Today | News | Books | Recipes Adventure | Science Fiction | Ghost stories | Poetry | Children | History BookDr. Jessopp's article on 'William of Norwich' in The Nineteenth Century, May, 1893. THE OXFORD EDITION OF PIERS THE PLOWMAN In two Volumes, demy 8vo, pp. civ + 1112, uniform with this Edition, price £1 11s. 6d. THE VISION OF WILLIAM CONCERNING PIERS THE PLOWMAN _IN THREE PARALLEL TEXTS_ TOGETHER WITH RICHARD THE REDELESS BY WILLIAM LANGLAND (ABOUT 1362-1399 A.D.) EDITED FROM NUMEROUS MANUSCRIPTS _WITH PREFACE, NOTES, AND A GLOSSARY_ BY THE REV. WALTER W. SKEAT, LITT.D., LL.D. ELRINGTON AND BOSWORTH PROFESSOR OF ANGLO-SAXON AND FELLOW OF CHRIST'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE OXFORD AT THE CLARENDON PRESS LONDON: HENRY FROWDE OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS WAREHOUSE, AMEN CORNER, E.C. OTHER WORKS BY THE REV. PROF. W. W. SKEAT, LITT.D. _An Etymological Dictionary of the English Language_, arranged on an Historical Basis. _Second Edition._ 4to, _cloth_, 2_l._ 4_s._ _A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language._ _Fourth Edition._ Crown 8vo, _cloth_, 5_s._ 6_d._ _A List of English Words the Etymology of which is illustrated by comparison with Icelandic._ 4to, 2_s._ _The Principles of English Etymology._ Crown 8vo. FIRST SERIES. _The Native Element._ Second Edition. 10_s._ 6_d._ SECOND SERIES. _The Foreign Element._ 10_s._ 6_d._ _A Primer of English Etymology._ 1_s._ 6_d._ _Specimens of Early English._ Part II. From Robert of Gloucester to Gower (A.D. 1298 to A.D. 1393). By R. MORRIS, LL.D., and W. W. SKEAT, Litt. D. _Third Edition._ Extra fcap. 8vo, _cloth_, 7_s._ 6_d._ _Specimens of English Literature_, from the 'Ploughman's Crede' to the 'Shepheardes Calender' (A.D. 1394 to A.D. 1579). With Introduction, Notes, and Glossarial Index. 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Extra fcap. 8vo, _cloth_, 6_s._ _The Books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon_: according to the Wycliffite Version made by NICHOLAS DE HEREFORD, about A.D. 1381, and Revised by JOHN PURVEY, about A.D. 1388. With Glossary, &c. Extra fcap. 8vo, _cloth_, 3_s._ 6_d._ _The Gospel of St. Mark in Gothic._ Extra fcap. 8vo, _cloth_, 4_s._ OXFORD AT THE CLARENDON PRESS LONDON: HENRY FROWDE OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS WAREHOUSE, AMEN CORNER, E.C. FOOTNOTES. [1] It is also mentioned as 'the book of Fame' at the end of the Persones Tale, I 1086. I accept this passage as genuine. [2] In Dante's Inferno, this invocation begins Canto II.; for Canto I. forms a general introduction to the whole. [3] Where Chaucer says 'leet the reynes goon' (l. 951), and Dante has 'abbandonò li freni' (Inf. xvii. 107), we find in Ovid 'equi ... colla iugo eripiunt, abruptaque lora relinquunt' (Met. ii. 315). Chaucer's words seem closer to Dante than to the Latin original. [4] On which Prof. Lounsbury remarks (Studies in Chaucer, ii. 243)--'More extreme indeed than that of any one else is the position of Professor Skeat. He asserts in all seriousness that the "House of Fame" is the translation to which reference is made by Lydgate, when he said that Chaucer wrote "Dante in English." Beyond this utterance it is hardly possible to go.' This is mere banter, and entirely misrepresents my view. Lydgate does not say that 'Dant in English' was a translation; this is a pure assumption, for a strategical purpose in argument. Lydgate was ignorant of Italian, and has used a stupid phrase, the correctness of which I by no means admit. But he certainly meant _something_; and the prominence which he gives to "Dant in English," when he comes to speak of Chaucer's Minor Poems, naturally suggests The House of Fame, which he otherwise omits! My challenge to 'some competent critic' to tell me what _other_ poem is here referred to, remains unanswered. [5] When Chaucer consulted Dante, his thoughts were naturally directed to Vergil. We find, accordingly, that he begins by quoting (in ll. 143-8) the opening lines of the Æneid; and a large portion of Book I (ll. 143-467) is entirely taken up with a general sketch of the contents of that poem. It is clear that, at the time of writing, Vergil was, in the main, a new book to him, whilst Ovid was certainly an old acquaintance. [6] By this, I only mean that Lydgate seems to have been indebted to Chaucer for the general idea of his poem, and even for the title of it (cf. Ho. Fame, 120). For a full account of all its sources, see the admirable edition of Lydgate's Temple of Glas by Dr. J. Schick, p. cxv. (Early Eng. Text Society). [7] Misprinted 'bright,' as the final _e_ has 'dropped out' at press; of course it should be the adverbial form, with final _e_. In l. 507, the form is 'brighte' again, where it is the plural adjective. And, owing to this repetition, MSS. F. and B. actually omit lines 504-7. [8] Morris has _rabewyures_, from MS. F.; but there is no such word in his Glossary. See the New E. Dictionary, s.v. _Baboon_. [9] Morris has _Reues_; but his Glossary has: '_Reues_, or _reyes_, sb. a kind of dance.' Of course it is plural. [10] Morris has _clywe_; and his Glossary has '_Clywe_, v. to turn or twist'; but no such verb is known. See _Claw_, v. § 3, in the New E. Dict. [11] Morris has _frot_; but it does not appear in the Glossary. [12] I do not here endorse all Ten Brink's dates. I give his scheme for what it is worth, as it is certainly deserving of consideration. [13] It is the stanza next following the last one quoted in vol. i. p. 23. I quote it from the Aldine edition of Chaucer, ed. Morris, i. 80. [14] Of course Lydgate knew the work was unfinished; so he offers a humorous excuse for its incompleteness. I may here note that Hoccleve refers to the Legend in his poem entitled the Letter of Cupid, where Cupid is made to speak of 'my Legende of Martres'; see Hoccleve's Works, ed. Furnivall, p. 85, l. 316. [15] In December, 1384, Richard II. 'held his Christmas' at Eltham (Fabyan). [16] I think lines 568, 569 (added in B.) are meant to refer directly to ll. 703, 704. [17] The Knightes Tale is |