The Facts on File Companion to British Poetry Before 1600

(coco) #1

Lawton, David. “Middle English Alliterative Poetry: An
Introduction.” In Middle English Alliterative Poetry and Its
Literary Tradition, edited by David Lawton, 1–20. Cam-
bridge: D.S. Brewer, 1982.
Daniel F. Pigg


CÚ CHULAINN (SÉTANTA) (fi rst century
C.E.) Cú Chulainn, who supposedly dates to the fi rst
century, is considered the greatest hero of Irish mythol-
ogy. Born Setanta, he earned the name Cú Chulainn
(Hound of Chulainn) at an early age by killing a fi erce
watchdog and then taking its place. At the age of seven,
he took up arms in accordance with a Druid prophesy.
His battle prowess was legendary, made even more so
when he trained with the witch woman Scáthach, who
taught him how to use the gáe bulg, a “blood-singing”
spear, thrown with the foot, that was almost impossi-
ble to overcome.
As is typical with EPIC heroes, many of Cú Chulai-
nn’s adventures involved supernatural creatures. In
one such tale, Cú Roí, king of Munster and a sorcerer,
appeared to Cú Chulainn and two companions in dis-
guise and challenged them to the BEHEADING GAME.
After accepting the challenge, Cú Chulainn’s friends
beheaded the stranger, who subsequently picked up
his head and left. The two friends then fl ed, while Cú
Chulainn remained. Cú Roí spared his life and
declared him honorable. This central story would be
echoed centuries later in SIR GAWAIN AND THE GREEN
KNIGHT.
Cú Chulainn was exceptionally handsome and had
numerous lovers. However, he married only one
woman, Emer. She patiently ignored his infi delities for
the most part. Occasionally, however, Cú Chulainn
would be overcome by love (instead of lust), and then
Emer would grow petulant.
Cú Chulainn was killed after breaking the geas
(magical condition) laid upon him by Druids and
becoming spiritually weakened. Lugaid, son of Cú Roí,
killed his charioteer, his horse, and then, fi nally, Cú
Chulainn himself. Emer died of grief soon afterward.
According to tradition, the couple are buried in one
grave, marked with an OGHAM stone.
See also EARLY IRISH SAGAS.


CYNTHIA, WITH CERTAIN SONNETS
(OVERVIEW) RICHARD BARNFIELD (1595) As
the result of recent research and a more complex
understanding of human sexuality, RICHARD BARNFIELD’s
reputation has had the most radical reappraisal of all
16th-century poets. Earlier critics such as C. S. Lewis
were often dismissive of Barnfi eld, based on an overt
expression of same-sex desire, an element that was also
observed in the 16th century. The Affectionate Shepherd
(1594), for example, presented the often homoerotic
love complaints of Daphnis for Ganymede, following
the CLASSICAL TRADITION of male-male desire.
Barnfi eld’s Cynthia refl ects the established tradition
of the PASTORAL, but the 20 SONNETs in this SONNET
SEQUENCE also unmistakably represent same-sex desire
that remains unrequited. Some critics insist that the
poems represent only male friendship, which was val-
ued above married heterosexual love. Attempts to dis-
miss the poems as representing male-male desire,
however, are no longer the norm.
The published volume of 1595 includes Cynthia,
Certain Sonnets, “An Ode,” and Cassandra. Cynthia, writ-
ten in a form that seems most clearly allied with the
medieval DREAM VISION, is a poem of praise for Queen
ELIZABETH I. In the poem, Barnfi eld shows his debt to
EDMUND SPENSER’s STANZA format. The rising of Cynthia,
the moon, calls the pageant of gods and goddesses to
appear in a beautiful place to which the dreamer/poet/
recorder is directed. In this scene, the judgment of Paris
to determine the fairest among Venus, Pallas Athena,
and Minerva, with each promising to bestow good upon
Paris, is itself put on trial. His decision to select Venus is
appealed before the court of Jupiter, who, rather than
overturning the verdict, pronounces the failings of each
participant in light of one who is greater than them all.
Referred to as the “Fayrie Queene” (l. 144), a code
word for Queen Elizabeth also observed in Spenser’s
The FAERIE QUEENE, this ruler exceeds all and serves as
one to right wrongs herself. Jupiter orders a pearl to be
sent to this “second Judith” (l. 161), a seeming anom-
aly that fuses both Greek and Hebrew traditions. Mer-
cury is summoned to deliver the gem to Elizabeth, and
the poem ends with the dreamer awakened by the ris-
ing of the sun. The dreamer/poet, deeply affected by
the beauty of this vision, “gan almost weep” (l. 171).

CYNTHIA, WITH CERTAIN SONNETS 133
Free download pdf