Prayer: "Fadir ur, that es in heven, Halud thi nam to nevene, Thou do as thi rich rike, Thi will on erd be wrought, Development eek as it is wrought in heven ay." In the poems of English

of Geoffrey Chaucer (about 1340-1400 A.D.), especially in his Canterbury Tales, Eng

lish wears quite a modern aspect, though the reader is often troubled by the old spelling and by certain words not now in use. The changes in the grammar of English have been so extremely small since 1485 A.D. beginning of the reign of Henry VII1- that any Englishman of ordinary education can read without difficulty a book written more than four hundred years ago.

the

What in medieval times was the speech

of a few millions of

GEOFFREY CHAUCER

From an old manuscript in the British Museum, London. The only existing portrait of Chaucer.

English
as a world-
language

Englishmen on a single small island is now spoken by at least one hundred and fifty millions of people all over the world. English is well fitted for the rôle of a universal language, because of its absence of inflections and its simple sentence-order. The great number of one-syllabled words in the language also makes for ease in understanding it. Furthermore, English has been, and still is, extremely hospitable to new words, so that its vocabulary has grown very fast by the adoption of terms from Latin, French, and other languages. These have immensely increased the

1 See page 518.

expressiveness of English, while giving it a position midway between the very different Romance and Teutonic languages.

Latin hymns

201. Development of National Literatures

Medieval literature, though inferior in quality to that of Greece and Rome, nevertheless includes many notable productions. In the twelfth and the thirteenth centuries Latin hymns reached their perfection. The sublime Dies Ira ("Day of Wrath") presents a picture of the final judgment of the wicked. The pathetic Stabat Mater, which describes the sorrows of Mary at the foot of the Cross, has been often translated and set to music. These two works were written by a companion and biographer of St. Francis of Assisi. St. Bernard's Jesu Dulcis Memoria ("Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee") forms part of a beautiful hymn nearly two hundred lines in length. Part of another hymn, composed by a monk of Cluny, has been rendered into English as Jerusalem the Golden." Latin hymns made use of rhyme, then something of a novelty, and thus helped to popularize this poetic device.

Latin students' songs

Very unlike the hymns in character were the Latin songs composed by students who went from one university to another in search of knowledge and adventure. Far from home, careless and pleasure-seeking, light of purse and light of heart, the wandering scholars of the Middle Ages frequented taverns, as well as lecture rooms, and knew the wine-bowl even better than books. Their songs of love, of dancing, drinking, and gaming, reflect the jovial side of medieval life.

Still another glimpse of gay society is afforded by the songs of the troubadours. These professional poets flourished in the Songs of the south of France, but many of them traveled from troubadours court to court in other countries. Their verses, composed in the Provençal language, were always sung to the accompaniment of some musical instrument, generally the lute. Romantic love and deeds of chivalry were the two themes which most inspired the troubadours. They, too, took up the use of

rhyme, using it so skilfully as to become the teachers of Europe

in lyric poetry.

epic

If southern France was the native home of the lyric, northern France gave birth to epic or narrative verse. Here arose many poems, describing the exploits of mythical The French heroes or historic kings. For a long time the poems remained unwritten and were recited by minstrels, who did not hesitate to modify and enlarge them at will. It was not until late in the eleventh century that any epics were written down. They enjoyed high esteem in aristocratic circles and penetrated all countries where feudalism prevailed.

Many of the French epics centered about the commanding personality of Charlemagne. After his death he became a figure of legend. The Charle

He was said to magne

have reigned one

legend

ROLAND AT RONCESVALLES

From a thirteenth-century window of stained glass in Chartres Cathedral. At the right Roland sounding his horn; at the left

hundred and twenty-five years, to have made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and to have risen from the dead to lead the First Crusade. Angels inspired his actions. His sword contained the point of the lance which pierced the Savior's side. His standard was the banner of St. Peter. Though history shows that Charlemagne had little contact with the Moslems, Roland endeavoring to break his sword in the popular mind he stood forth as the great champion of Christianity against Islam. The oldest, and at the same time the finest, epic connected with Charlemagne is the Song of Roland. The poem centers around Roland, one of the twelve peers of France. Song of When leading the rearguard of Charlemagne's army out of Spain, Roland is suddenly attacked by the treacherous Moors. He slays the enemy in heaps with his good sword, Du1 See page 309, note 1.

Durendal.

Roland