(5) So Balan prayed the lady of her gentleness, for his true service that she would bury them both in that same place where the battle was done. And she granted them with weeping it should be done richly in the best manner. “Now will ye send for a priest, that we may receive our sacrament and receive the blessed body of our Lord Jesus Christ.” “Yea,” said the lady, “it shall be done.” And so she sent for a priest and gave them their rites. “Now,” said Balin, “when we are buried in one tomb, and the mention made over us how two brethren slew each other, there will never good knight nor good man see our tomb but they will pray for our souls.” And so all the ladies and gentlewomen wept for pity. Then, anon Balan died, but Balin died not till the midnight after, and so were they buried both, and the lady let make a mention of Balan how he was there slain by his brother’s hands, but she knew not Balin’s name.

Malory, Morte d’ Arthur, 1470

2. Comment upon the style of each of the following extracts. Note the use of French words, the type of sentences, the clearness of construction, and the handling of the meter. Compare (1) with the extract given from Chaucer on page 39. Which is the better narrative, and which shows the more humor?

(1) In a Croniq I fynde thus,
How that Caius Fabricius
Wich whilome was consul of Rome,
By whome the lawes yede and come,
Whan the Sampnitees to him brouht
A somme of golde, and hym by souht
To done hem fauoure in the lawe,
Towarde the golde he gan hym drawe:
Where of in alle mennes loke,
A part in to his honde he tooke,
Wich to his mouthe in alle haste
He put hit for to smelle and taste,
And to his ihe and to his ere,
Bot he ne fonde no comfort there:
And thanne he be gan it to despise,
And tolde vnto hem in this wise:
“I not what is with golde to thryve
Whan none of alle my wittes fyve
Fynt savour ne delite ther inne
So is it bot a nyce sinne
Of golde to ben to coveitous,
Bot he is riche an glorious
Wich hath in his subieccion
The men wich in possession
Ben riche of golde, and by this skille,
For he may alday whan he wille,
Or be him leef or be him loth,
Justice don vppon hem bothe.”
Lo thus he seide and with that worde
He threwe to fore hem on the borde
The golde oute of his honde anon,
And seide hem that he wolde none,
So that he kepte his liberte
To do justice and equite.
Gower, Confessio Amantis
(2) The kyng and hise knyghtes To the kirke wente
To here matyns of the day And the mass after.
Thanne waked I of my wynkyng, And wo was withalle,
That I ne had slept sadder And y-seighen moore.
Ac er I hadde faren a furlong, Feyntise[35] me hente,[36]
That I ne myghte ferther a foot For defaute of slepynge,
And sat softly a-doun, And seide my bileve,
And so[37] I bablede on my bedes Thei broughte me a-slepe.
And thanne saugh I much moore Than I bifore of tolde,
For I seigh the feld ful of folk, That I bifore of seide
And how Reson gan arayen hym Al the reaume[38] to preche
And with a cros afore the kyng Comsede[39] thus to techan.
Langland, Piers Plowman

3. The two extracts given below represent the older and the more modern versions of Chevy Chace. Compare them with regard to diction, vivacity, and general competence in the handling of meter.

(1) With that ther cam an arrowe hastely
Forthe off a mightie wane,[40]
Hit hathe strekene the yerle Duglas
In at the brest bane.
Thoroue lyvar and longs bathe[41]
The sharp arrowe ys gane,
That never after in all his lyffe days,
He spayke mo wordes but ane,
That was, “Fyghte ye, my merry men whyllys ye may,
For my lyff days ben[42] gan.”
The Perse leanyde on his brande,
And sawe the Duglas de;
He tooke the dede man be the hande,
And sayd, “Wo ys me for the!
To have sayvde thy lyffe I wold have pertyd[43] with
My landes for years thre,
For a better man of hart, nare of hande
Was not in all the north countre.”
(2) With that, there came an arrow keen
Out of an English bow,
Which struck Erle Douglas to the heart,
A deepe and deadly blow:
Who never spoke more words than these,
“Fight on, my merry men all;
For why, my life is at an end;
Lord Percy sees my fall.”
Then leaving life, Erle Percy tooke
The dead man by the hand;
And said, “Erle Douglas, for thy life
Wold I had lost my land.
“O Christ! my verray heart doth bleed
With sorrow for thy sake;
For sure, a more redoubted knight
Mischance did never take.”

4. “In the union of the two [art and strength] Chaucer stood alone.” (Saintsbury.) Compare Chaucer with Langland and Gower, and show how he combines the strength of the former with the art of the latter.

5. The following quotations on Chaucer can each be taken as the theme of a short discussion, and all of them can be used as the foundation of a longer paper.

(1) Dan Chaucer, well of English undefiled,
On Fame’s eternall beadroll worthy to be filed.
Spenser

(2) He is the father of English poetry.... He followed nature everywhere.... The verse of Chaucer is not harmonious to us.... There is the rudeness of a Scotch tune in it.[44]

Dryden

(3) He was a healthy and hearty man, so humane that he loved even the foibles of his kind.... He was a truly epic poet, without knowing it.... He has left us such a picture of contemporary life as no man ever painted.

Lowell

(4) Dan Chaucer, the first warbler, whose sweet breath
Preluded those melodious bursts that fill
The spacious times of great Elizabeth
With sounds that echo still.
Tennyson

6. Point out some of the traces that the social and religious unrest has left upon the literature of the time.

7. “There exists a general impression that our prose dates from the sixteenth century.” (Earle.) Is this impression a correct one?