,  here  and  there  statements  to  which  one  may 
take  exception. 

P.  23,  note1.  Dr  Boas  claims  that  no  commentator  before  him  took 
'  innovation '  ('  by  means  of  the  late  innovation ')  in  the  sense  of  '  insur- 
rection.' But  Mr  E.  K.  Chambers  in  his  edition  of  Hamlet  ('  Warwick 
Shakespeare')  of  1894,  p.  196,  interprets  'innovation'  as  'political  in- 
novation or  conspiracy.' 

P.  49.  Dr  Boas  speaks  of  Wily  BeguiVd  as  '  almost  certainly  a  Cam- 
bridge play.' 

In  the  Studies  in  Philology  of  the  University  of  North  Carolina, 
vol.  xix,  p.  206,  Mr  Baldwin  Maxwell  argues  that  it  is  a  recast  made 
for  the  London  stage  about  1601  of  the  old  play  Wylie  Beguylie  per- 
formed at  Merton  College,  Oxford,  in  156f.  The  name  'Will  Cricket' 
suggests  however  some  connexion  with  Nicholas  Cricket  of  Club  Law 
(1599). 

P.  51.   '  Richard  Burton '  should  be  '  Robert  Burton.' 

P.  88,  note1 :  'a  play  entitled  Corus!  Is  it  not  likely  that  the  play 
has  no  title  and  that  '  Corus  '  ('  Chorus ')  is  merely  the  heading  to  the 
opening  passage  ?  There  is  no  other  reason  for  the  title  of  the  Cam- 
bridge play  Hymenceus. 

P.  103.  Anth[ony]  Brew.  This  actor  in  The  Two  Noble  Ladies  is 
taken  by  Dr  Boas  to  be  the  Antony  Bray  who  was  with  the  King's 
Revels  Company  at  Norwich  in  1635.  Might  he  not  however  be  Anthony 
Brewer,  author  of  The  Lovesick  King  (of  uncertain  date)  ?  Nothing  else 
seems  to  be  known  of  Brewer. 

P.  106.    '  Nathaniel  Richard's '  should  be  '  Nathanael  Richards'.' 

Pp.  196  and  230.  What  is  Mountford's  word  '  Carolique '  ?  Is  it  for 
•  Catolique '  ?    Some  explanation  seems  to  be  required. 

P.  231.  '  He  drowne  myselfe  in  Amwell  or  in  Thames.'  Dr  Boas 
strangely  suggests  some  reference  here  to  Hamlet  and  Ophelia's  death 
by  drowning  in  a  river.  Surely  Trunnell  means  by  'Amwell'  the  New 
River:  'Waters  of  Sir  Hugh  Middleton!'  Elia  cries,...' was  it  for  this, 
that...  I  paced  the  vale  of  Amwell  to  explore  your  tributary  springs?' 


490  Reviews 

But  if  there  are  motes  that  here  and  there  intrude  into  the  sunbeam, 
no  review  can  do  justice  to  the  varied  interest  of  this  volume  of  papers, 
so  gracefully  written  and  testifying  to  so  much  happily-rewarded  in- 
vestigation. 

G.  C.  Mooee  Smith. 

Sheffield. 


Aus  Dichtung  und  Sprache  der  Romanen.  Vortrage  und  Skizzen  von 
Heinrich  Morf.  Dritte  Reihe,  herausgegeben  von  Eva  Seifert. 
Berlin :  Vereinigung  wissenschaftlicher  Verleger.  1922.  8vo.  viii 
+  422  pp. 

It  is  not  without  sadness  that  we  turn  the  leaves  of  this  volume 
which  contains  the  last  contributions  of  the  great  scholar  and  humanist. 
Fourteen  essays  have  been  united,  three  of  which  had  never  been  published 
before  :  Molieres  Hoffestspiel  vom  '  Tartuffe,1  Lessings  Urteil  ilber  Voltaire, 
and  Fe'nelon.  Nine  others  are  reprinted  from  periodicals  not  easily  acces- 
sible outside  of  Switzerland  and  Germany.  Two  are  reprinted  from  the 
Sitzungsberichte  of  the  Berlin  Academy  :  Vom  Ursprung  der  provenzali- 
schen  Schriftsprache  and  Galeotto  fu  il  libro  e  chi  lo  scrisse.  But  no  one 
will  regret  to  find  them  in  this  handy  volume  instead  of  having  to  con- 
sult the  ponderous  tomes  of  the  Academy  publications. 

The  selection  of  the  essays  reprinted  testifies  to  the  good  judgment 
of  the  editor ;  some  of  them,  especially  those  on  Cervantes  and  his  work, 
are  among  the  most  charming  and  most  humane  Morf  ever  wrote.  It  is 
also  to  be  approved  that  at  least  two  of  his  pedagogical  essays,  Vom 
linguistischen  Denken  and  Uber  Aufgabe  und  Methode  der  Volksvorle- 
sungen,  were  included ;  for  Morf 's  views  on  pedagogical  questions  were 
remarkably  advanced  over  those  of  most  of  his  contemporaries.  We 
should  perhaps  have  liked  to  find  again  his  essay  on  Voltaires  Jugend, 
published  in  the  Sonntagsblatt  of  the  Berner  Bund,  that  on  Voltaires 
Weltanschauung,  from  the  Neue  Ziiricher  Zeitung,  or  those  on  Voltaire 
und  der  Gottesglaube,  in  Die  Nation,  and  on  Friedrich  der  Grosse  als 
Aufkldrer,  published  in  Wissen  und  Leben. 

Here  it  will  be  necessary  only  to  give  some  discussion  to  the  studies 
on  the  Tartuffe  and  on  the  affair  Voltaire-Lessing. 

Misinterpreting  a  statement  of  Lagrange's  register  that  the  troop 
performed,  in  the  spring  of  1664,  three  acts  of  Tartuffe  'qui  etaient  les 
trois  premiers/  scholars  have  assumed  that  the  Ur-Tartuffe  ended  with 
Act  ill  of  the  extant  play  and  that  Acts  IV  and  v  were  added  later. 
Morf  points  out  that  this  theory  rests  upon  a  dramatic  impossibility,  as 
in  that  case  the  play  would  have  ended  with  the  triumph  of  Tartuffe 
('  La  volonte*  du  Ciel  soit  faite  en  toute  chose ').  Moreover,  Act  v  is 
distinctly  a  flattery  addressed  to  the  king  and  would  agree  most  appro- 
priately with  the  character  of  the  drama  as  a  festival  play  acted  at 
Versailles.  The  existence  of  Act  v  makes  necessary  that  of  Act  iv  in 
which  Tartuffe's  hypocrisy  is  revealed.  From  other  evidence  we  know 
that  Moliere  added  two  more  acts  in  the  autumn  of  the  same  year  1664. 


Reviews  491 

Still,  the  work  was  not  done,  as  the  poet  continued  remodelling  the 
fourth  act  which  was  above  all  responsible  for  the  war  waged  against 
him  by  the  bigots  of  the  capital.  When  finally  the  royal  privilege  for 
publication  is  obtained,  in  1669,  Moliere  states  that  he  had  done  his 
best  to  distinguish,  in  his  play,  the  hypocrite  from  the  true  devotee. 
1  J'ai  employe  pour  cela  deux  actes  eutiers  a  preparer  la  venue  de  mon 
scelerat.'  From  this  statement  only  one  conclusion  can  be  drawn,  viz., 
that  the  two  acts  added  were  Acts  I  and  II.  If  the  poet  had  added  the 
last  two  acts  to  the  Ur-Tartuffe  he  would  thereby  have  made  the  play 
still  more  dangerous,  while  all  his  statements  tend  to  assure  us  of  the 
contrary.  With  Acts  I  and  II  the  love  plot  of  Marianne  and  Valere  was 
added  which  did  not  form  a  part  of  the  action  of  the  original  three-act 
play.  Finally  Morf  adduces  evidence  to  show  that  the  statement  of  the 
Lagrange  register  cannot  be  held  to  be  sure  evidence,  as  it  was  composed 
a  long  time  after  the  events ; '  premier '  in  the  statement  in  question  must 
be  considered  as  the  synonym  of '  original.'  The  result  of  this  study,  based 
on  a  masterly  analysis  of  the  play  and  its  technique,  throws  an  entirely 
new  light  on  the  genesis  of  Tartuffe.  It  may  be  brought  out  here  that 
this  genesis  does  not  appear  to  have  been  known  even  to  the  playwrights 
of  the  following  century ;  for  the  remarkable  and  rare  instance  of  the 
hero  appearing  on  the  stage  not  earlier  than  the  third  act  seems  to 
have  made  a  lasting  impression  on  all  those  interested  in  stage  craft. 
As  is  well  known,  Voltaire  tried  the  same  experiment  in  his  tragedy 
Herode  et  Mariamne — and  failed. 

The  study  on  the  relations  of  Voltaire  and  Lessing  presents  facts 
which  are  in  general  known  in  England  and  America,  more  so,  it  would 
appear,  than  in  Germany,  where  the  historians  of  German  literature 
and  the  Lessing  biographers  have  insisted  upon  seeing  in  Voltaire  just 
the  bSte  noire  and  in  the  twenty-two-year-old  student  Lessing  the  author 
of  Minna  von  Barnhelm  and  Nathan.  Morf  rightly  points  out  the  unfair- 
ness of  such  an  attitude,  and  shows  that  in  the  affair  Voltaire  was  clearly 
in  the  right  and  Lessing  in  the  wrong.  Furthermore,  it  is  rash  to  state 
that  Voltaire  slandered  Lessing  by  reporting  the  matter  to  the  king 
and  that  Lessing  from  that  time  on  bore  Voltaire  an  implacable  hatred. 
There  is  no  evidence  that  Voltaire  mentioned  the  affair  to  Frederick  at 
all,  and  enough  reasons  are  given  to  explain  Lessing's  unfavourable 
opinion  of  the  French.  But  Morf  admits  that  it  is  not  clear  why 
Frederick  later  appeared  decidedly  prejudiced  against  Lessing. 

Alexander  Haggerty  Krappe. 
Flat  Kivbr,  Mo.,  U.S.A. 

La  Vie  de  Saint  Thomas  le  Martyr  par  Guernes  de  Pont-Sainte-Maxence. 
Poeme  historique  du  Xlle  siecle,  publie  par  E.  Walberg.  (Skrifter 
utgivna  av  kungl.  humanisti'ska  Vetenskapssamfundet  i  Lund,  V.) 
Lund  :  C.  W.  K.  Gleerup.   1922.   8vo.   clxxx  +  385  pp. 

This  interesting  poem  has  till  now  been  available  only  in  the  in- 
adequate editions  published  by  Bekker  in  1838  and  by  Hippeau  in  1859. 


492  Reviews 

M.  Walberg's  edition  is  a  great  advance  upon  these  in  completeness, 
and  will  be  welcomed  by  students  of  Old  French  and  Anglo-Norman. 
His  text  is  based  on  the  MS.  of  Wolfenbtittel,  published  by  Bekker, 
with  the  variants  of  the  Paris  MS.,  and  of  the  British  Museum  MS. 
Harley  270,  supplemented,  where  necessary,  by  those  of  the  three  other 
MSS.  at  Welbeck  Abbey,  Cheltenham,  and  the  British  Museum  Cotton, 
Domitian  XI.  The  text  is  accompanied  by  a  useful  glossary,  very  full 
notes  and  an  introduction,  all  in  French,  the  whole  making  up  a  volume, 
whose  bulk  and  consequent  price  appear  somewhat  excessive. 

The  introduction  contains  a  chapter  on  the  classification  of  the  six 
MSS.,  where  M.  Walberg  shows  himself  a  disciple  of  M.  Bedier  in  his 
wary  refusal  to  postulate  convergence  between  his  groups  on  this  side 
of  infinity.  There  are  also  chapters  on  the  language  and  versification  of 
the  poem.  The  main  preoccupation  of  the  introduction  is  the  determi- 
nation of  the  sources  utilised  by  the  poet,  and  the  wider  question,  which 
M.  Walberg  introduces  with  an  apology  for  the  excursion,  of  the  relations 
between  the  principal  literary  works  inspired  by  the  murder  of  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury  on  December  29,  1170.  In  adventuring  into 
these  troubled  regions  M.  Walberg  shows  commendable  courage,  but 
hardly  sufficient  caution,  given  the  perils  of  the  enterprise,  perils  by 
this  and  by  that,  but,  above  all,  perils  by  air,  by  atmosphere.  For  these 
Becket  lives,  prose  and  verse,  Latin  and  French,  which  we  now  see  as 
so  many  individual  productions,  are  merely  the  remains  of  a  great 
collective  creation,  the  legend  of  Becket,  the  vibrations  that  stirred  the 
air  of  Canterbury  and  England  and  Christendom,  pulsing  out  from  the 
central  horror  of  the  murder  on  the  steps  of  the  sanctuary.  In  that 
atmosphere,  echoing  with  the  crime  and  the  struggle  that  preceded  it, 
among  the  friends  and  followers  of  the  martyr,  oral  transmission,  discus- 
sion, exchange  of  anecdotes,  sermons,  miracles  attested,  must  have  bulked 
as  large  as — possibly  larger  than — the  written  word,  more  permanent, 
but  less  pliant.  To  estimate  with  precision  the  actions  and  reactions  of 
the  manifold  elements  of  this  '  ambiance '  is  no  easy  task :  one  may 
indeed  ask  whether  it  is  a  possible  one.  In  the  circumstances  nothing 
short  of  textual  resemblances,  so  striking  as  to  exclude  the  possibility  of 
any  other  hypothesis  than  that  of  direct  borrowing,  can  be  accepted  as 
proof  positive  of  dependence  of  one  author  upon  another :  even  textual 
resemblances  which  elsewhere  would  be  convincing  may  here  become 
suspect.  One  has  but  to  think  of  the  stereotyped  recitative  which  guides 
the  modern  pilgrim-tourist  over  the  scene  of  the  saint's  murder,  to 
imagine  the  similar  repetitions  in  unvarying  words  which  must  have 
edified  all  but  the  very  earliest  pilgrims  to  the  spot.  Two  writers 
utilising  a  tale  known  to  both  in  its  conventional  oral  form  might  well 
show  coincidences  in  expression,  such  as  to  suggest  plagiarism  where 
there  is  none.  This  caution  may  appear  excessive,  but  lack  of  it  leads 
M.  Walberg  to  draw  his  conclusions"  with  a  rigour  unwarranted  by  the 
nature  of  his  material.  He  notes  in  passing  (pp.  xiii  and  xiv)  the  wide- 
spread interest  and  activity  aroused  by  Becket's  murder,  but  without 
sufficient  regard  to  their  implications. 


Reviews  493 

The  possible  sources  of  Guernes,  which  M.  Walberg  is  mainly  con- 
cerned to  investigate,  are  the  Latin  lives  by  Edward  Grim,  Roger  of 
Pontigny,  so-called,  and  William  of  Canterbury.  The  parallelism  of 
these  stories,  especially  the  first  ,two,  with  that  of  Guernes  had  already 
been  noted,  in  particular  by  E.  Etienne  in  a  thesis  of  the  University  of 
Paris,  1883,  and  by  L.  Halphen  {Revue  historique,  Cli).  M.  Walberg,  in 
a  detailed  table  of  the  sources  of  the  poem,  indicates  with  scrupulous 
attention  the  resemblances  between  Guernes  and  these  Latin  authors. 
His  meticulous  comparison  does  reveal  a  certain  parallelism  between 
the  three  writers,  Guernes,  Grim  and  Roger,  and  this  parallelism  is  not 
constant ;  now  we  find  Grim  and  Roger  against  Guernes,  now  Guernes 
and  Roger  against  Grim,  now  Guernes  and  Grim  against  Roger,  now  all 
three  are  different.  We  find,  that  is,  all  the  combinations  which  are 
theoretically  possible,  and  further  we  find  that  Roger  and  Grim  some- 
times agree  respectively  with  the  different  readings  of  the  two  groups 
of  MSS.  of  the  poem.  In  general,  Grim  is  less  precise  than  the  two 
others.  The  resemblances  between  Guernes  and  William  of  Canterbury 
are  less  frequent  and  as  a  rule  have  no  parallel  in  Grim  and  Roger. 

This  detailed  analysis  of  the  contents  of  the  poem  is  M.  Walberg's 
instrument  of  precision.    At  times  it  seems  to  slip  in  his  hands.   Testing 
its  efficiency  at  random,  we  may  take  a  passage  where  M.  Walberg  finds 
a  parallel  between  Guernes  and  Grim.   '  Les  vers  277-80,'  he  says,  '  sont 
une  traduction  peu  heureuse  des  lignes  suivantes  de  Grim :  Vir  autem 
liberalis  animi,  secundum  monita  Sapientis,  melius  esse  arbitrans  nomen 
bonum  quam  thesauros  plurimos,  ad   augmentum    famae  et  nominis 
ampliationem  studuit  detorquere,  ne  quando  pecuniae  parcens  parcitatis 
naevo  splendorem  nominis  obfuscaret.'    Here  is  the  so-called  translation: 
'  Mult  fu  larges  e  proz,  de  vif  sen  e  de  cler;  /  Mes  pas  ne  refusa,  s'um  li 
voleit  doner,  /  Cum  li  autre  qui  poent  nuire  e  amender,  /  E  ki  volent  al 
mund  par  lur  aveir  munter.'   As  a  translation  it  is  indeed  so  infelicitous 
as  to  arouse  a  doubt  as  to  its  being  one  at  all.    Elsewhere,  11.  739-40, 
M.  Walberg  indicates  once  more  that  a  sentence  of  Grim's  is  the  original. 
The  French  is  as  follows,  beginning  at  line  737  to  make  the  context  clear  : 
'  De  la  parole  Deu  se  fist  [Thomas]  preechefir,  /  E  del  tut  entendi  al 
suverain  seignur.  /  Ne  sai  se  pur  ceo  l'a  li  reis  pris  en  hatir.  /  Mes  d'iloec 
en  avant  l'esluina  de  s'amur.'   The  Latin  of  Grim  is:  'Crescente  paulatim 
amaritudine  et  subintrante  odio  a  cordis  ilium  secretario  et  consiliis 
suis  efficit  alienum.'   This  is  not  one  of  the  passages  where  M.  Walberg 
adds,  as  he  does  elsewhere,  '  ressemblance  assez  eloignee,'  yet  one  must 
admit  that  the  resemblance  is  not  particularly  striking.    Again  lines 
161-5,  which  M.  Walberg  compares  to  a  passage  from  Grim,  are  seen  at 
once,  even  without  comparison  with  the  Latin,  to  be  the  merest  common- 
place.   When  Guernes  says:  'Tut  cil  autre  romanz  ke  unt  fait  del  martyr  / 
Clerc  u  lai,  muine  u  dame,  mult  les  o'i  mentir,  /  Ne  le  veir  ne  le  plain 
nes  i  Of  furnir.  /  Mes  ci  purrez  le  veir  e  tut  le  plain  oir;  /  N'istrai  de 
verite'  pur  perdre  u  pur  murir,'  he  is,  in  spite  of  his  real  scrupulousness, 
which  is  attested  by  the  facts  of  his  method  of  composition,  simply 
repeating  the  self-laudatory  preamble  with  which  every  mediaeval  poet 
m.l.r.  xviii.  32 


494  Reviews 

and  poetaster  prefaced  his  work.  These  few  examples,  culled  more  or  less 
at  random,  make  the  reader  a  little  inclined  to  question  the  parallelism 
which  M.  Walberg  sets  out  to  demonstrate.  He  does  not  produce  the 
striking  textual  resemblances  between  his  authors  which  his  demonstra- 
tion requires.  His  case  must  therefore  rest  on  the  much  weaker  basis 
of  a  general  agreement  in  the  disposal  of  their  material  by  Grim,  Roger 
and  Guernes,  on  errors  of  fact  common  to  the  different  authors  (though 
under  this  head  there  can  be  placed,  I  think,  only  the  misdating  by 
Grim  and  Guernes  of  the  coronation  of  the  'young  king'),  on  the  presence 
in  Guernes  and  another,  William  of  Canterbury,  for  instance,  of  anecdotes 
not  found  elsewhere,  or  found  elsewhere  in  a  different  version. 

It  is  with  a  certain  reserve,  then,  that  one  admits  M.  Walberg's 
parallels.  His  interpretation  of  them  is  also  open  to  criticism.  What  is 
likely  to  have  been  the  relationship  of  these  various  supposedly  related 
authors  ?  M.  Halphen,  in  the  article  already  referred  to,  reasonably 
presuming  that  Grim,  who  had  been  an  eye-witness  of  the  murder,  was 
unlikely  to  borrow  from  the  story  of  Guernes,  who  had  his  facts  about 
Becket's  life  at  second-hand,  and  observing  the  coincidences  between 
Guernes  and  William  of  Canterbury  against  Roger  and  Grim,  suggests 
that  Guernes  utilised  both  Grim  and  Roger :  '  Qu'il  se  rapproche,'  says 
M.  Halphen,  '  tantdt  de  l'un,  tantot  de  l'autre,  rien  de  plus  simple,  s'il 
les  a  l'un  et  l'autre  sous  les  yeux ;  qu'il  soit  plus  complet,  plus  precis 
qu'eux,  qu'il  les  contredise  meme  tous  deux  sur  des  points  de  detail, 
rien  de  plus  naturel,  puisqu'il  vient  apres  eux  et  est  en  mesure  par  suite 
de  completer  et  de  rectifier  leurs  erreurs.'  M.  Walberg,  on  the  contrary, 
supposes  the  series  Grim,  Guernes,  Roger,  the  last  having  also  borrowed 
directly  from  Grim.  'Que  le  texte  du  poete  francais  se  rapproche  tantot 
de  l'un,  tant6t  de  l'autre,  que  ce  soit  quelquefois  difficile  de  dire  s'il 
ressemble  davantage  a  Grim  ou  a  Roger,  rien  de  plus  comprehensible, 
puisqu'il  copie  l'un  et  est  copie  par  l'autre.'  A  priori,  there  is  nothing 
to  choose  between  the  reasoning  of  M.  Halphen  and  that  of  M.  Walberg. 
Each  is  valid,  until  the  logical  series  becomes  a  chronological  one. 
M.  Halphen's  attempts  to  prop  his  argument  on  dates  were  unsuccessful. 
M.  Walberg,  in  his  turn  attacking  the  question  of  chronology,  demon- 
strates to  his  own  satisfaction  that  the  dates  of  these  three  authors  are 
such  as  to  make  the  series  Grim,  Guernes,  Roger  a  chronological  one. 
M.  Halphen's  position  becomes  consequently  untenable,  and  M.  Walberg, 
stepping  firmly  from  his  dates,  strides  across  the  plank  '  post  hoc,  ergo 
propter  hoc,'  rather  an  unsuitable  medium  for  the  airy  progress  whose 
perils  have  already  been  charted. 

Now  to  see  where  the  dates  come  from.  That  of  Guernes'  poem  is 
the  central  point  of  M.  Walberg's  demonstration.  Roger's  dating  by  an 
allusion  to  Benedict,  prior  of  Christchurch,  Canterbury,  from  July  1175 
to  May  1177  already  noted  by  M.  Halphen,  is  narrowed  down  for  its 
'  terminus  a  quo '  by  M.  Walberg,  who  calls  attention  to  the  Latin 
author's  mention  of  John  of  Salisbury,  bishop  of  Chartres  from  July  1176. 
Grim's  date  is  less  securely  fixed.  He  wrote  certainly  after  May  1172, 
as  he  mentions  the  innocence  of  Henry  II,  but  the  '  terminus  ad  quem ' 


Reviews  495 

remains  uncertain,  even  after  M.  Walberg's  discussion.  The  crux  of  the 
discussion  is  the  relation  of  Grim's  chapters  89-95  to  the  rest  of  his 
*  Vita.'  Chapters  89-93,  relating  the  king's  penance  in  July  1174,  and 
94-5,  telling  of  a  vision  of  King  Henry's  while  Benedict  was  prior  of 
Christchurch,  are  apparently  added  in  appendix  to  the  original  work, 
which  ends  in  chapter  88  with  a  peroration,  exhorting  the  devout  to 
consider  the  life  and  example  of  the  saint,  ending  with  the  words : 
4  Explicit  passio  sancti  Thomae  martyris.'  Walberg  supposes  that 
chapters  89-95  form  two  supplements,  added  at  different  times,  and 
that  only  the  first  of  these,  chapters  89-93,  was  known  to  Guernes. 
The  assumption  that  an  allusion  to  Benedict  as  prior  of  Canterbury 
precludes  the  possibility  of  Guernes  having  known  this  passage,  is 
founded  upon  an  allusion  of  Guernes,  to  which  M.  Walberg  attributes 
undue  significance  in  dating  the  poem.  Apart  from  the  necessity  thus 
imposed  on  M.  Walberg  of  assuming  that  there  are  these  two  supple- 
ments to  Grim,  there  seems  no  other  reason  for  supposing  that  this  is 
the  case.  Chapter  93  ends,  it  is  true,  with  the  finality  of  an  '  Amen,' 
but  this  merely  because,  after  the  account  of  the  king's  penance,  and 
the  signal  benefits  which  God,  moved  by  the  intercession  of  St  Thomas, 
had  then  shown  to  Henry,  the  writer  himself  seeks  the  intercession  of 
this  powerful  mediator,  and  ends  his  prayer  with  an  '  Amen.'  Grim  is 
thus  left  floating  in  a  period  of  some  five  years  from  1172  to  1177.  The 
dates  assigned  to  William  of  Canterbury  by  M.  Walberg  himself  are 
also  fairly  wide  :  it  can  only  be  said  with  certainty  that  he  must  have 
written  between  the  end  of  1172  and  August  1176. 

The  interesting  feature  of  the  dating  of  Guernes'  poem  is  that  the 
poet  is  kind  enough  to  tell  us  himself  when  he  wrote  it — at  first  sight 
an  unusual  piece  of  luck  for  the  scholar,  but,  alas,  only  relative,  since  his 
indications  have  been  capable  of  no  fewer  than  seven  differing  interpre- 
tations. The  poet  tells  us,  11.  6166-70 :  'L'an  secund  que  li  sainz  fu  en 
s'iglise  ocis,  /  Corner] chai  cest  romanz  e  mult  m'en  entremis.  /  Des 
privez  saint  Thomas  la  verite  apris  :  /  Mainte  feiz  en  ostai  90  que  jo  ainz 
escris,  /  Pur  oster  la  menconge.  Al  quart  an  fin  i  mis.'  Elsewhere  he 
says,  11.  141-4 :  '  Si  volez  esculter  la  vie  al  saint  martyr,  /  Ci  la  purrez 
par  mei  plenierement  o'ir ;  /  N'i  voil  rien  trespasser,  ne  rien  n'i  voil 
mentir.  /  Quatre  anz  i  ai  pres  mis  al  feire  e  al  furnir.'  If  we  had  only 
the  first  of  these  two  indications,  we  should  suppose  quite  naturally  that 
the  poet  wrote  from  1172,  i.e.  from  the  second  year  after  the  murder  in 
December  1170,  to  1174,  the  fourth  year  after  the  event,  especially  as 
elsewhere  he  speaks  of  1174  as  being  '  le  quart  an.'  But  we  have  to 
reconcile  this  passage  with  the  other  in  which  the  poet  says  he  took 
four  years  to  compose  his  work :  '  le  quart  an '  would  then,  in  spite  of 
the  parallelism  in  expression  to  •  l'an  secund/  mean  the  fourth  year  of 
work.  Three  of  the  MSS.  of  the  poem  give  an  alternative  reading, 
■  al  quint '  for  '  al  quart.'  M.  Walberg  regards  this  reading  as  being  an 
alteration  due  to  two  different  copyists,  confronted  with  the  anomalous 
'  quart ' — the  same  emendation  thus  having  been  made  on  two  separate 
occasions,  since  it  occurs  in  MSS.  belonging,  according  to  the  editor, 

32—2 


496  Reviews 

to  different  groups.  He  rejects  the  reading  '  quint,'  on  the  ground  that 
the  authority  of  H  +  W  C  is  not  sufficient  to  counterbalance  that  of 
B  +  P.  But,  according  to  his  classification  of  the  MSS.,  each  reading 
has  the  authority  of  two  sources  belonging  each  to  one  of  the  two 
families  into  which  he  groups  the  MSS.  This,  surely,  if  not  sufficient 
to  rehabilitate  '  quint/  makes  the  reading  '  quart '  more  than  a  little 
doubtful.  M.  Walberg,  however,  adopts  and  defends  '  quart.'  He  gives 
it  the  sense  of  the  fourth  year  after  the  death  of  the  saint,  and  he 
proceeds  to  reconcile  his  interpretation  with  the  four  years  of  work 
mentioned  in  the  other  passage.  He  refers  again  to  the  preamble,  where 
the  author,  after  telling  us  that  he  has  taken  four  years  '  al  feire  et  al 
furnir,'  goes  on  to  relate  how  he  had  written  a  former  '  roman '  on  the 
same  subject  from  hearsay,  and.  recognising  its  imperfections,  had  then 
journeyed  to  Canterbury  to  obtain  first-hand  information  from  the 
friends  of  the  martyr.  The  four  years  of  which  he  speaks  must  therefore 
refer,  says  M.  Walberg,  not  only  to  the  time  during  which  he  had  been 
working  at  the  '  roman '  as  we  know  it,  that  is,  the  second  version  upon 
which  he  embarked  after  the  first  had  been  stolen  from  him,  but  to  the 
whole  time  during  which  the  story  of  Becket  had  occupied  him.  This 
view  of  M.  Walberg's  is  borne  out  by  a  further  consideration  which  he 
does  not  himself  adduce  in  support  of  it,  the  fact  that  in  1.  141  the  poet 
speaks  of '  la  vie'  of  the  holy  martyr  which  has  occupied  him  for  four  years, 
whereas  elsewhere  he  talks  of  the  'roman';  1.  151  'eel  premier  romanz,' 
1.  160  'Mes  cestui  ai  del  tut  amende  et  fine,'  1.  6161  'ainc  mais  si  bons 
romanz  ne  fu  faiz  ne  trovez.'  At  the  end  of  the  poem,  on  the  contrary, 
says  M.  Walberg,  the  second  version  only,  begun  in  Tan  secund,'  is 
meant.  He  is  content  to  say  that  this  interpretation  is  obvious ;  in 
support  of  it,  he  might  have  noted  11.  6161-2:  'Ainc  mais  si  bons 
romanz  ne  fu  faiz  ne  trovez.  /  A  Canterbire  fu  faiz  e  amendez.'  Line  6162 
cannot  be  misunderstood :  this  '  roman '  which  was  begun  in  '  l'an 
secund'  was  entirely  composed  at  Canterbury,  whereas  the  first  'roman' 
had  been  begun  before  the  author  was  on  the  spot. 

M.  Walberg  is  thus  left  with  the  dates  1172  and  1174  for  the  poem 
as  we  know  it.  We  have  seen  that  he  arrived  at  these  dates  by  taking 
into  account  the  first,  lost  version  of  the  poem.  This  first  version  having 
thus  served  its  turn,  M.  Walberg  gives  it  no  further  consideration,  surely 
a  serious  flaw  in  his  study  of  sources  and  influences.  Certainly  one  can 
hardly  set  out  to  estimate  the  precise  influence  exerted  by  a  work  which 
we  do  not  possess,  but  nevertheless  the  second  version  of  the  poem  can 
hardly  differ  in  every  particular  from  the  first,  since  Guernes  tells  us 
himself,  1.  6162,  that  number  two  also  was  'amendez.'  Nor  was  the  first 
version  entirely  without  value,  11.  156-7 :  '  Par  lius  est  mencungiers  e 
senz  pleneirete';/  E  nepurquant  i  a  le  plus  de  veritd';  and,  again 
according  to  the  poet  himself,  it  had  enjoyed  a  certain  popularity: 
1.  158,  'E  meint  riche  umme  l'unt  cunquis  e  achate.'  The  reproach  of 
neglecting  the  possible  importance  of  this  last  work,  in  attempting  to 
estimate  the  relations  between  Guernes  and  the  other  biographers,  must 
be  addressed  to  M.  Walberg,  as  it  was  to  M.  Etienne  by  Morf  (Deutsche 


Reviews  497 

Literaturzeitung,  1884,  col.  1049).  It  is  a  simplification  of  the  known 
facts  which  distorts  their  significance.  In  any  case,  without  knowing  the 
date  when  this  first  poem  was  begun,  the  conjectures  of  M.  Walberg, 
"sans  doutc.aux  tout  premiers  mois  qui  suivirent  le  meurtre'  (p. xxiv), 
and  of  Abbot,  'immediately  after  the  Martyrdom'  (St  Thomas  of  Canter- 
bury, his  Death  and  Miracles,  London,  1898,  vol.  I,  pp.  25-6),  have  no 
foundation  in  fact.  We  can  merely  say  that,  since  the  second  version 
was  begun  in  1172,  the  first  must  have  been  written  before  1173,  and,  if 
we  reject  the  reading  '  quart  an,'  the  four  years  of  work  cease  to  cover  any 
precise  period. 

But  M.  Walberg  brings  forward  other  evidences  of  date.  He  main- 
tains that  the  poem  must  have  been  completed  before  1175,  for  two 
reasons.  In  the  Paris  MS.  the  poem  is  followed  by  an  epilogue,  where 
the  poet  celebrates  the  welcome  he  had  received  during  his  stay  in 
England  from  the  sister  of  Becket,  abbess  of  Barking  from  1173,  and 
from  Odo,  prior  of  Christchurch,  Canterbury,  from  1167  to  July  1175. 
According  to  M.  Walberg,  the  epilogue,  and,  a  fortiori,  the  poem  itself, 
cannot  be  later  than  July  1175,  or  the  poet  would  not  have  called  Odo, 
as  he  does,  'li  buens  priors  de  Seinte  Ternete'  (Christchurch).  This 
reasoning  does  not  appear  decisive.  In  the  first  place,  Guernes  speaks 
in  the  past  tense :  Odo  was  prior  of  Christchurch  at  that  time  in  the 
past  when  Guernes  was  received  at  the  Priory :  Guernes  knew  him  only 
as  prior  of  Christchurch  and  therefore  did  not  give  him  his  later  title  of 
Abbot  of  Battle,  as  he  was  after  July  1175.  One  may  say  that,  writing 
after  July  1175,  Guernes  would  have  added  some  phrase  like  'alors,  a 
cette  epoque ' :  but  he  was  in  nowise  obliged  to  be  so  explanatory, 
especially  when  this  information  would  have  had  to  be  conveyed  in  the 
somewhat  restrictive  medium  of  an  alexandrine.  Lastly,  it  is  by  no 
means  necessary  to  suppose  that  this  epilogue  was  composed  after  the 
entire  poem  was  finished.  At  most,  this  passage  proves  that  it  was  while 
Odo  was  prior,  before  July  1175,  that  Guernes  visited  Canterbury. 

Further,  M.  Walberg,  noticing  the  absence  from  Guernes'  poem  of 
any  mention  of  the  pilgrimage  made  by  Henry  II  and  his  son,  the  young 
king,  in  May  1175,  to  the  tomb  of  Becket,  whereas  the  earlier  pilgrimage 
made  by  the  older  Henry  in  July  1174  is  related  by  the  poet  in  great 
detail  and  with  visible  satisfaction,  considers  that  this  silence  is  evidence 
that  the  poet  wrote  before  the  date  of  the  second  pilgrimage.  The 
argument  '  ex  silentio '  is  always  a  dangerous  one,  and  in  this  case  there 
is  a  good  deal  to  be  said  on  the  other  side.  It  appears  more  than 
probable  that  the  poet,  who  follows  up  his  account  of  the  king's  penitential 
pilgrimage  in  1174  by  a  series  of  stanzas  in  which  he  aims  at  showing 
forth  the  happy  results  of  this  royal  expiation — the  defeat  of  the  king 
of  Scots  at  Alnwick,  the  submission  of  Henry's  sons  to  their  father,  the 
conclusion  of  peace  with  the  king  of  France  and  the  Count  of  Flanders — 
would  be  loath  to  spoil  the  artistic  and  edifying  effect  of  these  relations 
between  the  penance  and  its  results,  by  adding  the  account  of  a  later 
pilgrimage,  the  results  of  which  were  no  doubt  less  easy  to  identify. 
M.  Walberg,  however,  considers  that  the  poem  can  only  be  said  to  be 


498  Reviews 

posterior  to  October  1174,  which  was  the  date  of  the  treaty  of  Falaise, 
by  which  Henry  was  reconciled  with  his  sons.  An  attentive  examination 
of  the  passage  immediately  following  the  account  of  Henry's  penance 
seems  to  give  ground  for  a  later  '  terminus  ad  quem '  than  M.  Walberg, 
anxious  to  place  Guernes  before  Roger  of  Pontigny,  i.e.  before  July  1176, 
is  willing  to  admit.  The  passage  6078-85  agrees  admirably  with  the 
events  of  the  year  1175.  (See  J.  H.  Ramsay,  The  Angevin  Empire, 
p.  180  and  passim.)  In  spite  of  the  reconciliation  at  Falaise  in  October 
1174,  it  was  only  from  the  spring  of  the  following  year  that  Henry  and 
his  eldest  son,  the  young  king,  were  on  terms  which  would  justify  the 
poet's  words  in  1.  6078 :  '  Pere  et  fiz  sunt  tut  un '  ('fiz'  evidently  in  the 
singular,  as  is  shown  by  the  context  and  the  two  following  verses  where 
'  le  fiz '  occurs  twice).  Henry,  the  young  king,  had  been  excused  from  the 
act  of  homage  accomplished  by  his  brothers  at  Falaise,  but,  recognising 
that  the  act  involved  reciprocal  obligations,  he  insisted  on  performing  it 
also,  which  he  did  on  April  1,  1175,  at  Bure.  A  month  later,  the  two 
kings  returned  together  to  England,  where,  during  the  remainder  of  the 
year,  they  lived  in  the  greatest  intimacy,  sleeping  in  the  same  room. 
They  went  on  a  grand  progress  together  throughout  the  kingdom,  be- 
ginning with  the  visit  to  Canterbury,  and,  during  this  progress,  the 
severity  and  injustice  with  which  the  forest  laws  were  applied  excited 
widespread  discontent,  especially  among  the  clergy,  an  interesting  side- 
light on  line  6084,  where  Guernes  alludes  to  these  laws.  Young  Henry 
left  his  father  and  England  only  in  April  1176.  Two  stanzas  especially 
in  this  portion  of  the  poem,  1211,  1212,  seem  to  support  the  view 
that  the  poet  is  concluding  his  work  later  than  the  date  assumed  by 
M.  Walberg.  The  notes  to  the  edition  give  no  clue  to  the  interpretation 
which  M.  Walberg  puts  upon  these  lines,  which  certainly  demand  an 
explanation.  Guernes  tells  the  story  of  the  king's  penance,  then  adds : 
'  Par  quaranteines  sunt  li  pechie  espeldri.  /  Apres  quarante  meis  li  reis 
suratendi.  /  Se  quarante  semaines  oust  suraconpli  /  E  puis  apres  i  fussent 
creli  quarante  di,  /  Pris'  en  fust  la  vengeance ;  tut  pur  veir  le  vus  di.  / 
E  quant  la  quaranteine  des  meis  fu  trespassee,  /  E  des  semaines  fu  la 
quaranteine  entree,  /  Lu6s  fu  de  tutes  parz  Engleterre  troblee.  /  Se  saint 
Thomas  n 'exist  la  face  Deu  muee,  /  En  l'une  de  ces  treis  fust  Fire  Deu 
trovee.'  The  edifying  intention  of  the  poet  appears  to  be  to  exemplify 
from  events  known  to  his  hearers  the  mystic  significance  of  the  number 
forty  as  a  measure  of  repentance.  He  tells  his  audience  that  Henry 
did  well,  after  letting  pass  the  term  of  forty  months  from  the  crime, 
April  1174,  to  repent,  as  he  did  in  July,  before  forty  weeks  were  added 
to  the  months.  If  these  forty  weeks  had  elapsed  without  penance  and  if 
forty  days  had  been  added  besides,  then  God  would  have  taken  vengeance. 
That  is  to  say  that  vengeance  would  have  been  due  somewhere  about 
the  end  of  March  1175.  How  can  the  poet  call  his  hearers  to  witness 
that  the  king  has  escaped  this  vengeance,  unless  the  fatal  term  is  already 
past  ?  Further,  in  the  second  stanza,  in  spite  of  a  certain  obscurity  of 
expression  in  the  mention  of  three  things  in  the  last  line,  when  only  the 
months  and  weeks  have  been  enumerated  in  the  foregoing,  it  seems 


Reviews  '499 

clear  that  days  are  also  implicitly  referred  to,  and  the  poet  is  then 
testifying  to  the  power  of  the  saint's  intercession  at  each  of  the  three 
fatal  terms,  forty  months,  forty  weeks  and  forty  days,  counting,  probably, 
as  in  stanza  1211,  each  term  from  the  end  of  the  preceding  one,  and 
not  reckoning  each  back  to  the  murder,  though,  apart  from  stanza  121.1, 
this  would  be  a  possible  interpretation.  Forty  months  after  the  murder, 
in  April  1174,  we  find  young  Henry  attacking  Sees  in  concert  with  the 
Counts  of  Blois,  Perche  and  Alencon;  the  attack  is  repelled,  and  on 
April  30  Henry  II  starts  on  a  triumphant  progress  through  Maine, 
Anjou  and  Poitou.  Some  forty  weeks  later,  in  February  1175,  Richard 
and  Geoffrey  are  doing  homage  to  their  father  at  Le  Mans,  while  some 
forty  days  later,  on  April  1,  comes  the  homage  of  the  young  king  to  his 
father  at  Bure.  Henry  IPs  reign  was  in  point  of  fact  such  a  troublous 
one  that  few  dates  were  without  events,  and  the  poet  had  only  the 
embarrassment  of  choice:  some  forty  weeks  after  the  murder,  for  instance, 
in  October  11 71,  Henry  was  over  in  Ireland,  receiving  the  submission 
of  the  Irish  rebels.  Thus  Guernes  had  child's  play  with  his  forties.  But 
one  thing  does  seem  clear,  and  that  is  that  all  these  forties  are  past,  and, 
if  they  are,  then  M.  Walberg  may  well  be  wrong  in  supposing  that 
Guernes  necessarily  wrote  before  May  1175,  since  he  must  have  written 
in  any  case  after  March  of  that  year,  and  probably,  from  his  apparent 
references  to  the  later  movements  of  the  two  Henries,  later  even  than 
that. 

ThusM.  Walberg's  chronological  series  is  hardly  so  securely  established 
as  might  seem  on  a  first  reading  of  his  introduction.  The  four  years 
which  Guernes  took  to  write  his  poem  appear  to  date  back  at  least  from 
late  in  1175,  conceivably  from  1176.  Roger  of  Pontigny  must  be  after 
July  1176,  and  is  thus  only  possibly,  but  by  no  means  certainly,  after 
Guernes,  Grim  remains  in  the  uncertainty  of  his  appendices,  William  of 
Canterbury  waits  between  the  extremes  of  1172  and  August  1176.  Do 
not  these  approximations,  this  giving  of  a  month  here  and  taking  another 
away  there,  bring  us  back  to  the  collective  legend-making  with  which 
we  started  ?  And  the  literary  value  of  Guernes,  whatever  his  indebted- 
ness to  others  for  his  facts,  remains  so  absolutely  unimpaired  that  it 
will  always  be  to  him,  rather  than  to  the  more  sober  Latin  biographers, 
that  one  will  turn  for  a  living  portrayal  of  the  dramatic  conflict  between 
Henry  and  Becket.  Not  only  in  picturesqueness,  either,  is  Guernes 
supreme,  but,  as  Gaston  Paris  says,  he  '  se  fait  l'interprete  de  l'ideal 
catholique  du  moyen  age  dans  ce  qu'il  a  de  plus  haut  et  aussi  de  plus 
etroit.'  M.  Walberg,  a  philologist  first,  leaves  those  passages,  long  and 
numerous,  where  Guernes  sets  out  his  views  on  the  principles  involved 
in  the  struggle,  with  the  cursory  comment,  '  reflexions  personnelles  de 
l'auteur.'  But  we  must  be  grateful  to  him  for  at  any  rate  rendering 
them  accessible  to  us,  and  they  speak  for  themselves. 

Claudine  I.  Wilson. 
Englefield  Green. 


500  Reviews 

The  Poems  of  Manuel  de  Cabanyes.  Edited  by  E.  Allison  Peers. 
(Spanish  Texts  and  Studies.)  Manchester :  University  Press.  1923. 
8vo.   vii  +  152  pp.   6s. 

In  a  pleasantly  individual  edition  by  the  Professor  of  Spanish  in  the 
University  of  Liverpool  the  poems  of  Manuel  de  Cabanyes,  to  whom 
Menendez  y  Pelayo  addressed  an  enthusiastic  ode  forty-five  years  ago 
and  whose  Preludios  de  mi  lira,  in  the  opinion  of  the  same  great  critic, 
contain  '  like  gold,  great  riches  in  a  small  space,'  are  now  presented  for 
the  first  time  to  English  readers.  Foreign  critics  have  hitherto  given 
him  but  little  attention,  but  in  Spain  Menendez  y  Pelayo,  who  in  his 
Horacio  en  Espana  strangely  neglected  Lorenzo  Villanueva's  trans- 
lations from  Horace,  gave  a  warm  and  deserved  welcome  to  the  Horatian 
poems  of  the  poet  of  Vilanova  de  Geltru.  Cabanyes,  as  Professor  Fitz- 
maurice-Kelly  remarks,  is  a  poets'  poet,  that  is  to  say,  like  Horace  he 
requires  to  be  read  frequently  if  he  is  to  be  appreciated  fully.  In  the 
case  of  Cabanyes  this  is  not  a  difficult  task,  since  the  Preludios,  the  only 
work  published  during  his  life,  contains  only  twelve  poems,  and  the 
whole  of  his  poetry  published  here  by  Professor  Allison  Peers  fills  but 
sixty  pages.  The  volume  is  completed  by  fifty  pages  of  introduction  and 
forty  pages  of  notes,  appendix  and  detailed  bibliography.  Both  notes 
and  introduction  contain  matter  of  great  interest.  Probably  English 
readers  would  have  been  grateful  for  a  note  on  the  line  '  Y  del  dulce 
Le6n  y  el  buen  Carranza,'  referring  to  the  imprisonment  of  Fray  Luis 
de  Leon  in  the  cells  of  the  Inquisition  at  Valladolid  from  1572  to  1576 
and  the  imprisonment  of  Fray  Bartolome  Carranza  de  Miranda,  Arch- 
bishop of  Toledo,  at  Valladolid  and  Rome  from  1559  to  1576.  The 
epithet  dulce  here  is  a  lapse  from  Cabanyes'  usual  curiosa  felicitas,  for 
to  the  Inquisitors  and  witnesses  in  his  trial  the  great  Salamanca  Professor 
proved  anything  but  'dulce.'  Albuquerque  is  of  course  Afonso  de 
Albuquerque,  who  both  succeeded  and  preceded  Vasco  da  Gama  in 
India,  since  he  became  Governor  eleven  years  after  Gama  had  first 
landed  there,  and  Gama  died  as  Viceroy  of  India  in  1524,  nine  years 
after  Albuquerque's  death  as  Governor.  A  reader  who  comes  upon  the 
hyphenated  epithets  sangri-salpicados,  fulgido-cdndida,  santo-olientes 
coined  by  Cabanyes  may  feel  inclined  to  agree  with  the  strictures  of  the 
Condesa  Pardo  Bazan.  And  if  we  compare  passages  in  Cabanyes'  poems 
with  corresponding  passages  in  Fray  Luis  de  Leon,  it  may  seem  much 
like  comparing  Lucan  with  Virgil,  or  a  crow  with  a  nightingale.  But  it 
must  be  remembered  that  Cabanyes  died  in  1833  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
five.  Probably,  as  he  grew  older,  his  work  would  have  lost  its  rhetorical 
flavour,  and  the  love  of  inversion  and  neologisms,  while  retaining  its 
admirable  precision  and  vigour : 

Sobre  las  alas  del  viento  ldbregas 

Volara  el  Justo  contra  los  r^probos 

Y  so  sus  plantas  truenos  horrfsonos 

Rebramaran. 

Here,  in  Cabanyes'  most  original  poem,  La  Misa  Nueva,  we  have  Horace, 
but  Horace  enriched  with  a  new  fervour  of  Christian  faith  and  hope. 


Reviews  501 

Cabanyes  followed  the  example  of  Luis  de  Letfn  in  seeking  his  inspira- 
tion in  the  Bible  as  well  as  in  the  classics.    Menendez  y  Pelayo  gives  as 

his  models : 

De  Ofanto  el  cisne  y  el  cantor  del  Tonnes, 
Robusto  Alfieri,  F6scolo  indomado, 
Lusitano  Filinto. 

The  influence  of  the  Portuguese  poets  Correa  Garcao  and  Filinto  Elysio 
is  obvious.  He  shares  their  love  of  the  indigenous,  even  in  imitations, 
their  national  flavour  and  ardent  patriotism,  a  patriotism  which  Cabanyes 
was  of  too  generous  a  nature  to  limit  to  any  one  province  of  Spain.  The 
influence  of  Luis  de  Le6n  is  also  clear,  and  that  of  Horace  is  everywhere 
present.  The  fourth  of  the  Preludios  is  an  original  poem  which  reads 
like  a  translation  of  Horace.  Professor  Allison  Peers  in  his  introduction 
gives  an  interesting  list  of  books  that  belonged  to  the  poet.  It  contains, 
as  he  notes  with  surprise,  neither  a  Horace  nor  any  work  by  Luis  de 
Leon,  a  fact  which  proves  how  misleading  it  may  be  to  deduce  a  writer's 
tastes  or  character  from  his  library.  Let  it  not  be  thought  that  Cabanyes 
is  a  mosaic  of  echoes  ;  he  is  Cabanyes.  In  his  rebellion  against  rhyme 
he  sometimes  sinks  into  prose,  sometimes  rises  to  genuine  eloquence ; 
always  he  shows  that  he  was  a  scholar  and  here  and  there  that  he 
possessed  a  true  vein  of  lyrical  inspiration.  'To  the  ordinary  reader/ 
says  Professor  Allison  Peers  in  his  introduction,  '  he  makes  but  small 
appeal.  Not  only  does  he  lack  the  peculiar  qualities  which  strike  the 
average  man,  but  he  has  most  of  the  qualities  which  repel  him :  simplicity, 
earnestness,  purity  of  form,  disdain  of  tradition.'  One  can  only  recom- 
mend the  reader  not  to  judge  from  a  first  hasty  perusal :  each  successive 
reading  will  surely  increase  his  gratitude  to  the  English  editor  of  these 
remarkable  poems. 

Aubrey  F.  G.  Bell. 

S.   JOAO   DO   ESTORIL,  PORTUGAL. 

Portuguese  Bibliography.    By  Aubrey  F.  G.  Bell.    (Hispanic  Notes  and 
Monographs.)    Oxford :  Clarendon  Press.    1922.    381  pp.    10s.  6d. 

Benito  Arias  Montano.   By  Aubrey  F.  G.  Bell.    (Hispanic  Notes  and 
Monographs.)   Oxford:  Clarendon  Press.    1922.    96  pp.    5s. 

In  his  essay  on  Fernam  Lopes  Mr  Bell  justly  deplored  the  dearth  of 
British  names  in  foreign  bibliographies,  and  he  has  applied  himself  in 
a  series  of  recent  publications  to  remedy  in  some  part  this  defect.  Pos- 
sessor of  a  pliant  and  agreeable  style,  keenly  sensitive  to  impressions 
both  of  letters  and  of  life,  he  has  shown  himself  equally  at  his  ease  as 
a  translator  of  early  lyrics  and  interpreter  of  the  intense  localism  of 
Gil  Vicente,  as  mediator  between  the  general  reader  and  the  Coleccidn 
de  Documentos  Ineditos  para  la  Historia  de  Espana,  being  as  quick  to 
catch  the  candid  glow  and  naive  patriotism  of  Fernam  Lopes  as  to 
appreciate  the  modern  revival  of  the  '  conceited '  and  didactic  Gracian. 
But  the  Portuguese  Bibliography,  together  with  the  Portuguese  Litera- 
ture (Oxford,  1922)  which  it  accompanies  and  completes,  is  Mr  Bell's 


502  Reviews 

most  substantial  and  novel,  if  not  most  characteristic,  contribution  to 
our  knowledge  of,  and  affection  for,  Peninsular  literatures. 

The  plan  followed  is  that  of  Professor  Fitzmaurice-Kelly's  cardinal 
Bibliographie  de  Vhistoire  de  la  litterature  espagnole  (Paris,  1913,  and 
Spanish  editions),  not  that  of  the  English  or  first  Spanish  editions,  in 
which  the  alphabetic  order  was  not  preferred  to  the  chronological.  In 
omitting  chronological  and  explanatory  matter  Mr  Bell  has  paid  his 
readers  a  compliment  which  we  might  do  well  to  merit.  Like  its  model, 
the  Portuguese  Bibliography  professes  to  address  the  general  student 
rather  than  the  specialist,  but,  in  this  country  at  least,  the  differentiation 
has  not  proceeded  far.  Common  headings  in  both  bibliographies  are 
those  of  General  Works,  Texts,  Anthologies  and  Authors ;  and  Portu- 
guese does  not  require  a  special  caption  for  the  Theatre.  A  section 
entitled  Folklore,  Popular  Poetry,  etc.,  takes  the  place  of  Professor 
Fitzmaurice-Kelly's  antiquarian  information.  New  headings  are  opened 
for  Portuguese  Language  and  for  Dictionaries.  Portuguese  History  will 
be  found  in  a  note  to  Herculano  (p.  271);  but  we  regret  that  a  special 
chapter  was  not  allotted  to  this  subject,  which  is  amply  covered  by 
the  title  of  the  work.  It  might  have  been  possible  to  incorporate,  for 
example,  J.  P.  Oliveira  Martins'  Notas  sobre  a  historiographia  em  Por- 
tugal and  the  fundamentals  of  the  historical  competence  of  Mr  Edgar 
Prestage.  The  author  follows  both  his  model  and  sound  principles  in 
confining  his  entries  almost  entirely  to  printed  works,  yet  even  a  general 
reader  might  welcome  some  indication  of  the  most  significant  manu- 
scripts. Thus  in  the  notorious  instance  of  Fernam  Lopes,  where  the 
printed  choice  lies  between  three  editions,  respectively  inaccessible, 
1  inaccurate  and  incomplete,  can  even  a  novice  afford  to  be  ignorant  of 
the  manuscript  ?  Or  is  it  really  any  easier  to  sift  for  truth  the  Augean 
works  of  Dr  Theophilo  Braga  ? 

We  suggest  the  addition  of  R.  Beer's  Handschriftenschatze  Spaniens 
among  General  Works.  O.  Klob's  article  in  Zeitschrift  fur  romanische 
Philologie,  xxvi,  belongs  to  Joseph  de  Arimathia  (p.  280)  rather  than 
to  the  Demanda  do  Santo  Grial  (p.  226-7),  to  which  add  O.  Sommer, 
The  Queste  of  the  Holy  Grail,  in  Romania,  xxxvi.  Perhaps  Oliveira 
Martins'  Vida  de  Nun'  Alvares  and  Filhos  de  D.  Joao  I  might  have 
been  mentioned  under  Fernam  Lopes,  forming  as  they  do  a  natural  line 
of  approach  to  that  author. 

In  Benito  Arias  Montano,  Mr  Bell  gives  a  lucid  and  sympathetic 
account  of  a  distinguished  Spanish  humanist  and  book-lover,  who  is  to 
be  valued  not  merely  for  his  Biblical  scholarship  and  contributions  to 
the  library  at  the  Escorial,  but  for  his  singularly  equable  and  unen- 
venomed  disposition  in  a  difficult  and  contentious  age.  This  monograph 
takes  place  beside  Professor  Fitzmaurice-Kelly's  Fray  Luis  de  Leon  as 
a  neat  and  convincing  demonstration  of  the  profit  to  be  gained  by  the 
intelligent  reading  of  the  Documentos  Ineditos. 

William  J.  Entwistle. 

Manchester. 


Reviews  503 

Die  Auffassung  der  Liebe  in  der  Literatur  des  18.  J ahrhunderts  und  in  der 
deutschen  Romantik.  Von  Paul  Kluckhohn.  Halle:  M.  Niemeyer. 
1922.   8vo.   xiv  +  640  pp. 

This  volume  was  begun  as  a  contribution  to  the  study  of  romanticism, 
but  in  his  search  for  sources,  the  author  has  been  led  back  as  far  as  the 
Greek  philosophers;  and  with  such  fulness  has  he  traced  the  concep- 
tion of  love  through  the  ages,  that  he  does  not  reach  the  Romantic 
period  until  he  is  more  than  half  through  his  book.  The  problem  neces- 
sarily broadens  out  into  that  of  the  general  relations  of  the  sexes  and 
the  position  of  women  in  society.  Professor  Kluckhohn's  book  is  thus 
not  merely  a  criticism  of  literary  motives,  but  also  a  contribution  to 
social  history. 

In  the  section  of  his  work  dealing  with  the  eighteenth  century,  he 
would  see  in  Germany  the  mediator  between  the  French  contempt  for 
marriage  and  the  English  exaltation  of  it.  He  deals  with  the  deepening 
of  spiritual  life  as  it  manifests  itself  in  pietism  and  sentimentalism,  and 
traces  its  effects  on  the  relation  of  the  sexes.  He  shows  how  the  vague 
objectless  '  longing  for  love,'  which  is  to  be  met  with  in  the  sentimental 
novel  and  lyric,  is  akin  to  the  moonlight  melancholy  and  graveyard 
meditations  of  the  period.  He  is  inclined  to  draw  a  pretty  sharp  dividing 
line  between  'Empfmdsamkeit'  and  'Sturm  und  Drang,'  and  to  empha- 
sise the  difference  between  the  '  burning  passion '  of  Werther  and  the 
'  smouldering  melancholy '  of  Siegwart.  But  the  one  is  merely  a  more 
advanced  stage  of  the  malady  than  the  other.  The  '  Weltschmerz '  of 
hopeless  love,  which  appears  in  so  intense  a  form  in  Goethe's  Tasso, 
culminates  in  the  sadistic  frenzy  of  Muller's  Golo  and  Klinger's  Guelfo. 
Werther  represents  a  definite  stage  in  the  evolution  of  both  senti- 
mentality and  Sturm  und  Drang.  Kluckhohn  throws  light  on  the 
motive  of  the  three-cornered  marriage  which  appeared  not  only  in  the 
literature,  but  also  in  the  real  life  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  on 
the  interesting  figure  of  the  '  Machtweib ' — an  inheritance  from  the 
Renaissance — which  plays  so  large  a  part  in  German  literature  from 
Lessing  and  Goethe  (Gbtz  von  Berlichingen)  onwards. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  Kluckhohn  has  not  called  the  new  psy- 
chology of  the  unconscious  more  to  his  aid  in  elucidating  his  problems. 
He  shows  the  development  of  movements  and  tendencies ;  but  without 
an  attempt  to  analyse  the  underlying  psychological  causes,  this  is  apt 
to  be  merely  dry  bones.  The  interesting  problem  of  the  connection 
between  eroticism  and  religion  could  with  particular  advantage  have 
been  dealt  with  on  these  lines.  His  minute  analysis  of  the  interpreta- 
tion of  love  in  the  Romantic  period  seems  superficial  without  an  under- 
standing of  its  psychological  foundations.  But  the  volume  remains  a 
most  valuable  work  of  reference  for  the  student  of  literature.  It  is 
based  on  enormously  wide  reading,  and  its  usefulness  is  enhanced  by 
an  excellent  bibliography. 

W.  Rose. 

London.  •  . 


MINOR  NOTICES. 

Robert  Greene's  Notable  Discovery  of  Coosnage,  1591;  The  Second 
Part  of  Conny -Catching,  1592,  and  Gabriel  Harvey's  Foure  Letters  and 
certeine  Sonnets,  1592  (edited  by  G.  B.  Harrison ;  London :  John  Lane, 
The  Bodley  Head ;  cloth  3s.  net  each ;  paper  covers  2s.  6d.  net),  are  the 
first  two  volumes  of  '  The  Bodley  Head  Quartos,'  a  series  of  reprints 
of  Elizabethan  and  Jacobean  pamphlets  which,  if  the  scheme  is  carried 
out  in  full,  will  be  of  great  use  to  students.  They  are  intended  to  be,  so 
far  as  possible, 'exact  reprints  of  the  originals  save  for  the  substitution 
of  roman  type  for  black  letter  and  short  for  long  s,  the  original  spelling 
and  punctuation  being  preserved  except  for  a  few  obvious  errors  which 
are  corrected  and  duly  noted.  There  are  collotypes  of  the  original  titles 
and  the  books  are  of  pleasant  form  and  well  printed  at  the  Curwen 
Press  (though  why  does  the  print  of  the  Harvey  all  slope  to  the  right?). 
There  are  no  notes  or  introductions.  Collation  of  a  few  pages  with  the 
originals  shows  that  the  text  has  been  very  carefully  prepared,  the  few 
mistakes  which  I  have  found  being  of  minor  importance.  Such  as  they 
are,  they  seem  mostly  to  have  been  taken  over  from  the  earlier  reprints 
which  were  evidently  used  as  '  copy.'  Unfortunately  also  these  earlier 
reprints  have  been  allowed  to  influence  the  present  editions  in  a  number 
of  minor  typographical  details  where  in  a  close  reprint  of  this  kind  the 
style  of  the  original  should  certainly  have  been  followed.  Indeed  I 
cannot  help  feeling  how  much  better  it  would  have  been  if  the  editor 
had  gone  one  step  further  and  followed  the  originals  line  for  line  and 
page  for  page.  This  would  of  course  have  meant  a  larger  format,  but 
the  gain  would  have  been  from  many  points  of  view  very  great.  If  this 
was  impossible — and  it  would  undoubtedly  have  added  to  the  cost — the 
ends  of  the  pages  might  have  been  marked  and  the  signatures  of  the 
originals  added  in  the  margin.  It  is  a  pity  to  multiply  possible  ways  of 
referring  to  these  early  texts,  especially  now  that  the  method  of  reference 
by  signatures  has  been  so  largely  used  in  the  N.E.D. 

Since  the  above  was  written,  further  texts  included  in  the  series  are 
Chettle's  Kind-Hartes  Dreame,  Kemp's  Nine  Daies'  Wonder,  and  Greene's 
Thirde  Part  of  Conny-catching  and  A  Disputation  betweene  a  Hee  Conny- 
catcher  and  a  Shee  Conny -catcher.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  all  who  can  do 
so  will  accord  to  these  reprints  their  practical  support. 

R.  B.  McK. 

Professor  Kastner  announced  in  the  Athenaium  of  22  Oct.  1904  that 
a  poem  in  Lodge's  Scilla's  Metamorphosis  beginning  '  Most  happie  blest 
the  man'  was  a  servile  translation  in  exactly  the  same  number  of  lines 
(90)  of  the  opening  chanson  of  Desportes'  Bergeries  ('  O  bien-heureux 
qui  pent  passer  sa  vie ').  Sir  Sidney  Lee  printed  both  texts  in  his 
French  Renaissance  in  England  (1910),  p.  458.    M.  Hugues  Vaganay  has 


Minor  Notices  505 

now  issued  a  pamphlet,  Lodge  and  Desportes,  1922  (in  a  limited  edition 
of  100  copies),  in  which  he  shows  that  Lodge  used  an  earlier  edition  of 
Desportes  than  that  of  1585  known  to  Professors  Kastner  and  Lee,  an 
edition  which  gave  the  poem  in  16  strophes  instead  of  15,  of  which  the 
second  and  third  strophes  were  translated  by  only  one  in  English.  The 
two  poems  now  correspond,  whereas  in  Sir  Sidney  Lee's  text,  Lodge's 
fourth  stanza  has  no  counterpart  in  the  French.  M.  Vaganay  adds  a 
Sonnet  of  Desportes  which  Lodge  translated  ('If  so  I  seek...')  from  a 
text  earlier  than  that  known  to  Sir  Sidney. 

G.  C.  M.  S. 

A  delightful  introduction  to  Shakespeare,  full  of  information,  pleas- 
antly written,  and  copiously  illustrated,  is  Shakespeare:  The  Man  and 
his  Stage,  by  Messrs  E.  A.  G.  Lamborn  and  G.  B.  Harrison  (London : 
H.  Milford,  1923,  128  pp.,  2s.  6d.).  The  book  has  four  chapters:  1.  The 
Life ;  2.  Shakespeare's  Age ;  3.  The  Theatre ;  4.  The  Plays  (a  quite 
general  treatment  which  does  not  deal  with  each  play  separately).  The 
writers  have  drawn  illustrative  matter  from  far  and  wide.  The  quotation 
they  give  (p.  64)  from  Camden's  Remaines  agrees  with  some  (perhaps 
all)  of  the  early  editions.  But  the  context  seems  to  show  that  Camden 
wrote,  not  '  For  the  air  is  most  temperate,'  but  '  For  the  air,  it  (sc. 
Britain)  is  most  temperate.'  The  passage  quoted  from  Wright's  Historia 
Histrionica  (1699)  informs  the  reader  that  the  Elizabethan  stages  were 
unprovided  with  '  machines.'  The  latter  however  seem  demanded  by 
some  of  the  stage-directions  in  Greene's  plays.  The  worst  slip  in  the 
book  is  perhaps  the  statement  (p.  99) :  '  Nashe,  who  had  seen  German 
players  at  Wittenberg,  compares  them  very  unfavourably  with  English 
actors.'    Surely  Nashe  had  not  seen  all  that  Jack  Wilton  saw. 

G.  C.  M.  S. 

In  his  work  Le  GoUt  Public  et  le  Theatre  Elisabethain  jusqua  la 
mort  de  Shakespeare  (Dijon:  Imprimerie  Darantiere,  n.d.)  Professor  C.  J. 
Sisson  attempts  to  trace  the  influence  exerted  on  the  Elizabethan  drama 
by  the  tastes  of  the  London  audiences  for  whom  the  dramatists  catered. 
In  reply  to  the  objection  that,  our  knowledge  of  the  tastes  of  the 
audiences  being  itself  derived  from  the  plays  in  question,  he  is  arguing 
in  a  circle,  Dr  Sisson  shows  that  in  the  character  impressed  by  the 
people  on  the  Miracles  and  Moralities  we  have  an  indication  of  its 
tastes,  and  that  these  are  further  seen  very  clearly  in  the  Grocer  and 
his  Wife  in  the  Knight  of  the  Burning  Pestle.  (These  characters  are 
here  analysed  brilliantly.)  One  may  therefore  frame  some  conception  of 
the  motives  which  took  middle-class  Elizabethans  to  the  theatre,  and 
may  then  trace  how  far  the  greater  dramatists  accommodated  their  art 
to  their  audience,  and  how  far  lifted  their  audience  to  their  own  higher 
plane.  Dr  Sisson's  attempt  to  do  this  will  be  found  stimulating  and 
suggestive. 

Some  inaccuracies  in  detail  are  due  to  a  too  great  reliance  on 
second-hand  authorities.    Like  Professor  Schelling  in  the  first  edition 


506  Minor  Notices 

of  his  History  of  the  Elizabethan  Drama,  Dr  Sisson  represents  Gammer 
Gurtons  Needle  to  have  been  played  at  '  Christ's  Church,'  and  assumes 
that  Byrsa  Basilica  dates  from  1570,  because  its  title  records  the  date 
of  Queen  Elizabeth's  visit  and  naming  of  the  Royal  Exchange  on  23  Jan. 
1570  (=  1571).  As  has  been  pointed  out  (see  Dr  Boas'  University  Drama, 
p.  132  n.),  the  play  contains  a  document  dated  'di:  20  Aug.  1633,'  and 
its  characters  '  Mercurius  Gallo-belgicus '  and  '  Mercurius  Britannicus ' 
suffice  to  prove  its  seventeenth  century  origin.  Its  author  seems  to 
have  been  John  Rickitts,  B.A.,  Jesus  Coll.,  Cambridge,  162f,  M.A.  1629. 
Dr  Sisson  seems  more  directly  responsible  for  postulating  (p.  64)  a  1613 
edition  of  Beaumont's  (Euvres  (instead  of  The  Knight  of  the  Burning 
Pestle),  and  for  representing  Laertes  as  being  Hamlet's  cousin  (p.  143), 
as  though  he  were  a  son  of  Claudius.  One  can  hardly  agree  with 
Dr  Sisson  that  the  speeches  in  Henry  V,  I,  Sc.  2  have  no  dramatic  or 
poetic  quality  (p.  158). 

G.  C.  M.  S. 

Women  Writers  of  the  Nineteenth  Century,  by  Marjory  A.  Bald 
(Cambridge  University  Press),  is  a  series  of  studies  of  Jane  Austen,  the 
Brontes,  Mrs  Gaskell,  George  Eliot,  Mrs  Browning  and  Christina  Rossetti, 
which  show  careful  reading,  power  of  entering  into  the  minds  of  their 
subjects,  and  sound  criticism.  It  was  perhaps  unnecessary  for  the  author 
and  publishers  to  disclaim  any  object  of  producing  a  feminist  treatise. 
This  at  once  set  us  hunting  for  signs  of  feminism ;  but  the  only 
token  which  is  conspicuously  apparent  is  the  title  and  head-line 
'Mrs  E.  C.  Gaskell'  Mrs  Browning,  on  the  other  hand,  is  allowed  to 
rest  without  her  own  or  her  husband's  initials ;  so  that  we  may  conclude 
that  there  is  nothing  serious  in  this  special  distinction  awarded  to  a 
writer  who,  as  Miss  Bald  remarks,  has  often  received  less  than  her 
deserts,  and  is  therefore  subjected  to  more  detailed  treatment  than  any 
of  the  others.  This  essay  is  the  centre  of  the  book,  and  the  summary 
with  which  it  ends  deserves  high  praise  for  its  excellent  comparison  of 
Mrs  Gaskell  with  Jane  Austen,  Charlotte  Bronte,  and  George  Eliot. 
Setting  people  back  to  back  in  this  way  is  stigmatised  by  a  character 
in  one  of  Henry  James'  stories  as  '  the  infancy  of  art ' ;  but  in  the 
present  instance  it  is  needed  to  bring  out  qualities  in  Mrs  Gaskell's 
work,  her  '  beautiful  reticent  pathos,'  the  natural  growth  of  her  plots 
'  like  carefully  tended  flowers,'  her  breadth  of  sympathy  with  human 
nature,  which,  though  obvious  in  themselves,  acquire  greater  artistic 
value  when  brought  into  contact  with  the  work  of  other  women.  The 
danger  of  the  process,  of  which  Miss  Bald  is  fond — she  brings  Mary 
Barton  and  North  and  South  into  contrast  with  Disraeli's  and  Dickens' 
contributions  to  sociological  fiction  with  some  effect — is  that  it  generally 
shows  a  leaning  to  one  side  of  the. comparison.  In  spite  of  Miss  Bald's 
strong  appreciation  of  Jane  Austen  and  her  thorough  enjoyment  of  her 
irony,  she  seems  to  miss  a  certain  tenderness  of  sentiment  which,  if 
implied  somewhat  guardedly  in  the  earlier  novels,  is  allowed  to  appear  in 
the  portrait  of  Anne  Elliot  in  Persuasion.  Anne  is  permitted  to  indulge 


Minor  Notices  507 

a,  feeling  for  natural  beauty  which  had  been  condemned  in  Marianne  as 
'-  a  passion  for  dead  leaves ' ;  and  even  Elizabeth  Bennet  could  exclaim 
without  satire,  '  What  are  men  to  rocks  and  mountains  ? '  J  Miss  Austen's 
treatment  of  Anne  Elliot,  the  nearest  counterpart  to  herself  among  her 
heroines,  is  certainly  marked  by  a  gentleness  which  might  be  contrasted 
with  George  Eliot's  severity  to  herself  in  the  person  of  Dorothea  Brooke. 
These  are  points,  however,  on  which  it  is  not  necessary  to  insist ;  and 
Miss  Bald  writes  so  well  about  her  chosen  authors,  in  a  clear  and  concise 
style  which  avoids  ambiguity  and  mere  phrase-making,  that  her  book 
may  be  welcomed  as  a  genuine  contribution  to  criticism.  Her  essays 
upon  Mrs  Browning  and  Christina  Rossetti  are  both  good,  and  her 
appraisement  of  Mrs  Browning's  defects  and  achievements  is  free  from 
the  somewhat  excessive  blame  and  praise  which  her  critics  and  admirers 
have  been  known  to  shower  upon  her.  It  is,  however,  in  her  discussion 
of  novelists  that  Miss  Bald's  capacity  is  at  its  best :  and,  while  she  gives 
us  pleasure  in  putting  into  adequate  words  ideas  that  probably  have 
occurred  to  most  intelligent  readers,  she  also  gives  us  new  points  of  view. 
Nothing  in  the  book  is  better  than  her  telling  use  of  metaphor ;  and,  in 
a  day  when  George  Eliot's  novels  are  often  undervalued  by  readers  of 
modern  fiction,  the  concluding  sentence  of  her  study  of  George  Eliot, 
suggested  by  a  phrase  in  Daniel  Deronda,  may  well  be  remembered : 
!  Though  her  knowledge  may  hang  about  her  like  a  heavy  garment,  her 
affections  carry  the  burden  with  a  vivid  stately  presence.' 

A.  H.  T. 

The  Poet's  Poet,  by  Elizabeth  Atkins  (Boston :  Marshall  Jones  Co.), 
is  explained  as  a  series  of  '  essays  on  the  character  and  mission  of 
the  poet  as  interpreted  in  English  verse  of  the  last  one  hundred  and 
fifty  years.'  The  writer  is  well  read  in  the  poetry  of  her  chosen  period  : 
she  has  abundant  enthusiasm  and  some  insight,  and  her  frequent  quota- 
tions are  supplemented  by  foot-notes  which  are  useful  guides  to  the 
treatment  of  a  large  variety  of  aspects  of  life  by  modern  poets  of  widely 
differing  temperaments.  This  is  the  actual  subject  of  her  book :  the 
views  of  poets  are  throughout  more  in  evidence  than  the  quality  of 
their  poetry,  and  there  is  little  discrimination  in  the  method  with  which 
these  views  are  presented.  In  chapters  with  such  sounding  titles  as 
1  The  Egocentric  Circle,'  ■  The  Mortal  Coil,'  '  The  Spark  from  Heaven,' 
and  '  The  Pragmatic  Issue,'  we  expect  to  find  a  fair  amount  of  pseudo- 
scientific  writing  with  a  tendency  to  bathos,  but  we  do  not  despair  of 
discovering  some  genuine  criticism.  Dr  Atkins  has  observed  the  habits  of 
thought  of  poets  with  some  shrewdness  and  writes  of  them  with  frequent 
vivacity;  but  of  the  relative  value  of  their  ideas  and  of  the  test  of  their 
real  worth  in  their  verse  she  has  less  conception.  Her  final  chapter, 
with  its  analysis  of  the  conflict  between  spirit  and  sense  in  the  poetic 
imagination,  shows  a  firmer  grasp  of  the  things  that  really  matter  than 
the  rest  of  her  work,  which  is  more  discursive  than  critical.  It  is 
amusing  to  notice  the  attitudes  of  poets  towards  obesity  and  leanness 
as  signs  of  fitness  for  their  vocation,  and  to  compare  Burns  and  Swinburne 


508  Minor  Notices 

with  poets  who  find  inspiration  in  teetotalism ;  but  such  reflexions  do 
not  take  us  near  the  heart  of  poetry.  Dr  Atkins  does  not  always  repro- 
duce the  names  of  English  poets,  artists  and  critics  correctly:  we 
observe,  among  others,  Laurence  '  Houseman,'  T.  E. '  Browne,'  Benjamin 
'Haydn,'  Maurice  '  Hewlitt,'  and — a  magnificent  error,  which  is  con- 
firmed by  the  index — ,  George  Augustus  '  Scala.'  '  Lord  Burleigh  '  and 
'  A  Becket '  are  odd  versions  of  the  titles  of  two  of  Tennyson's  poems. 

A.  H.  T. 

An  annotated  edition  of  the  Vita  Nuova  has  been  added  to  Heath's 
Modern  Language  Series  (La  Vita  Nuova  di  Dante  Alighieri,  edited 
with  introduction,  notes  and  vocabulary  by  Kenneth  McKenzie.  London : 
Heath,  6s.).  The  text  is  that  now  established  by  Barbi,  while  the  com- 
mentary and  introduction  aim  at  presenting  the  reader  with  the  results 
of  the  considerable  amount  of  study  which  has  been  devoted  to  the 
signification  of  the  book.  Here  and  there  points  seem  open  to  criticism. 
Professor  McKenzie  states,  somewhat  dogmatically,  that  the  sonnet  is 
'  based  on  a  Sicilian  popular  song  with  alternating  rhymes '  (p.  xiii) ; 
this  is  a  plausible  and  the  more  attractive  theory,  but  not  that  of  the 
majority  of  Italian  scholars.  Jacopo  Alighieri  is  confused  with  his 
brother  Pietro  (p.  xix).  Two  of  the  most  important  studies  of  the  dolce 
stil  nuovo — those  of  Rossi  and  Parodi — are  ignored  in  the  Bibliography. 
In  the  commentary  upon  chapter  ix,  it  should  surely  have  been  men- 
tioned that  the  general  acceptance  as  Dante's  of  the  sonnet,  Non  mi 
poriano  gia  maifare  ammenda  (Rime  Li),  points  to  the  journey  described 
as  having  been  to  Bologna,  and  the  possibility  that  the  river,  'doubtless 
the  Arno '  (p.  86),  may  be,  as  Torraca  has  argued,  the  Savena.  A  more 
serious  defect  in  an  edition  of  this  kind  is  the  almost  complete  absence 
of  notes  elucidating  points  of  historical  grammar.  But,  on  the  whole,  it 
is  a  sound  and  scholarly  piece  of  work,  a  welcome  addition  to  our  avail- 
able class-books  in  Italian,  and  one  which  even  professed  students  of 
Dante  can  examine  with  profit. 

E.  G.  G. 

A  welcome  anticipation  of  the  forthcoming  new  edition  of  the  Oxford 
Dante  reaches  us  in  the  shape  of  Dr  Paget  Toynbee's  paper,  The  Bearing 
of  the  '  Gursus '  on  the  Tenet  of  Dante's  '  De  Vulgari  Eloquentia '  (from 
the  Proceedings  of  the  British  Academy,  vol.  xi.  London  :  H.  Milford, 
1923,  Is.  6d.).  Hitherto  the  Gursus  has  been  almost  completely  ignored 
by  editors  and  students  of  the  treatise;  but  Dr  Toynbee  shows  that 
there  are  more  than  fifty  passages  in  which  it  '  plays  an  important,  if 
not  decisive,  part  in  the  settlement  of  the  text.'  To  take  one  instance 
only,  its  application  enables  him  to  propose  a  highly  satisfactory  emen- 
dation of  Dante's  definition  of  poetry  :  '  fictio  rethorica  musicaque  com- 
posita.'  Incidentally,  Dr  Toynbee's  researches  tend  considerably  to 
enhance  the  authority  of  the  MS.  at  Berlin,  discovered  by  Dr  Bertalot 
and  now  published  in  facsimile  (II  Godice  B  del  'De  Vulgari  Eloquentia.' 
Florence:  Olschki,  1923),  for  the  result  of  his  collation  shows  that  the 


Minor  Notices  509 

rhythmical  structure  in  correspondence  with  the  Cursus  is  far  more  con- 
sistently maintained  here  than  in  the  previously  known  manuscripts  of 
the  treatise.  E.  G.  G. 

Dr  Gartner  reprints  in  Ladinische  Worter  aus  den  Dolomitentdlern 
(Beihefte  zur  Zeitschr.  f.  rom.  Phil.,  Heft  73.  Halle :  Max  Niemeyer, 
1923)  the  words  which  he  had  collected  at  the  end  of  his  Gredner 
Mundart,  but  the  additions  are  very  many,  and  the  improvement  con- 
siderable, for  he  has  made  this  his  special  study  for  some  forty  years  and 
he  has  availed  himself  of  the  word-collections  which  Hermes  Ferri,  a 
pupil  of  his,  and  Hugo  von  Rossi  made,  respectively  in  the  higher  and 
in  the  lower  Val  di  Fassa.  Such  places  are  of  particular  interest,  for 
the  Rhaeto-romanic  language  responds  there  to  external  influences  of 
Lombard  and  Venetian  dialects.  '  Ladin '  dialects  have  lost  much  of 
their  purity  during  the  last  decades,  and  a  glance  at  Dr  Gartner's  work 
will  show  how  many  foreign  elements  have  been  absorbed.  The  process 
is  continuous  and  particularly  noticeable  in  the  sound-changes  of  German 
words  but  recently  adopted.  Thus  the  enormous  labour  which  the  author 
has  spent  on  this  work  provides  a  most  useful  record  in  the  development 
of  a  dialect  which,  owing  to  a  variety  of  causes,  is  rapidly  changing. 

C.  F. 

There  has  been  much  activity  in  America  in  recent  years  in  the 
rather  thankless  task  of  compiling  bibliographies  and  concordances ;  and 
both  are  indispensable  aids  to  literary  study.  But  when,  to  a  work  like 
Professor  Bayard  Quincy  Morgan's  very  large  Bibliography  of  German 
Literature  in  English  Translation  (Studies  in  Language  and  Literature, 
xvi.  Madison:  University  of  Wisconsin,  1922,  708  pp.,  2  dol.)  is  added 
some  critical  determination  of  the  value  of  the  items  catalogued,  it  is 
doubly  valuable.  Professor  Morgan's  self-sacrificing  labours  fill  us  with 
admiration ;  he  has  certainly  achieved  his  end  of  producing  a  work 
which  no  literary  historian  or  librarian  concerned  with  these  matters 
can  afford  to  overlook.  He  might  perhaps  have  been  wiser,  as  he  was 
apparently  prevented  from  pursuing  his  investigations  in  this  country, 
frankly  to  have  limited  the  scope  of  his  work  to  America.  He  relies 
mainly  on  the  Catalogue  of  the  British  Museum  for  his  English  items, 
and  the  Museum,  as  all  of  us  who  have  interested  ourselves  in  the 
subject  know,  possesses  for  the  earlier  nineteenth  century  far  from  a 
complete  collection  of  English  translations  from  the  German.  Professor 
Morgan  has  laboured  under  the  additional  disadvantage  of  having  been 
only  able  to  consult,  besides  the  Catalogue  in  its  original  published 
form,  the  Supplements,  which  ceased  to  appear  in  1905.  This  is  re- 
sponsible for  several  lacunae.  I  instance  the  case  of  Theodor  Storm. 
Translations  of  only  three  of  Storm's  stories  are  to  be  found  in  Professor 
Morgan's  list,  while,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  practically  all  Storm's  important 
later  '  chronicle-novels '  exist  in  English  translation.  Another  difficulty 
which  Professor  Morgan  has  had  to  face  is  to  determine  the  actual 
origin,  English  or  American,  of  particular  translations.    As  the  Library 

m.l.r.  xvni.  33 


510  Minor  Notices 

of  Congress  is  his  basis,  America  is  apt  to  get  more  credit  for  translating 
from  the  German  than  she  deserves ;  and  it  has  not  been  always  easy 
to  determine  whether  translations  which  appeared  in  both  countries, 
are  identical  or  not.  The  American  point  of  view  is  noticeable  in  the 
emphasis  which  Professor  Morgan  lays  in  his  preface  on  the  catastrophic 
effect  of  the  Great  War  on  '  the  direct  study  of  German  literature  in 
English-speaking  countries.'  He  has,  I  think,  rather  rashly  generalised. 
The  study  of  and  interest  in  German  literature — never,  it  is  true,  very 
robust — were  not  interfered  with  here  by  the  War  as  much  as  was  ap- 
parently the  case  in  America.  J#  Q.  R. 

Freiligraihs  Entwicklung  als  politischer  Dichter  is  the  title  of  a 
helpful  monograph  by  Erwin  Gustav  Gudde  (Germanische  Studien,  xx. 
Berlin :  E.  Ebering,  1922),  who  has  already  (in  the  Journal  of  English 
and  Germanic  Philology,  xx,  pp.  355  ff.)  dealt  with  the  '  Traces  of  Eng- 
lish Influences  in  Freiligrath's  Political  and  Social  Lyrics.'  The  present 
work  clears  up  many  points  left  vague  by  previous  investigators  in  the 
second  half  of  the  poet's  career,  when  he  came  to  be  the  voice  of  the 
aspirations  of  1848.  The  author  shows  Freiligrath's  belated  and  slow 
inward  evolution  from  the  exoticism  of  his  '  Wiistenpoesie '  towards 
political  thought,  his  temporary  cooperation  with  Marx  and  the  com- 
munist movement  in  pursuit  of  democratic  ideals, and  the  ultimate  parting 
of  their  ways  during  the  years  of  industrial  expansion  under  Bismarck. 
The  salient  fact  which  emerges  from  the  whole  study  is  Freiligrath's 
dependence  on  others  for  the  political  thought  he  casts  into  verse,  on 
brother-poets,  on  Karl  Marx,  on  leading  articles  in  the  Neue  Rheinische 
Zeitung.  Even  where  the  sincerity  and  warmth  of  feeling  is  undeniable, 
where  the  poetry  is  of  permanent  literary  value,  the  thought  and  even 
turns  of  phrase  are  derived  from  such  outside  sources. 

I.  M.  M. 

At  the  end  of  the  Introduction  to  Dr  Lambert  Armour  Shears'  The 
Influence  of  Walter  Scott  on  the  Novels  of  Theodor  Fontane  (Columbia 
University  Germanic  Studies.  New  York  :  Columbia  University  Press ; 
London,  H.  Milford,  1922,  7s.)  one  reads:  'The  total  amount  of 
Fontane's  indebtedness  to  Scott  is,  to  be  sure,  very  small... and  is  limited 
largely  to  subject-matter.'  The  writer  then  proceeds  to  make  the  most 
of  a  not  too  grateful  subject.  His  eagerness  leads  him  to  bring  together 
in  Chapter  I  and  the  first  part  of  Chapter  II  much  information  which 
has  no  direct  bearing  on  the  central  issue.  Possibly,  instead  of  attempt- 
ing to  discount  the  influence  of  Alexis,  it  would  have  been  better  to 
work  through  Alexis  to  Scott.  The  most  tangible  result  of  the  investi- 
gation is  the  exposition  of  a  definite  degree  of  likeness  between 
Hoppenmarieken  in  Vor  dem  Sturm  and  Meg  Merrilies;  but  it  is 
surely  an  exaggeration  to  say  that  '  she  is  hardly  conceivable  without 
Scott  prototypes.'  The  monograph  serves  to  emphasize  what  Fontane 
himself  said  of  his  first  novel :  '  even  the  indebtedness  to  Scott  concerns 
only  very  general  points '  (quoted  on  p.  35).  K.  H. 


NEW  PUBLICATIONS. 

June- August,  1923. 

GENERAL. 

Creizenach,  W.,  Geschichte  des  neueren  Dramas,    in.  Renaissance  und  Refor- 
mation.  2.  Aufl.  herausg.  von  A.  Hamel.   Halle,  M.  Nieineyer. 
Croce,  B.,  Poesia  e  non  poesia.   Note  sulla  letteratura  europea  del  sec.  xix.   Bari, 

Laterza.    L.  25. 
Gordon,  G.,  The  Discipline  of  Letters.   Inaugural  Lecture.    Oxford,  Clarendon 

Press.    2s. 
Gougaud,  L.,  Gaelic  Pioneers  of  Christianity.  The  Work  and  Influence  of  Irish 

Monks  and  Saints  in  continental  Europe  (Vlth  to  Xllth  Cent.).    Dublin, 

M.  H.  Gill.   7s.  6d. 
Ker,  W.  P.,  The  Art  of  Poetry.   Seven  Lectures.    1920-22.   Oxford,  Clarendon 

Press.  6s. 
Krappe,  A.  H.,  The  Legend  of  Rodrick,  last  of  the  Visigoth  Kings,  and  the 

Ermanarich  Cycle.    Heidelberg,  C.  Winter.   2  M. 
Pos,  H.  J.,  Kritische  Studien  iiber  philologische  Methode.    (Beitr.  zur  Philo- 

sophie,  x.)   Heidelberg,  C.  Winter.   3  M.  20. 
Saurat,  D.,  Les  elements  religieux  non  chretiens  dans  la  poesie  moderne 

(Rev.  lift,  comp.,  iii,  3,  July). 
Schucking,  L.  L.,  Die  Soziologie  der  literarischen  Geschmacksbildung.   (Philo- 

sophische  Reihe,  lxxi.)    Munich,  Rosl  und  Co.    2  M.  70. 
Serra,  R.",  Scritti  inediti.    iv.    Florence,  La  Voce.   L.  10. 
Sperber,  H.,  Einfuhrung  in  die  Bedeutungslehre.   Bonn,  K.  Schroeder.    2  M. 

ROMANCE  LANGUAGES. 

Colarieti-Tosti,  A.  M.,  II  romanzo  classico-storico-archeologico  nel  sec.  xvm 

in  Francia  e  in  Italia.  Rieti,  Trinchi. 
Kallin,  H.,  L'Expression  syntactique  du  rapport  d'agent  dans  les  Langues 

romanes.  Paris,  H.  Champion.  18  fr. 
Seifert,  E.,  Die  Proparoxytona  im  Galloromanischen.    (Zeitschr.  f.  rom.  Phil., 

Beihefte,  lxxiv.)  Halle,  M.  Niemeyer.   4  M. 

Italian. 

Bellezza,  P.,  Curiosita  manzoniane.  Milan,  Vallardi.    L.  9. 

Biagi,  G.,  Passatisti.   Florence,  La  Voce.   L.  10. 

Burchiello,  II,  e  i  Burchielleschi.     Pagine  scelte  da  E.  Giovannetti.    Milan, 

Treves.    L.  10. 
Costa,  A.,  Pagine  metastasiane.   Palermo,  Sandron.   L.  15. 

Courten,  C.  de,  La  fortuna  del  teatro  di  G.  M.  Chenier  in  Italia  (Giorn. 

stor.,  lxxxii,  1,  2). 
Dante  Alighieri,  Le  Opere  minori.    Trascelte  e  commentate  da  D.  Guerri. 

Florence,  Perrella.    L.  16. 
Dante  Alighieri,   La  poesia,  il  pensiero,  la  storia.    Commemorazione  del 

Centenario  dantesco.    Padua,  Drucker.    L.  25. 

33—2 


512  New  Publications 

Dante   Alighiebi,  II  Trattato  della  Monarchia.     Nuovamente  tradotto  ed 

annotate*  da  G.  B.  Siragusa  con  introduzione  di  F.  Ercole.    Palermo, 

Sandron.    L.  7.50. 
Dusi,  R.,  II  Classicismo  e  il  Romanticismo  nella  storia  della  critica  {Giom. 

stor.,  lxxxii,  1,  2). 
Fabbrovich,  E.,  Merlin  Cocai.  Studio  critico.  Turin,  Paravia.   L.  10. 
Frati,  L.,  I  codici  danteschi  della  Biblioteca  Universitaria  di  Bologna.  Florence, 

Olschki.    L.  40. 
Frati,  L.,  II  Settecento  a  Bologna.    Palermo,  Sandron.    L.  15. 
Gargano,  G.  S.,  Scapigliatura  italiana  a  Londra  sotto  Elisabetta  e  Giacomo  I. 

Florence,  L.  Battistelli.    L.  8. 
Gorio,  M.,  Un  poeta  milanese  del  Seicento :  C.  M.  Maggi.   Parma,  Donati. 
Leopardi,  G.,  The  Poems  of.   Ed.  with  Introduction  and  notes  and  a  verse 

translation  by  G.  L.  Bickersteth.   Cambridge,  Univ.  Press.    30s. 
Leopardi,  G.,  Zibaldone.   Scelto  e  annotato,  a  cura  di  G.  De  Robertis.   Florence, 

Le  Monnier.   L.  25. 
Manzoni  intimo.   3  vol.   A  cura  di  M.  Scherillo  e  G.  Gallavresi.    Milan,  Hoepli. 

L.  31.50. 
Manzoni,  A.,  Le  liriche.    Commentate  da  G.  Brognoligo.   Florence,  Perrella. 

L.  3.80. 
Mele,  E.,  Opere  del  Gracian  e  d'  altri  autori  spagnuoli  fra  le  mani  del 

p.  Casalicchio  {Giom.  stor.,  lxxxii,  1,  2). 
Monti,  V.,  Poesie  scelte.   Illustrate  e  commentate  da  A.  Bertoldi.   Nuova  ed. 

Florence,  Sansoni.   L.  12. 
Naselli,  M.,  La  fortuna  del  Foscolo  nell'  Ottocento.   Florence,  Perrella.   L.  35. 
Natali,  G.,  La  vita  e  le  opere  di  P.  Metastasio.    Livorno,  Giusti.    L.  3. 
Parodi,  E.  G.,  II  dare  e  1'  avere  fra  i  pedanti  e  i  geniali.     Florence,  Perrella. 

L.  7. 
Parodi,  E.  G.,  Poeti  antichi  e  moderni.     Studi  critici.    Florence,  Sansoni. 

L.  12. 
Porena,  M.,  II  pessimismo  di  G.  Leopardi.   Florence,  Perrella.    L.  10. 
Porta,  A.,  Byronismo  italiano.   Milan,  Cogliati.    L.  18. 
Prezzolini,  G.,  La  coltura  italiana.  Florence,  La  Voce.    L.  15. 
Prieur,  L.,  Dante  et  l'ordre  social.    Paris,  Perrin.   8  fr. 
Rho,  E.,  La  lirica  di  A.  Poliziano.    I.    Turin,  Lattes.   L.  8. 
Verri,  P.  ed  A.,  Carteggio.   i.  A  cura  di  A.  Giulini  e  E.  Greppi.   Milan,  Cogliati. 

L.  100. 
Spanish. 

Adams,  N.  B.,  The  Romantic  Dramas  of  Garcfa  Gutierrez.   New  York,  Instituto 

de  las  Espanas.    1  $. 
Barto,  P.  S.,  The  Subterranean  Grail  Paradise  of  Cervantes  (Publ.  M.L.  A. 

Amer.,  xxxviii,  2,  June). 
Callcott,  F.,  The  Supernatural  in  Early  Spanish.   New  York,  Instituto  de  las 

Espanas.  1  $. 
Castillo,  C,  Acerca  de  la  Fecha  y  Fuentes  '  En  la  Vida  Todo  es  Verdad  y 

Todo  Mentira '  (Mod.  Phil.,  xx,  4,  May). 
Castro,  A.,  Unos  aranceles  de  Aduanas  del  siglo  xiii  (Rev.  fil.  esp.,  x, 

2,  June). 
Grossmann,  R.,  Katalanische  Lyrik  der  Gegenwart.    Eine  deutsche  Auslese. 

Hamburg,  Casa  Edit.  Fausto.   6  M. 
Hatzfeld,  H.,  Meisterwerke  der  spanischen  Literatur.    (Fiihrer  durch  die  lite- 

rarischen  Meisterwerke  der  Romanen,  ii.)  Munich,  M.  Hueber. 


New  Publications  513 

Holmes,  H.  A.,  Martin  Fierro,  an  Epic  of  the  Argentine.  New  York,  Instituto 
de  las  Espafias.    1  $. 
Kruger,  F.,  Vocablos  y  cosas  de  Sanabria  (Rev.fil.  esp.,  x,  2,  June). 
Millares  Carlo,  A.,  La  biblioteca  de  G.  Argote  de  Molina  (Rev.  fil.  esp., 
x,  2,  June). 
Morel-Fatio,  A.,  La  Comedia  espagnole  du  xvne  siecle.    Lecon  d'ouverture. 
2me  eel.   Paris,  H.  Champion.   3  fr.  50. 

Rhaeto-romanic. 

Lutta,  C.  M.,  Der  Dialekt  von  Bergiin  und  seine  Stellung  innerhalb  der  rato- 
romanischen  Mundarten  Graubiindens.  (Zeitschr.  f.  rom.  Phil.,  Beihefte, 
lxxi.)   Halle,  M.  Niemeyer.    10  M. 

French. 

(a)  General  (incl.  Linguistic). 

Boer,  C.  de,  Essais  de  syntaxe  francaise  moderne.   Paris,  H.  Champion.    12  fr. 

Desormeaux,  P.,  Bibliographie  methodique  des  parlers  de  Savoie.  Langue  et 
litterature.   Paris,  H.  Champion.   20  fr. 

Gilli^ron,  J.,  Thaumaturgie  linguistique.   Paris,  H.  Champion.    12  fr. 

Romains,  J.  et  G.  Chenneviere,  Petit  traite  de  versification.  Paris,  Nouv. 
Bevue  franc.   6  fr.  75. 

Wartburg,  W.   von,  Franzosisches  etymologisches  Worterbuch.     Lief.  3-4 
Bonn,  K.  Schroeder. 
Yvon,  H.,  A  propos  du  futur  anterieur  (Rev.  Phil,  /rang.,  xxxv,  1). 

Z^liqzon,  L.,  Dictionnaire  des  Patois  romans  de  la  Moselle,  n.  (F — M.)  Stras- 
bourg, Libr.  Istra  ;  London,  H.  Milford.    5*. 

(b)  Old  French. 

Axelsen,  A.,  Supernatural  Beings  in  the  French  Mediaeval  Dramas.  Copen- 
hagen, Levin  og  Munksgard.   4  kr. 

Boulenger,  J.,  Les  romans  de  la  Table  ronde.  iv.  Le  Saint  Graal.  La  Mort 
d'Artus.    Paris,  Plon-Nourrit.   7  fr. 

Guy,  H.,  Essai  sur  la  vie  et  les  ceuvres  litteraires  du  trouvere  Adam  de  la  Halle. 
Paris,  H.  Champion.   22  fr.  50. 

Jordan,  L.,  Altfranzosisches  Elementarbuch.  Bielefeld,  Velhagen  und  Klasing. 

Mariage  des  sept  arts,  Le.  Ed.  par  A.  Langfors.  (Classiques  frangais  du  moyen 
age,  xxxi.)   Paris,  H.  Champion.   2  fr.  75. 

Tobler,  A.,  Altfranzosisches  Worterbuch.  Herausg.  von  E.  Lommatzsch. 
Lief.  6.   Berlin,  Weidmann.   3  M.  60. 

Weston,  J.  L.,  The  'Perlesvaus'  and  the  Story  of  the  Coward  Knight 
(Mod.  Phil.,  xx,  4,  May). 

(c)  Modern  French. 

Barres,  M.,  L'angoisse  de  Pascal.    Paris,  Plon-Nourrit.   5  fr. 

Bellay,  J.  Du,  Divers  jeux  rustiques.    Ed.  critique  par  H.  Chamard.    Paris, 

Hachette.   6  fr. 
Borel,  P.,  CEuvres  completes.   3  vols.    Paris,  Budry.    150  fr. 
Bossuet,  J.  B.,  Correspon dance,   xvi.  Paris,  Hachette.   30  fr. 

Bremond,  H.,  Pascal  et  le  '  Mystere  de  Jdsus'  (Rev.  de  France,  June  15). 
Brimont,  Baronne  de,  Lamartine  fantaisiste.    Paris,  Plon-Nourrit.   30  fr. 

Brunet,  G,  Pascal  poete  (Merc,  de  France,  June  15). 
Busson,  H.,  Charles  d'Espinay,  eV6que  de  Dol,  et  son  ceuvre  po^tique.   Paris, 
H.  Champion.    15  fr. 


514  New  Publications 

Cazals,  F.  A.  et  G.  Le  Rouge,  Les  derniers  jours  de  Paul  Verlaine.    Paris, 
Mercure  de  France.    15  fr. 

Chamaillard,  E.,  Pascal  mondain  et  amoureux.    Paris,  Presses  universitaires. 
10  fr. 

Charbonnier,  F.,  Pamphlets  protestants  contre  Ronsard.   Paris,  H.  Champion. 
5fr. 
Cohen,  G.,  Ronsard,  sa  vie  et  son  ceuvre.    (Rev.  des  cours  et  con/.,  May  31.) 
Coulon,  M.,  Le  probleme  de  Rimbaud,  poete  maudit.   Paris,  Cres.    10  fr. 
Curtius,  E.  R.,  Balzac.  Bonn,  F.  Cohen.    7  M. 

Descartes,  R.,  Discours  de  la  Methode.    (Cambridge  Plain  Texts.)   Cambridge, 

Univ.  Press.    Is.  3d. 
Duine,  F.,  Essai  de  bibliographic  de  F.  R.  de  La  Mennais.    Paris,  Garnier.  5  fr. 
Escoube,  P.,  La  femme  et  le  sentiment  de  l'amour  chez  Rdmy  de  Gourmont. 

Paris,  Mercure  de  France.    6  fr.  50. 

Faguet,  E.,  Histoire  de  la  poesie  francaise  de  la  Renaissance  au  romantisme. 

I.  Au  temps  de  Malherbe.    Paris,  Boivin.    9  fr. 
Fay,  B.,  L'Amdrique  et  l'esprit  scientifique  en  France  a  la  fin  du  xvme 

siecle  (Rev.  litt.  comp.,  iii,  3,  July). 
Fernessole,  F.,  Bio-bibliographie  de  la  jeunesse  de  L.  Veuillot,  1813-43.  Paris. 

Gigord.    15  fr. 
Fernessole,  F.,  Les  origines  litt^raires  de  L.  Veuillot,  1813-43.   Paris,  Gigord. 

15  fr. 
Filleau  de  la  Chaise,  Discours  sur  les  pensees  de  Pascal.    Introd.  et  notes  de 

V.  Giraud.    Paris,  Bossard.   12  fr. 
Franchet,  H.,  Le  poete  et  son  ceuvre  d'apres  Ronsard.    Paris,  Champion.   35  fr. 
Fusil,  C.  A.,  Rousseau  juge  de  Jean- Jacques.   Paris,  Plon-Nourrit.   7  fr. 
Ghil,  R.,  Les  dates  et  les  ceuvres.   Symbolisme  et  po£sie  scientifique.    Paris, 

Cres.    7  fr. 
Ghil,  R.,  La  tradition  de  la  poesie  scientifique.  Paris,  Soc.  litt.  de  France.   3  fr. 

Giraud,  V.,  Blaise  Pascal  (Rev.  d.  d.  Mondes,  June  1-July  15). 
Giraud,  V.,  Moralistes  francais.   Paris,  Hachette.    12  fr. 

Green,  F.  C,  Realism  in  the  French  Novel  in  the  first  half  of  the  18th 

Century  (Mod.  Lang.  Notes,  xxxviii,  6,  June). 
Hatzpeld,  H.,  F.  Rabelais.  (Philosophische  Reihe,  lxviii.)  Munich,  Rosl.   4  M. 
Hatzfeld,  H.,  Der  franzosische  Symbolismus.    (Philosophische  Reihe,  lxxiii.) 

Munich,  Rosl.   3  M.  50. 
Hazard,  P.,  L'Auteur  d"Oderahi,'  histoire  americaine  (Rev.  litt.  comp.,  iii, 

3,  July). 
Ibrovac,  M.,  J.  M.  de  HeV^dia,  sa  vie,  son  ceuvre.    2  vols.    Paris,  Les  Presses 

franc.   40  fr. 
Jacoubet,  H.,  Le  Comte  de  Tressan  et  les  origines  du  genre  troubadour.  Paris, 

Presses  universitaires.   20  fr. 
Jovt,  E.,  Pascal  n'a  pas  invente  le  Haquet.    Paris,  H.  Champion.   2  fr. 
Jovy,  E.,  Pascal  et  Saint  Ignace.  Paris,  H.  Champion.   3  fr.  50. 
Klemperer,  V.,  Die  moderne  franzosische   Prosa   (1870-1920).    Studie  und 

erlauternde  Texte.  (Philologische  Studienbiicher.)  Leipzig,  B.  G.  Teubner. 

4  M.  50. 
Langlois,  C,  Renan  et  l'histoire  litt^raire  de  la  France  (Rev.  de  France, 

June  1). 
Latzarus,  M.  T.,  La  literature  enfantine  en  France  dans  la  seconde  moitie  du 

19e  siecle.    Paris,  Presses  universitaires.    10  fr. 


New  Publications  515 

Lepelletier,  E.,  P.  Verlaine,  sa  vie,  son  ceuvre.   Paris,  Merc,  de  France.   15  fr. 
Letellier,  A.,  Bossuet :  notre  plus  grand  ecrivain.  Paris,  Ed.  de  l:Abeille  d'or. 

12  fr.  50. 

Lh^ritier,  J.  et  R.  Groos,  Charles  Maurras.   Paris,  Nouv.  Mercnre.   3  fr. 

Martino,  P.,  L'Ouvrage  de  grammaire  de  Stendhal  (1818)  {Giorn.  stor.  delta 

lett.  ital.,  lxxxii,  1,  2). 
Martino,   P.,  La  poesie   symboliste:   Verlaine   (Rev.  des  cours  et  con/., 
June  30). 
Masson,  G.  A.,  A.  France,  son  ceuvre.    Paris,  Nouv.  Kev.  critique.   3  fr.  75. 
Meujot  D'Elbenne,  Vcte.,  Madame  de  la  Sabliere.  Paris,  Plon-Nourrit.   20  fr. 
Michaud,  G.  L.,  Luis  Vives  and  Kabelais'  Pedagogy  (Publ.  M.  L.A.  Amer., 

xxxviii,  2,  June). 
Moreau,  P.,  De  Dumas  pere  a  Dumas  fils  (Rev.  d.  d.  Mondes,  June  1). 
Pailleron,  M.  L.,  Les  derniers  romantiques  :   F.  Buloz  et  ses  amis.    Paris, 

Perrin.    10  fr. 
Pascal,  B.,  Lettres  ecrites  a  un  Provincial.    (Cambridge  Plain  Texts.)    Cam- 
bridge, Univ.  Press.    Is.  3d. 
Plattard,  J.,  G.  Bude"  (1468-1540)  et  les  origines  de  l'humanisme  francais. 

Paris,  Les  Belles-lettres.   3  fr. 
Pommier,  J.,  Renan.    Paris,  Perrin.    10  fr. 
Proal,  L.,  La  psychologie  de  J.  J.  Rousseau.   Paris,  Alcan.   20  fr. 

Robertson,  J.  G.,  Sources  italiennes  des  paradoxes  dramatiques  de  La 
Motte  (Rev.  litt.  comp.,  iii,  3,  July). 
Ronsard,  P.,  GLuvres  completes,   in.  Paris,  Gamier.    20  fr. 

Roosbroeck,  G.  L.  van,  Unpublished  Poems  of  Beaumarchais  and  his 
sister  (Publ.  M.  L.  A.  Amer.,  xxxviii,  2,  June). 
Satires  francaises  du  xvne  siecle,  Les.    Publiees  par  F.  Fleuret  et  L.  Perceau. 

2  vols.    Paris,  Gamier.   20  fr. 
Sorel,  C,  La  jeunesse  de  Francion.    Introd.  et  notes  de  A.  Therive.    Paris, 

Bossard.    12  fr. 
Stewart,  H.   F.  and  P.  Desjardins,  French  Patriotism  in  the  Nineteenth 
Century,  1814-33.    Cambridge,  Univ.  Press.    8s.  6d. 
Strowski,  F.,  A.  de  Vigny  (Rev.  des  cours  et  conf.,  May  31). 
Taylor,  J.  S.,  Montaigne  and  Medicine.    London,  H.  Milford.    14s. 
Tieghem,  P.  van,  Le  mouvement  romantique.    Paris,  Vuibert.    7  fr. 

Tronchon,  EL,  Herder  et  Henri  Amiel  (Rev.  litt.  comp.,  iii,  3,  July). 
Vaissiere,  R.  de  la,  Anthologie  poetique  du  xxe  siecle.   2  vols.    Paris,  Cres. 

13  fr. 

Varillon,  P.  et  H.  Rambaud,  Enquete  sur  les  maltres  de  la  jeune  litterature. 
Paris,  Bloud  et  Gay.    12  fr. 

Verlaine,  P.,  Correspondance.   n.  Notes  par  A.  van  Bever.    Paris,  Messein. 

9fr. 
Verlaine,  P.,  Poesies  completes,  ix.   Paris,  Messein.   66  fr. 
Villiers  de  L'isle  Adam,  GSuvres,  iv.    Paris,  Merc,  de  France.    15  fr. 

GERMANIC  LANGUAGES. 
Scandinavian. 

Andersson,  N.,  Svenska  latar.   Dalama,  n.   Stockholm,  Norstedt.    15  kr. 

Beyer,  H.,  S.  Kierkegaards  betydning  for  norsk  aandsliv  (Edda,  xix,  1). 
Blicher,  S.  S.,  Samlede  Skrifter.    Udg.  af  J.  Aakjaer  og  G.  Christensen.    xi. 
Copenhagen,  Gyldendal.   6  kr.  75. 

/ 


516  New  Publications 

Dahleeup,  V.,  Ordbog  over  det  danske  Sprog.  v.  Flyve — Frette.   Copenhagen, 

Gyldendal. 
Farinelli,  A.,  La  Tragedia  di  Ibsen.    Quattro  discorsi.    Bologna,  Zanichelli. 

L.  9.50. 

Gjellerup,  K.,  Der  Dichter  und  Denker.    Sein  Leben  in  Selbstzeugnissen  und 

Briefen.   n.   Leipzig,  Quelle  und  Meyer. 
Jensen,  H.,  Neudanische  Syntax.   Heidelberg,  C.  Winter.   6  M. 
J<5hannesson,  A.,  Grammatik  der  urnordischen  Runeninschriften.    (German. 

Bibl.,  1, 1,  xi.)   Heidelberg,  C.  Winter.   3  M.  60. 
Lagerlof,  S.,  Z.  Topelius :   utveckling  och  mognad.    Stockholm,  A.  Bonnier. 

12  kr.  25. 
Madsen,  V.,  G.  Brandes  og  dansk  Aandsliv.    Copenhagen,  Den  ny  Tids  Forlag. 

5  kr.  50. 
Rosendal,  H.,  F.  S.  Grundtvig.   Et  Livsbillede.   2.  Opl.   Copenhagen,  Hagerup. 

4  kr.  50. 
Vries,  J.  de,  Folkevisen  om  Sigur  Svein  (Edda,  xix,  1). 
Werin,  A.,  C.  J.  L.  Almquist.   Realisten  och  liberalen.   Stockholm,  A.  Bonnier. 

9  kr.  50. 

Dutch. 

Merf,  M.  J.  van,  Grammatik  der  niederlandischen  Gemeinsprache.   Heidelberg, 

C.  Winter.   5  M. 
Tielrooy,  J.,  C.  B.  Huet  et  la  litterature   francaise.     Paris,  H.  Champion. 

7  fr.  50. 

English. 

(a)  General  (incl.  Linguistic). 

Bleibtreu,  K.,  Geschichte  der  englischen  Literatur  mit  Einschluss  der  ameri- 

kanischen.   Bern,  E.  Bircher.   9  fr. 
Dibelius,  W.,  England.    2  Bande.   Stuttgart,  Deutsche  Verlagsanstalt. 
Essays  by  Divers  Hands.   Trans,  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Literature,  New  Ser., 

in.   Ed.  by  F.  S.  Boas.    London,  H.  Milford.    7s. 
Huchon,  R.,  Histoire  de  la  Langue  anglaise.   I.    Paris,  A.  Colin.   20  fr. 
Manchon,  J.,  Le  Slang.  Lexique  de  lAnglais  familier  et  vulgaire.   Paris,  Payot. 

12  fr. 
New  English  Dictionary,  A.    x.    Ti— Z.    Wash — Wavy  by  H.  Bradley ;  Wh — 

Whisking  by  C.  T.  Onions.   Oxford,  Clarendon  Press.   Each  part  5s. 
Smith,  E.,  The  Principles  of  English  Metre.   London,  H.  Milford.    12s.  Gd. 

(b)  Old  and  Middle  English. 

Chaytor,  H.  J.,  The  Troubadours  and  England.   Cambridge,  Univ.  Press.   6s. 
Crawford,  S.  J.,  The  Late  Old  English  Notes  of  MS.  (Brit.  Mus.)  Cotton 
Claudius,  B.  IV  (Anglia,  xlvii,  2,  June). 
Heptateuch,  The  Old  English  Version  of  the,  Aelfric's  Treatise  on  the  Old  and 
New  Testament  and  his  Preface  to  Genesis.    Ed.  by  S.  J.  Crawford. 
(Early  Engl.  Texts  Soc,  Orig.  Ser.,  clx.)   London,  H.  Milford.   42s. 
Jost,  K.,  Wulfstan  und  die  angelsachsische  Chronik  (Anglia,  xlvii,  2,  June). 
Langenhove,  G.  C.  van,  Cockney  H  in  Old  and  Middle  English  (Leuvensche 
Bijdragen,  xv,  1,  2). 
Mandeville's  Travels.   Transl.  from  the  French  of  Jean  d'Outremeuse.    Ed.  by 
P.  Hamelius.    n.    (Early  Engl.  Texts  Soc,  Orig.  Ser.,  cliv.)    London, 
H.  Milford.    15s. 
Patzig,  H.,  Zum  Beowulf- Text  (Anglia,  xlvii,  2,  June). 


New  Publications  517 

St  Bartholomew's  Church  in  London,  The  Book  of  the  Foundation  of.    Ed.  by 

Sir  N.  Moore.    (Early  Engl.  Texts  Soc,  Orig.  Ser.,  clxiii.)    London,  H. 

Milford.    10s. 
Tryon,  R.  W.,  Miracles  of  Our  Lady  in  Middle  English  Verse  (Publ. 

M.  L.  A.  Amer.,  xxxviii,  2,  June). 
Wright,  J.  and  E.  M.,  An  Elementary  Old  English  Grammar.    Oxford,  Clar. 

.  Press.   6s. 

(c)  Modem  English. 

Allen,  B.  S.,  Analogues  of  "Wordsworth's  'The  Borderers'  (Publ.  M.  L.  A. 
Amer.,  xxxviii,  2,  June). 
Archer,  W.,  The  Old  Drama  and  the  New.   London,  Heinemann.    10s.  6d. 
Barbier,  P.,  English  Influence  on  the  French  Vocabulary.    (S.  P.  E.  Tract 

No.  xiii.)   Oxford,  Clar.  Press.   2s.  6d. 
Beach,  J.  W.,  The  Technique  of  Th.  Hardy.    Chicago,  Univ.  of  Chicago  Press. 
2  $50. 
Beatty,  J.  M.,  Lord  Jeffrey  and  Wordsworth  (Publ.  M.  L.  A.  Amer.,  xxxviii, 
2,  June). 
Bechhofer,  C.  E.,  The  Literary  Renaissance  in  America.    London,  Heine- 
mann.  6s. 
Boswell,  J.,  The  Journal  of  a  Tour  to  Corsica ;  and  Memoirs  of  Pascal  Paoli. 
Ed.  by  S.  C.  Roberts.   Cambridge,  Univ.  Press.   6s. 
Byrne,  M.  St  O,  A.  Munday's  Spelling  as  a  Literary  Clue  (Library,  iv,  1, 

June). 
Campbell,  K.,  The  Relation  of  Poe  to  his  Times  (Stud.  Phil.,  xx,  3,  July). 
Campbell,  L.  B.,  Scenes  and  Machines  on  the  English  Stage  during  the  Re- 
naissance.  Cambridge,  Univ.  Press.    15s. 
Carpentier,  F.  I.,  A  Reference  Guide  to  Edmund  Spenser.    Chicago,  Univ.  of 

Chicago  Press.    3  $  50. 
Cazamian,  M.  L.,  Le  Roman  et  les  Idees  en  Angleterre.    Influence  de  la  Science, 

1860-90.    Strasbourg,  Imprim.  alsacienne ;  London,  H.  Milford.    8s.  6d. 
Cobbett,  W.,  Selections,  with  Hazlitt's  Essay  and  other  Critical  Estimates. 

Ed.  by  A.  M.  D.  Hughes.   Oxford,  Clarendon  Press.    17s.  6d. 
Cooke,  D.  G.,  W.  D.  Howells.   A  Critical  Study.   London,  Stanley  Paul.    10s.  6d. 
Cooper,  Lane,  A  Concordance  of  the  Latin,  Greek  and  Italian  Poems  of  Milton. 

Halle,  M.  Niemeyer. 
Defoe,  D.,  The  Fortunes  and  Misfortunes  of  Moll  Flanders.   London,  Constable. 

35s. 
Dexter,  W.   The  London  of  Dickens.    London,  C.  Palmer.   6s. 
Dig  eon,  A.,  Les  Romans  de  Fielding.   Paris,  Hachette.    12  fr. 
Digeon,  A.,  Le  Texte  des  romans  de  Fielding.    Paris,  Hachette.   8  fr. 
Dyboski,  R.,  Rise  and  Fall  in  Shakespeare's  Dramatic  Art.   (Shakespeare  Assoc.) 

London,  H.  Milford.    2s. 
English  Miracle  Plays,  Moralities  and  Interludes.  6th  ed.   Ed.  by  A.  W.  Pollard. 

Oxford,  Univ.  Press.   7s.  6d. 
English  Verse  and  Prose.    A  new  Anthology,  ed.  by  A.  T.  Strong  and  R.  S. 
Wallace.   Oxford,  Univ.  Press.    12s.  6d. 
Erskine,  J.,  Whitman's  Prosody  (Stud.  Phil.,  xx,  3,  July). 
Foerster,  N.,  Quantity  and  Quality  in  Poe's  Aesthetic  (Stud.  Phil.,  xx,  3, 

July). 
Gilbert,  A.  H.,  Milton's  Textbook  of  Astronomy  (Publ.  M.  L.  A.  Amer., 
xxxviii,  2,  June). 


518  New  Publications 

Gordon,  G.,  Shelley  and  the  Oppressors  of  Mankind.   (Warton  Lecture,  British 
Academy.)   London,  H.  Milford.    Is. 
Graham,  W.,  Contemporary  Critics  of  Coleridge  the  Poet  {Publ.  M.  L.  A. 
Amer.,  xxxviii,  2,  June). 

Groot,  H.  de,  Hamlet:  its  Textual  History.   Amsterdam,  Swets  en  Zeitlinger. 
Hanford,  J.  H.,  The  Rosenbach  Milton  Documents  (Publ.  M.  L.  A.  Amer., 
xxxviii,  2,  June). 

Hankin,  St  John,  Plays.    With  Introd.  by  J.  Drinkwater.    2  vols.    London, 
M.  Seeker.    25s. 

Hazlitt,  W.,  The  Best  of.  Compiled  by  P.  P.  Howe.  London,  A.  Methuen.  3s.  Qd. 

Herford,  C.  H,  A  Sketch  of  Recent  Shakespearean  Investigation.    London, 
Blackie.   6s. 

Hirn,  Y.,  Dr  Johnson  och  J.  Boswell.    Lund,  C.  W.  K.  Gleerup.   6  kr.  50. 

Holland,  H.  H,  Shakespeare  through  Oxford  Glasses.    London,  C.  Palmer. 
7s.  Qd. 
Holloway,  E.,  Whitman  as  Critic  of  America  (Stud.  Phil.,  xx,  3,  July). 

Jiriczek,  0.  L.,  Specimens  of  Tudor  Translation  from  the  Classics.    (German. 
Bibl.,  i,  iii,  6.)   Heidelberg,  C.  Winter. 

Johnson,  L.,  The  Art  of  Thomas  Hardy.   New  ed.   London,  J.  Lane.   8s.  Qd. 

Lamborn,  E.  A.  G.  and  G.  B.  Harrison,  Shakespeare:  the  Man  and  his  Stage. 
(The  World's  Manuals.)   London,  H.  Milford.   2s.  Qd. 

Lang,  A.,  The  Poetical  Works  of.    Ed.  by  Mrs  Lang.    4  vols.    London,  Long- 
mans.  42s. 

Legouis,  E.,  Wordsworth  in  a  New  Light.    Cambridge,  Mass.;  London,  H.  Mil- 
ford.   4s.  Qd. 

Mackail,  J.  W.,  The  Alliance  of  Latin  and  English  Studies.    London,  J.  Mur- 
ray.   Is. 

Marvell,  A.,  Miscellaneous  Poems.   London,  Nonesuch  Press.    15s. 
More,  P.  E.,  A  Note  on  Poe's  Method  (Stud.  Phil.,  xx,  3,  July). 

Nicoll,  A.,  Dry  den  and  his  Poetry.   London,  G.  Harrap.   2s. 

Noble,  R.,  Shakespeare's  Use  of  Song.    London,  H.  Milford.    12s.  Qd. 

Parrott,  T.  M.,  The   Problem  of  Timon  of  Athens.    (Shakespeare  Assoc.) 
London,  H.  Milford.    2s. 

Pendlebury,  B.  J.,  Dryden's  Heroic  Plays :  A  Study  of  the  Origins.    London, 
Selwyn  Blount.   6s. 
Pollard,  A.  W.,  Elizabethan  Spelling  as  a  Literary  and  Bibliographical 
Clue  (Library,  iv,  1,  June). 

Quiller-Couch,  Sir  A.,  Studies  in  Literature.    First  Series.    New  ed.    Cam- 
bridge, Univ.  Press.   5s. 

Quiller-Couch,  Sir  A.,  On  the  Art  of  Writing.    New  ed.    Cambridge,  Univ. 
Press.   5s. 
Reed,  A.  W.,  The  Editor  of  Sir  Thomas  More's  English  Works :  W.  Rastell 
(Library,  iv,  1,  June). 

Richter,  H.,  Shakespeare  der  Mensch.    (Engl.  Bibliothek,  iii.)    Leipzig,  B. 
Tauchnitz. 

Robertson,  J.  M.,  Hamlet  once  more.   London,  R.  Cobden-Sanderson.   7s.  Qd. 

Robertson,  J.  W.,  E.  A.  Poe:  a  Psychopathic  Study.  London,  Putnams.  17s.  Qd. 

Robinson,  L.  E.,  Abraham  Lincoln  as  a  Man  of  Letters.    London,  Putnams. 
12s.  Qd. 
Shackford,  M.  H.,  Wordsworth's  Italy  (Publ.  M.  L.  A.  Amer.,  xxxviii,  2, 
June). 


New  Publications  519 

Shakespeare,  W.,  The  Second  Part  of  King  Henry  the  Fourth.    Ed.  by  R.  P. 

Cowl.    London,  Methuen.   6s. 
Shakespeare,  W.,  The  Merchant  of  Venice.  Ed.  by  W.  L.  Phelps.  (Yale  Shake- 
speare.)  New  Haven,  Yale  Univ.  Press;  London,  H.  Milford.   4s.  6d. 
Shepard,  0.,  A  Youth  to  Fortune  and  to  Fame  Unknown  (Mod.  Phil.,  xx, 

4,  May). 
Sherman,  S.  P.,  On  Contemporary  Literature.   London,  Grant  Richards.   7s.  6d. 
Smith,  G.  C.  Moore,  College  Plays  performed  in  the  University  of  Cambridge. 

Cambridge,  Univ.  Press.   6s. 
Swaen,  A.  E.  H.,  Peter  Bell  (Anglia,  xlvii,  2,  June). 
Turner,  A.  M.,  Wordsworth's  Influence  on  Th.  Campbell  (Publ.  M.  L.  A. 

Amer.,  xxxviii,  2,  June). 
Types  of  English  Drama,  1660-1780.    Ed.  by  D.  H.  Stevens.    London,  Ginn. 

17s.  6d. 
Wordsworth,  W.,  The  Ecclesiastical  Sonnets  of.    Ed.  by  A.  F.  Pott.    New 

Haven,  Yale  Univ.  Press;  London,  H.  Milford.  12s.  6d. 

German. 

(a)  General  (incl.  Linguistic). 

Atkins,  H.  G.,  A  History  of  German  Versification.  London,  A.  Methuen.  10s.  6d. 
Greferath,  Th.,  Studien  zu  den  Mundarten  zwischen  Koln,  Jiilich,  Miinchen- 

Gladbach  und  Neuss.     (Deutsche  Dialektgeographie,  xi  b.)     Marburg, 

N.  G.  Elwert. 
Martin,  R.jUntersuchungenzurrhein-moselfrankischenDialektgrenze.  (Deutsche 

Dialektgeographie,  xia.)  Marburg,  N.  G.  Elwert. 
Mitzka,  W.,  Studien  zum  baltischen  Deutsch.    (Deutsche  Dialektgeographie, 

xvii.)   Marburg,  N.  G.  Elwert.   3  M.  50. 
Seiler,  F.,  Die  Entwicklung  der  deutschen  Kultur  im  Spiegel  des  deutschen 

Lehn worts.    Halle,  Waisenhaus.    VI,  vil.    3  M.  50 ;  1  M. 
Tonnelat,  E.,  Histoire  de  la  litterature  allemande.    Paris,  Payot.   4  fr. 

(b)  Old  and  Middle  High  German. 

Howie,  M.  D.,  Studies  in  the  Use  of  Exempla,  with  special  reference  to  Middle 
High  German  Literature.    London,  Univ.  of  London  Press.    5s. 

(c)  Modern  German. 

Aster,  E.  von,  Goethes  Faust.    (Philosophische  Reihe,  lxxv.)    Munich,  Rosl. 

2  M.  70. 
Borkowsky,  E.,  Goethes  und  Schillers  Lyrik.    (Fiihrer  zur  deut.  Dicht.,  iii.) 

Breslau,  F.  Hirt.   3  M.  40. 
Bornhausen,  K.,  Wandlungen  in  Goethes  Religion.    (Comenius-Schriften,  v.) 

Berlin,  A.  Unger.    2  M.  25. 
Boss,  H.,  Fischarts  Bearbeitung  lateinischer  Quellen.    (Prager  deutsche  Stud., 

xxviii.)    Reich  enberg,  F.  Kraus.    Kc  4. 
Deutschlander,  L.,  Goethe  und  das  Alte  Testament.    Frankfort,  Omonuth 

Verlag. 
Fittbogen,  G.,  Die  Religion  Lessings.     (Palaestra,  lxi.)    Leipzig,  Mayer  und 

Muller.    12  M. 

Flemming,  W.,  Geschichte  des  Jesuitertheaters  in  den  Landen  deutscher  Zunge. 

(Schriften  der  Gesellschaft  fur  Theatergeschichte,  xxxii.)   Berlin. 
Holderlin,  P.,  Samtliche  Werke.    Historisch-kritische  Ausgabe.    Berlin,  Pro- 

pylaen  Verlag.    n,  ill,  VI.    25,  20  and  25  M. 


520  New  Publications 

Lersch,  P.,  Der  Traum  in  der  deutschen  Romantik.     Munich,  M.  Hueber. 

1  M.  50. 

Lipmann,  H.,  G.  BQchner  und  die  Romantik.   Munich,  M.  Hueber.   4  M.  50. 
Meyer-Benfey,  H.,  Kleist.    (Aus  Natur  und  Geisteswelt,  567.)    Leipzig,  B.  G. 

Teubner.    1  M.  30. 
Mohrheim,  A.,  F.  Hebbels  Sonette.   (Hebbel-Forschungen,  xi.)  Berlin,  B.  Behr. 

2  M.  80. 

Nagel,  H.,  F.  Hebbels  Ahnen.     (Hebbel-Forschungen,  xii.)     Berlin,  B.  Behr. 

1  M. 
Reynaud,  G.,  Lenau.    Paris,  Renaiss.  du  livre.   4  fr. 
Schlegel,  F.  und  Dorothea  Schlegel,  Briefwechsel,  1818-20.    Herausg.  von 

H.  Finke.    Kempten,  J.  Kosel.    10  M.  50. 
Schnyder,  W.,  Hebbel  und  Rbtscher  unter  besonderer  Beriicksichtigung  der 

beiderseitigen  Beziehungen  zu  Hegel.    (Hebbel-Forschungen,  x.)    Berlin, 

B.  Behr.   3  M. 
Shears,  L.  A,  Th.  Fontane  as  a  Critic  of  the  Novel  (Publ.  M.  L.  A.  Amer., 

xxxviii,  2,  June). 
Silz,  W.,  H.  von  Kleist's  Conception  of  the  Tragic.    (Hesperia,  xii.)    Gottingen, 

Vandenhoeck  und  Ruprecht.    2  M.  50. 
Ulmann,  A.,  Das  deutsche  Biirgertum  in  deutschen  Tragodien  des  18.  und  19. 

Jahrh.    Elberfeld,  Hofbauer.    1  M. 
Vollmers-Schulte,  F.,  G.  Hauptmann  und  die  soziale  Frage.     Dortmund, 

Lensing.   2  M.  40. 
Wolf,  H.,  Versuch  einer  Geschichte  des  Geniebegriffs  in  der  de\itschen  Asthetik 

des  18.  Jahrh.    (Beitrage  zur  Philosophie,  ix.)    Heidelberg,  C.  Winter. 

4  M.  40. 


BULLETIN  OF  THE 

^Modern  Humanities  Research  Association 

October  1923  Number  20 

THE  PRESIDENT-ELECT 

Signor  Benedetto  Croce  has  honoured  the  Association  by  accepting  the 
Presidency  for  the  year  1923-4. 

TREASURER'S  NOTES 

<|  With  the  arrival  of  this  number  the  subscription  (7s.  6d.)  for  1923-4 
falls  due  and  should  be  sent  to  the  Hon.  Treasurer,  Professor  Mawer,  The 
University,  Liverpool. 

€][  Members  are  invited  to  contribute  to  the  Capital  Fund  on  remitting 
their  subscription. 

€|  The  Hon.  Treasurer  has  pleasure  in  acknowledging  the  following  con- 
tributions to  the  Capital  Fund:  Lt.-Col.  J.  E.  Spingarn,  £5.  5s.;  L.  B. 
Walton,  Esq.,  105.;  Dr  H.  Smith,  6s.;  Miss  M.  Grey  Skipworth,  5s.;  Other 
small  sums,  zs.   Total:  £6.  Ss. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY,  1923 

Our  third  annual  Bibliography  of  English  Language  and  Literature,  which 
has  just  appeared,  is,  like  the  second  issue,  considerably  larger  than  its  pre- 
decessor, and  Miss  Paues  and  her  collaborators  deserve  the  congratulations 
of  all  members.  The  1922  Bibliography  had  in  all  21 19  entries;  the  present 
issue  has  2943,  together  with  an  index  of  authors  and  a  list  of  periodicals 
searched.  The  price  of  the  book  is  3s.  3d.  (post  free  from  the  Hon.  Treasurer 
only)  to  members;  6s.  through  any  bookseller  to  non-members.  We  hope 
that  the  sales  this  year  will  be  equal  to  those  of  the  last  two  years  put  together, 
and  in  this  connection  remind  members  that  they  may  order  the  1921  and 
1922  issues  together  with  that  for  1923  at  the  prices  of  is.  Sd.  and  3s.  2d. 
(post  free)  respectively. 

It  would  save  the  Association  a  great  deal  of  trouble  and  strengthen  its 
hands  for  the  future  if,  in  ordering  their  Bibliography  for  the  present  year, 
members  would  give  us  a  standing  order  for  future  years. 

EDITORIAL 

Death  has  taken  a  heavy  toll  of  British  scholarship  during  the  last  few 
months,  and  the  ranks  of  our  own  members  have  been  sadly  depleted.  To 
the  loss  of  Dr  Oelsner,  of  which  we  wrote  last  quarter,  and  of  Dr  Henry 
Bradley,  of  whom  a  memorial  notice  appears  in  this  number,  we  have  now 
to  add  that  of  Professor  W.  P.  Ker,  President  of  the  Association,  1921-2,  who 
died  of  heart  failure  while  climbing  in  Italy  on  July  17.  We  publish  a  tribute 
to  Professor  Ker  on  another  page. 


2  MODERN  HUMANITIES  RESEARCH  ASSOCIATION 

Professor  A.  T.  Strong,  of  the  University  of  Adelaide,  has  been  appointed 
Correspondent  of  the  Association  for  Adelaide. 


Dr  Ernest  Bernbaum  writes  that  he  is  completing  a  study  in  Comparative 
Literature  and  will  be  in  London  for  the  purpose  of  studying  in  the  British 
Museum  during  the  next  few  months,  and  also  plans  to  visit  the  libraries  of 
Paris,  Vienna  and  Copenhagen.  He  would  like  to  meet  any  members  of  the 
M.H.R.A.  living  in  these  cities.  His  address  in  London  after  August  8th 
will  be  c/o  Messrs  Baring  Bros,  and  Co.,  8  Bishopsgate,  E.C. 


Professor  R.  S.  Crane  sends  us  a  copy  of  Bulletin  No.  3  of  the  newly- 
formed  Research  Group  on  Literary  Tendencies  in  the  later  eighteenth 
century.  A  fourth  Bulletin  is  to  be  distributed  to  members  of  the  Group  in 

October  1923. 

#  # 

# 

We  learn  that  Mr  James  Boyd,  B.A.,  B.Litt.  (Oxon.),  who  has  been 
appointed  Professor  of  German  in  Cape  Town  University,  will  publish  his 
B.Litt.  thesis  on  "Goethe's  Knowledge  of  English  Literature"  early  next 
year.  Another  young  Oxford  Graduate  is  preparing  a  dissertation  on  "  Goethe's 
Knowledge  of  French  and  Italian  Literature." 


We  remind  members  that  the  last  day  for  sending  in  applications  for  the 
publication  of  their  work  in  our  series  this  year  is  October  30. 


BENEDETTO  CROCE 
President  M.H.R.A.,  1923-4. 

Benedetto  Croce  on  reaching  his  fifties  sketched  his  intellectual  history 
for  the  benefit  of  a  hundred  chosen  friends.  Thanks  to  the  Revue  de  Meta- 
physique  et  de  Morale  (vol.  xxvi,  1,  Jan.  1919)  such  a  sketch  has  been  rendered 
accessible  to  a  wide  public  and  it  is  thus  possible  to  all,  not  only  to  study 
and  admire  the  works  of  the  philosopher  of  Abbruzzo  but  to  trace  the  de- 
velopment of  his  stupendous  intellectual  activity. 

The  main  points  of  Croce's  idealistic  philosophy  are  so  well  known  through 
his  own  works  which  have  been  translated  into  all  the  principal  languages 
and,  nearer  home,  through  the  interpretative  works  of  Professor  Wildon  Carr 
and  Signor  Piccoli,  that  it  would  be  as  superfluous  as  it  would  be  impossible 
to  summarise  them  here.  It  is  particularly  interesting  to  note  how  clear  and 
logical  Croce's  intellectual  history  has  been,  and  how  strikingly  the  intellectual 
leadership  passed  into  his  hands  once  he  had  reached  the  turning  point  of 
his  intellectual  development. 

A  born  bibliophile,  an  investigator  of  literary  and  historical  problems,  of 
restless  activity  and  unfailing  lucidity,  he  acquired  an  early  reputation  among 
scholars  who  could  scarcely  keep  pace  with  his  rapid  acquisition  of  learning 
and  the  range  of  his  literary  output.   But  soon  he  felt  dissatisfied  with  the 


MODERN  HUMANITIES  RESEARCH  ASSOCIATION  3 

scope  and  the  results  of  his  labours;  he  felt  the  need,  dimly  at  first  and  by 
degrees  more  clearly,  to  probe  deeper  into  the  working  of  his  own  intellect, 
to  trace  the  basis  of  his  own  judgments,  and,  after  a  relatively  short  but 
intense  period  of  travail,  the  seeds  which  had  been  sown  at  first  by  the  reading 
of  De  Sanctis  and  later  the  study  of  many  philosophical  works  and  profound 
meditation,  bore  fruit  in  his  first  essay  upon  V  estetica  come  scienza  del- 
V  espressione  etc. 

This  intellectual  travail  was  paralleled  by  the  novelty  of  his  theory;  ke 
had  thought  at  first  that  by  writing  this  philosophical  essay  he  would  have 
satisfied  the  requirements  of  his  "spirit"  and,  as  he  says,  "emptied  himself 
of  philosophy."  He  was  impelled  on  the  contrary  to  answer  for  himself  a 
series  of  philosophical  problems  which  suggested  themselves  to  him.  Even 
when  he  had  further  developed  his  Aesthetics  he  could  not  rest  until  he  had 
framed  that  first  philosophical  work  in  a  complete  system,  and  thus  gradually, 
with  characteristic  tranquillity  of  progress,  he  accomplished  his  self-allotted 
task  with  the  works  which  he  has  grouped  under  the  general  title  "  Filosofia 
come  scienza  dello  spirito"  and  the  critical  monographs  by  which  he  exem- 
plified and  illustrated  his  method. 

One  would  say  that  all  the  researches  of  his  youth,  his  dissatisfaction 
with  them,  the  tedium  vitae  by  which  he  was  assailed,  the  domestic  losses 
which  he  suffered,  all  led  up  to  that  work  of  "  chiarificazione "  which  cost 
him  the  greatest  effort,  his  Aesthetics.  All  that  which  came  later  may  be 
considered  a  complement,  including  perhaps  even  his  treatise  on  the 
Theory  of  historiography  which  contains  so  much  that  is  new  and  stimulating 
to  thought. 

And  truly  the  generation  of  Italians  which  grew  to  intellectual  life  after 
1900  has  been  mainly  influenced  by  Croce  as  a  critic  and  a  theorist  of 
aesthetics.  If  one  attempted  a  conspectus  of  literary  studies  in  Italy  before 
and  after  1900  one  would  have  to  realize  that  about  1900  the  intellectual 
atmosphere  has  changed.  There  prevailed  before  that  date  pure  erudition 
and  historical  criticism,  solid,  barren  and  self-contained,  with  a  few  attempts 
at  imitating  Carducci;  later  instead  Croce  and  his  aesthetics  had  full  sway. 
It  would  be  too  much  to  say  that  all  his  followers  have  been  worthy  of  their 
leader,  that  they  all  had  the  intellectual  qualities  and  philosophic  preparation 
which  would  have  been  required,  and  the  ultimate  results  of  so  great  an 
innovation  will  needs  have  to  be  evaluated  in  the  years  to  come ;  but  so  much 
is  at  any  rate  certain :  within  the  space  of  some  twenty  odd  years  there  took 
place  in  Italy  a  profound  intellectual  revolution.  Philosophy  which  had  been 
discarded  and  despised  and  had  at  last  taken  the  shape  of  a  rigid  positivism, 
became  the  principal  goal  of  the  study  of  many,  and  the  mainspring  of  all 
forms  of  literary  output:  positivism  gave  way  to  idealism.  And  whatever 
qualifications  may  be  suggested  by  caution  it  is  certain  that  the  cause  and 
origin  of  so  great  a  revolution  are  to  be  traced  to  Croce  and  his  works.  The 
change  has  been  so  profound  that  it  has  left  its  mark  on  the  dictionary  by 
rendering  of  common  use  such  words  as  "intuizione,  espressione,  supera- 
mento,  chiarificazione  "  etc.  which  were  rarely  used  before  or  had  a  far  less 
technical  meaning. 

It  has  not  been  granted  to  many  philosophers  to  start  so  rapid  and  all 
pervading  a  revolution  in  the  intellectual  outlook  of  a  great  people.  But  more 
must  be  credited  to  Croce.  His  movement  was  started  from  Naples,  rapidly 
reached  Florence  and  soon  the  whole  of  Italy;  but  there  are  no  boundaries 
in  the  world  of  thought.   Croce's  theories  and  ideas  are  now  found  in  works 


4  MODERN  HUMANITIES  RESEARCH  ASSOCIATION 

which  have  been  written  in  all  parts  and  languages  of  Europe,  America  and 
Asia;  they  are  found  in  serious  books  and  scientific  records,  just  as  echoes 
may  be  traced  in  novels,  in  short  stories,  in  grave  journals  and  humorous 
periodicals,  in  the  columns  of  the  Times  as  well  as  in  the  pages  of  Punch.  The 
M.H.R.A.  could  not  hope  for  a  more  representative  President  and  is  proud 
to  have  forestalled  the  oldest  University  of  the  Kingdom  in  paying  homage  to 
Benedetto  Croce. 

t  F. 

HENRY  BRADLEY 
3  Dec,  1845—23  May,  1923. 

In  little  more  than  a  year  English  scholarship  and  letters  have  suffered 
three  grievous  losses.  By  the  death  on  May  23rd  of  Dr  Henry  Bradley  we 
lost  not  only  one  of  the  first  scholars  of  our  time,  and  an  authority  on  the 
English  language  who  had  achieved  a  position  of  unique  eminence  and 
supremacy,  but  one  of  the  widest  known  and  most  loved  of  personalities  who 
had  made  a  deep  impression  on  the  imagination  of  all  students  of  English. 
In  spite  of  his  nearly  seventy-eight  years  his  death  came  as  an  unexpected 
blow,  so  much  had  one  come  to  think  of  "  Bradley  "  as  a  monument  that  would 
ever  tower  upon  the  horizon,  living  and  active  yet  perennial  and  unchanged, 
a  mind  possessed  of  a  youth  and  vigour  superior  to  the  body's  infirmities. 
Now  one  more  editor  of  the  Oxford  English  Dictionary,  once  "New"  now 
old-established  though  unfinished  treasure-house,  has  laid  down  the  pen  in 
the  midst  of  his  work,  leaving  in  its  pages  his  own  chief  monument  and  the 
principal  record  of  those  brilliant  qualities  upon  which  his  fame  rests. 

Others  that  knew  him  longer  and  better  have  already  written  in  his  praise 
and  to  one  of  the  younger  generation,  that  counts  itself  supremely  fortunate 
in  having  known  something  of  Bradley's  last  years  of  undiminished  energy, 
little  remains  save  to  offer  a  more  slender  tribute  to  the  name  that  will  rank 
among  the  foremost  in  scholarship  and  philology  in  either  the  nineteenth  or 
the  present  century. 

The  Making  of  English  has  travelled  far  and  come  into  some  strange  hands ; 
long  ago  it  penetrated  here  and  there  even  into  the  fastnesses  of  "classical 
sides."  To  one  who  once  knew  only  this  of  all  his  work,  and  pictured  its 
author  as  a  young  enthusiast,  there  remains  a  vivid  memory  of  seeing  for  the 
first  time  from  far  down  the  hall  the  grey  beard  of  Bradley  at  Exeter  high- 
table  in  the  days  before  Magdalen  claimed  him.  To  see  him  working  in  the 
Dictionary  Room  at  the  Old  Ashmolean  and  to  work  for  a  time  under  his 
wise  and  kindly  hand  was  a  privilege  not  at  that  time  looked  for. 

It  was  at  the  Dictionary  Room  that  one  discovered  a  part  of  his  secret 
in  the  wholehearted  delight  in  his  work  that,  when  in  health,  he  preserved  so 
fresh  beyond  the  term  of  seventy  years.  There  it  appeared  that  his  delight 
in  the  nugae,  the  jests,  the  minor  hunts  and  tours-de-force  of  English  studies, 
was  no  chance  characteristic  unrelated  to  the  whole:  all  his  work  seemed  to 
be  to  him  a  noble  and  absorbing  game  played  with  all  his  faculties  by  one 
who  had  a  complete  control  over  its  technique  and  a  complete  knowledge  of 
its  complex  rules;  it  seemed  that  from  the  beginning  he  must  have  played 
with  zest  and  with  consummate  ease.  To  praise  of  his  achievement  and  self- 
carven  career  he  objected :  "What  I  have  done  is  to  do  what  I  most  like  doing, 
and  to  work  at  the  work  I  care  for."  For  this  reason  Bradley  who  in  his  own 
line  had  been  accorded  a  pedestal,  of  an  eminence  that  sometimes  lifts  the  idol 
somewhat  out  of  the  reach  of  the  supplicant,  was  one  of  the  most  kindly  and 


MODERN  HUMANITIES  RESEARCH  ASSOCIATION  5 

friendly  of  men  to  even  the  merest  beginner  who  in  any  small  degree  shared 
his  enthusiasm ;  willing  to  talk,  to  teach  and  advise ;  to  communicate  his  de- 
light in  discoveries,  smaller  or  greater,  of  his  own  or  others'  making;  to  jest 
or  cap  a  jest  with  enjoyment. 

Always  desirous  of  finding  matter  for  his  judicious  and  discriminating 
praise,  praise  that  was  untinged  with  condescension,  he  was  yet  gifted  with 
an  uncanny  instinct,  of  which  he  himself  sometimes  humorously  complained, 
which  led  his  hawklike  eye  unerringly,  even  if  sometimes  unwillingly, 
straight  to  omissions  or  defects,  even  the  most  minute,  in  work  that  was 
submitted  to  him,  whether  in  a  dictionary  article  for  revision,  or  in  manuscript 
or  printed  work  for  his  comment.  He  seemed  to  have  only  to  open  a 
"complete"  glossary  to  a  text  to  divine  the  words  that  had  somehow  or  other 
escaped  record. 

On  advice  and  criticism  he  lavished  no  little  time,  and,  great  as  is  the 
body  of  work  that  he  has  left — in  the  Dictionary;  in  articles  to  learned 
periodicals;  in  his  reviews  of  books,  that  took  shape  in  often  memorable 
contributions  to  the  old  Academy  and  Athencewn,  to  the  Modern  Language 
Review,  and  to  other  papers — much  remains  unrecorded,  his  personal  influence, 
his  words  and  letters  of  help  and  counsel  that  have  left  many  debtors. 

The  memory  of  more  recent  years  recalls  with  a  sense  of  great  loss  his 
piled  table  in  the  Dictionary  Room;  and  many,  whether  occasional  visitors, 
or  workers  in  that  great  dusty  workshop,  that  brownest  of  brown  studies, 
preserve  a  picture  of  him  as  he  sat  writing  there,  glimpses  of  him  momentarily 
held  in  thought,  with  eyes  looking  into  the  grey  shadows  of  the  roof,  pen 
poised  in  the  air  to  descend  at  last  and  fix  a  sentence  or  a  paragraph  complete 
and  rounded,  without  blot  or  erasure,  on  the  paper  before  him.  His  figure, 
with  head  bowed  forward  and  eyes  on  the  ground,  was  pleasantly  familiar  to 
many  as  he  went  northward  from  the  Old  Ashmolean,  crossing  the  road  as 
if  hurried  by  some  fitful  wind  over  thoroughfares  and  round  corners  in 
defiance  of  traffic,  so  that  more  than  one  heart  missed  a  beat  in  fear  lest  some 
of  the  more  than  usually  heedless  of  the  motor- vehicles  invading  Oxford  with 
noise  and  evil  odour  should  rob  us  even  earlier  of  what  we  have  now  lost. 
It  was  thus  in  legend  that  he  wrote  articles  and  books  walking  in  thought  up 
the  Woodstock  Road  and  in  contemplation  back.  As  permanent  a  feature  of 
Oxford  as  its  works  of  stone  he  came  to  seem,  as  grey  and  venerable  yet  as 
strong  to  last  as  the  walls  of  a  college,  as  learned  as  its  library;  and  now  to 
some  Oxford  seems  as  strangely  altered  as  if  one  of  its  chief  monuments 
had  been  lifted  away  at  night  by  inexorable  hands  leaving  an  emptiness  and 
an  unreplenishable  blank. 

ii)?wita  sceal        ealdgesaegenum 
frod  fyrngewritum         feolan  georne ; 
har  ond  hygegleaw         hord  sceawian 
worda  ond  reorda,         wide  geond  eor]?an 
snyttro  secan,         smea^oncol  mon; 
wisdome  ]?eon,         wunian  on  are, 
runa  randan,         rincas  keran, 
oj?J>aet  scir  metod        to  gesceap-hwile 
hine  ellor  acieg]?        eard  gesecan. 
pa  felal£of  feref>        on  frean  weere, 
werum  bewopen        woruldfreondum, 
l£odwita  li]?ost         ond  largeornost, 
demena  gedefost        ond  deophydgost. 

J.  R.  R.  T. 


MODERN  HUMANITIES  RESEARCH  ASSOCIATION 


WILLIAM  PATON  KER 

With  the  sudden  death  of  Professor  William  Paton  Ker  at  Macugnaga  in 
the  Alps  on  July  17,  the  Modern  Humanities  Research  Association  has  to 
deplore  the  loss  of  its  fourth  President.  Ker  was  born  at  Glasgow  in  1855, 
and,  after  an  academic  apprenticeship  at  Cardiff,  became  Quain  Professor  of 
English  Literature  at  University  College,  London,  holding  the  chair  from 
1899  to  ms  retiral  last  year.  The  University  of  London  owed,  in  the  difficult 
years  of  its  transition,  a  deep  debt  to  him;  none  aided  it  more  steadily  and 
helpfully  towards  the  realisation  of  its  aim  to  become  the  great  "research" 
centre  of  the  Empire.  In  1920  Oxford  put  the  crown  to  Ker's  academic 
career  by  appointing  him  her  Professor  of  Poetry. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  name  another  British  scholar  of  our  time  who  had 
a  wider  knowledge  of  European  literatures  outside  his  own  than  Ker;  more 
particularly,  his  sympathies  went  out  to  the  literatures  of  the  South  of  Europe 
and  of  the  Scandinavian  North.  At  the  time  of  his  death  he  was  still  Director 
of  the  Scandinavian  Department  of  the  University  of  London.  Emphatically 
an  open-air  scholar,  a  lover  of  travel,  of  moor  and  mountain,  Ker  was  probably 
always  happiest  in  the  company  of  unbookish  people.  His  love  for  the  natural 
and  the  primitive,  for  poetry  undefiled  by  over-civilisation,  drew  him  to  the 
ballad — the  field  where  his  studies  were  most  fruitful — and  to  the  middle 
ages.  But  no  mediae valist  could  have  been  less  burdened  by  mere  anti- 
quarianism  and  the  philology  of  the  schools  than  Ker ;  the  philology  he  loved 
was  she  who  was  wed  to  Mercury.  He  had  little  patience  with  the  myopic 
kind  of  researcher,  either  in  language  or  literature,  who  cannot  see  beyond 
his  facts ;  he  never  lost  an  opportunity  of  insisting  that,  everywhere  and  in  all 
times,  it  is  the  "Humanities"  that  matter,  not  the  "Research."  But  Ker's 
literary  interests  knew  no  barriers;  he  could  be  as  enlightening  and  stimu- 
lating on  the  eighteenth  century  and  on  modern,  indeed,  quite  modern 
literature  as  on  the  "golden  middle  age";  and  his  knowledge  here  was  quite 
as  astonishing  in  its  breadth  and  accuracy. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  Ker  put  so  little  of  his  vast  stores  of  learning  into 
writing.  His  first  book,  Epic  and  Romance,  did  not  appear  until  1899,  when 
he  was  already  over  forty ;  but  Epic  and  Romance  has  long  been  regarded  as 
a  classic.  His  volumes  on  The  Dark  Ages  (1904)  and  English  Mediaeval 
Literature  (1905)  are  admirable  and  indispensable  surveys  of  wide  fields; 
but  perhaps  the  cream  of  his  mind  is  to  be  found  in  his  less  formal  studies, 
essays  and  lectures,  where  his  caustic  wit  and  fine  imagination  found  freer 
play.  These  he  collected  in  Essays  on  Mediaeval  Literature  (1905),  and  in 
the  volume  entitled  The  Art  of  Poetry,  which  appeared  a  few  days  after  his 
death.  But  there  is  a  great  deal  more  of  high  value  scattered  through  periodicals 
and  societies'  transactions.  A  collection  of  these  papers  was  to  have  been 
one  of  the  first  fruits  of  his  leisure.  It  is  to  be  hoped  some  other  hand  will 
speedily  make  good  this  promise. 

j.  G.  R. 


MODERN  HUMANITIES  RESEARCH  ASSOCIATION  7 

MODERN  HUMANITIES  RESEARCH  ASSOCIATION 
PUBLICATION  OF  THE  ORIGINAL  WORK  OF  MEMBERS 

The  Modern  Humanities  Research  Association  proposes  every  year  to 
publish  one  or  more  volumes  of  a  series  of  Studies  involving  Original  Research 
to  be  contributed  by  its  members.  It  hopes  by  so  doing  to  aid  some  who  for 
financial  reasons  would  otherwise  be  unable  to  publish  the  results  of  their 
researches:  it  will  be  prepared  to  consider  suggestions  from  members  who 
are  willing  to  contribute  a  part  of  the  cost  as  well  as  from  those  who  are 
unable  to  do  so. 

The  following  conditions  have  been  drawn  up  for  the  session  1923-4: 

(1)  A  preliminary  letter  must  be  in  every  case  sent  to  the  Hon.  Secretary 
not  later  than  October  30th,  1923,  describing  the  nature  and  length  of  the 
work  in  question  and  enclosing  a  statement  from  at  least  one  person  acquainted 
with  it  as  to  its  scholarly  character.  No  manuscript  is  to  be  sent  until  definite 
instructions  to  that  effect  are  given. 

(2)  The  work  submitted  may  be  written  in  any  language,  and  no  condition 
as  to  its  nature  is  laid  down  other  than  that  it  should  come  within  the  aim 
and  scope  of  the  Association. 

(3)  Only  applications  from  members  of  the  Modern  Humanities  Research 
Association  will  be  considered. 

(4)  All  applications  will  be  submitted  to  the  Publications  Sub-Committee 
of  the  Association. 

(5)  Such  manuscripts  as  it  asks  for  will  be  judged  by  a  small  committee 
of  experts  appointed  by  the  Association. 

PUBLICATIONS  RECEIVED 

Publications  of  the  Modern  Language  Association  of  America.  Edited  by 
Carleton  Brown.  Vol.  xxxviii,  No.  2,  June,  1923. 

English  Studies.  A  Journal  of  English  Letters  and  Philology.  Edited  by 
E.  Kruisinga,  P.  J.  H.  Schut  and  R.  W.  Zandvoort  Vol.  v,  Nos.  3-4, 
June-August,  1923. 

Note. — Members  who  will  send  their  subscriptions  to  the  Modern  Lan- 
guage Review  for  1924  (155.)  with  their  annual  subscription  (ys.  6d.)  will 
greatly  help  the  Publications  Committee  and  the  Treasurer. 

J.-J.  ROUSSEAU'S  LETTERS 

Geneva,  September  $th,  1923. 
To  the  Editor  of  the  Bulletin. 
Sir, 

I  shall  be  much  obliged  if  I  may  take  advantage  of  the  hospitality  of 
your  columns  to  make  it  known  to  the  British  Public,  especially  to  owners  of 
literary  documents  and  to  Librarians,  that  as  Hon.  Secretary  of  the  "Societe 
J.-J.  Rousseau"  (Geneva)  and  editor  of  its  "Annales"  for  15  years,  I  have  been 
asked  by  that  Society  to  prepare  for  the  press  a  complete  edition  of  Rousseau's 
letters.  The  work  will  be  published  by  Hachette  in  the  well-known  series 
"  Collection  des  Grands  Ecrivains,"  and  arrangements  have  been  made  for  it  to 
be  completed  in  twenty  octavo  volumes. 


8  MODERN  HUMANITIES  RESEARCH  ASSOCIATION 

I  need  not  lay  stress  upon  the  interest  of  the  undertaking,  nor  emphasise 
the  desirability  of  the  publication  being  as  complete  as  possible.  I  should 
therefore  be  very  much  obliged  for  any  communication  on  the  subject  from 
those  who  possess  or  know  of  letters  of  J.- J.  Rousseau  in  Great  Britain,  and 
most  grateful  if  the  owners  and  Librarians  would  be  good  enough  to  offer  me 
any  suggestion  or  information  as  to  what  steps  should  be  taken  to  secure 
authentic  copies  or  preferably  photographs  of  the  originals.  My  friend,  Professor 
G.  Rudler,  of  Oxford  University,  18  Bradmore  Road,  Oxford,  is  prepared 
to  have  copies  made  at  his  home,  or  at  the  Bodleian  or  Taylorian  Libraries, 
under  his  personal  supervision.  The  greatest  care  would  be  taken  either  by 
him  or  by  me  of  all  papers  lent.  They  would  be  returned  in  the  shortest 
possible  time  and  gratefully  acknowledged  in  the  edition. 

I  am,  Sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

ALEXIS  FRANQOIS, 
Docteur  es  Lettres,  Professor  of  the  University  of  Geneva, 
8  Florissant,  Geneva  (Switzerland). 

AIMS  AND  WORK  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION 

FOUNDATION.  The  Modern  Humanities  Research  Association  was 
founded  at  Cambridge  on  June  ist,  1918,  and  numbers  at  present  800  members. 
Its  main  object  is  the  encouragement  of  advanced  study  in  Modern  Languages 
and  Literatures  by  co-operation,  through  correspondence,  personal  intercourse, 
the  interchange  of  information  and  counsel,  and  financial  support  for  students 
engaged  in  research.  The  Association  aims  at  improving  and  facilitating 
means  and  methods,  and  seeks  such  a  co-ordination  of  isolated  effort  that  those 
interested  or  engaged  in  the  same  branch  of  research  shall  be  kept  informed  of 
each  other's  work,  and  that  unnecessary  duplication  of  energy  shall  be  avoided. 
MEMBERSHIP.  Membership  is  open  to  graduates  (and  persons  of  the 
standing  of  graduate)  of  all  Universities,  British  and  Foreign ;  to  other  persons, 
at  the  discretion  of  the  Committee;  and  to  approved  institutions  and  associations. 
SUBSCRIPTION.  The  minimum  annual  subscription  is  ys.  6d.  and  should 
be  paid  to  the  Hon.  Treasurer,  Professor  Allen  Mawer,  The  University, 
Liverpool.  A  single  payment  of  £5.  55.  entitles  to  life  membership.  Perpetual 
membership  (for  institutions  and  associations),  £10.  10s. 
FEDERATED  BODIES.  The  Association  is  federated  to  the  Modern 
Language  Associations  of  England  and  America,  and  any  member  may  join 
the  latter  Association  by  paying  the  reduced  subscription  of  10s.  6d.  through 
its  Hon.  Treasurer. 

PROSPECTUS.  The  Hon.  Secretary,  Professor  E.  Allison  Peers,  The 
University,  Liverpool,  will  be  glad  to  send  to  any  non-member  who  is  in- 
terested in  Modern  Language  Research  a  copy  of  the  prospectus  explaining 
the  aims  and  constitution  of  the  Association. 

CAPITAL  FUND.  It  is  particularly  desired  to  draw  the  attention  of  members 
to  the  Capital  Fund,  founded  to  enable  the  Association  to  carry  into  effect 
some  of  its  most  urgent  schemes.  The  Committee  appeals  to  all  members 
who  have  not  yet  done  so  to  make  a  special  contribution,  large  or  small, 
to  this  Fund,  preferably  a  guarantee  for  five  years. 

CAMBRIDGE :  PRINTED  BV  W.  LEWIS  AT  THE  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 


O 


Modern  Languages 

The  Official  Organ  of  the  Modern  Language  Association 

A  REVIEW  OF  FOREIGN  LETTERS, 
SCIENCE,  AND  THE  ARTS 

EDITED    BY    E.    A.    CRADDOCK,    M.A. 

PUBLISHED  SIX  TIMES  A  YEAR.     PRICE  1/6  NET  EACH 

SOME  RECENT  ARTICLES 

Vol.  IV.   No.  5,  April  1923 
Shall  we  begin  French  Some  Notes  on  English 

in       the       Elementary  Influence  in  the  Voca- 

Schools  ? .        .        .        George  Sampson        btjlary       op      Written 
La      Vida      Intelectual  French     ....   Paul  Barbier 

Espanola  .        .•'•■.      Sarraiento  Lasuen      Flaneries  Litteraires     .    '  Lutetius ' 
English  as  an  Instrument  Compulsory    Latin  ;    Ad- 

of  Culture  vanced  Work  in  Modern 

Studies  (Debate) 

Vol.  IV.   No.  6.   June  1923 
Moliere  and  Music  .        .    W.  McArthur       Cambridge  Notes      .        .   H.  J.  Chaytor 
Modern     Languages     in  Visit  op  Twelve  English 

Roumania         .        ,        .   G.  V.  Lahan  Head  Masters  to  Paris  .   R.  C.  Lucas 

LAbbaye  de  Pontigny      .   M.  Burns  Compulsory  Latin  at 

Ernest  Renan  .        .        .   M.  Soman  Aberdeen 

ffmblfsbeo  for  tbe  /Dbobern  language  association  bs 

A.  &  C.  BLACK,  Ltd.,  4,  5,  6,  SOHO  SQ.,  LONDON,  W  1 


New  Series]  OCTOBER,  1923      [Vol.  VIII,  No.  31 

Price  2s  net 

HISTORY 

The  Quarterly  Journal  of 

THE  HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATION 

Editor:  Miss  E.  JEFFRIES  DAVIS,  M.A. 

Assisted  by  E.  F.  JACOB,  M.A. 
Articles:  CONTENTS 

The  Jewels  lost  in  the  Wash.    By  Mrs  HILARY  JENKINSON. 
The  Recruiting  of  the  Long  Parliament,  1645-1647.    By  R.  N.  Kershaw. 
The  Emancipation  of  Slaves  at  the  Cape.    By  A.  F.  HATTERSLEY. 
The  Teaching    of  History  in   Schools  :     III,  Sherborne.     By  NoWELL 
Smith. 

Historical  Revision  : 

Ancient  Sparta  in  the  Light  of  Recent  Discoveries.   By  A.  M.  WOODWARD. 

Notes  and  News — Correspondence — Reviews — Short  Notices — New  Books 
and  New  Editions. 

LONDON:  MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  LIMITED 

NEW  YORK:  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 


JUNTA    PARA   AMPLIACION    DE    ESTUDIOS 

Centro  de  Estudios  Historicos,  Calle  de  Alraagro,  26,  Madrid 


PUBLICACIONES  DE  LA  "  RE  VIST  A  DE  FILOLOGIA 

ESPANOLA" 

ESTA  REVISTA  SE  HA  PROPUESTO  FORMAK  UNA  COLECCION  DE  LIBROS 
ESCOGIDOS  SOBRE  LENGUA  Y  LITERATURA  ESPANOLAS,  DESTINADOS 
::      A    LA    ENSENANZA   CIENTIFICA   Y   PRACTICA    DE    ESTAS    MATERIAS      :: 

Acaba  de  publicarse  : 
T.  NAVARRO  TOMAS 

PRONUNCIACION  ESPANOLA 

En  esta  obra  describese  por  primera  vez  la  pronunciaci6n  espafiola 
segun  el  habla  corriente  en  Castilla  entre  las  personas  instruidas,  yendo 
indicadas  junto  a  cada  forma  correcta  sus  principales  variantes  dialec- 
tales  y  los  defectos  mas  comunes  en  que  los  extranjeros  suelen  incurrir. 

Un  volumen  en  8°,  de  240  pags.  y  61  figs., 
encuadernado  en  tela,  5  pesetas. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

OF 

ENGLISH  LANGUAGE  AND  LITERATURE 

1923 

Edited  for  the  Modern  Humanities  Research  Association 
by  Dr  A.  C.  PAUES,  and  comprising  all  books  and  articles 
of  interest  and  value  dealing  with  English  Language  and 
Literature,  published  during  1922. 

Members  of  the  Modern  Humanities  Research  Association  may 
obtain  their  copies  of  the  Bibliography  at  the  rate  of  3s  3  J,  post  free ; 
to  other  persons  the  price  is  6s,  through  any  bookseller.  Members 
should  order  from  Professor  A.  Mawer,  Hon.  Treasurer,  The 
University,  Liverpool,  enclosing  remittance. 


PB 

M65 

v.18 


The  Modern  language  review 


PLEASE  DO  NOT  REMOVE 
SLIPS  FROM  THIS  POCKET 


UNIVERSITY  OF  TORONTO 
LIBRARY