A History of English Literature

Ricardian poetry

The reign of Richard II saw the arrival of a mature poetic literature in Middle English.
Besides lyr ic and religious prose of the highest quality, we have spirited Arthurian
verse romances in the Stanzaic Morte and the Alliterative Morte. The rev ival of
English alliterative verse produced at least three great poems,Piers Plowman,Sir
Gawain and the Green Knight,and Pearl, with two other fine poems in the Gawain
manuscript. Verse drama was also popular, although surviving texts are 15th century.
The historic development, however, is the appearance of an assured syllabic verse
in the long poems ofJohn Gower(?1330–1408),and Geoffrey Chaucer’s establish-
ment in English of the decasyllabic verse of France and Italy: in the Tr oilus stanza
and the couplets of the Canterbury Tales. Chaucer’s importance is not merely histor-
ical. He is as humane as any English non-dramatic poet, with a versatility and narra-
tive skill never exceeded. Gower wrote in three languages, Chaucer in English only,
an instrument with a richer tone and a deeper social reach than French or Latin.
Chaucer (c.1342–1400) was a bright star in a sky with many bright stars; his impor-
tance was recognized at his death.

Piers Plowman

Piers Plowman is a dream poem in the alliterative style. It opens on the Malvern Hills
in Worcestershire:

In a somer seson, whan soft was the sonne,

I shope me in shroudes I put on outer clothes

as I a shepe were, as if I were a shepherd

In habite as an heremite in the garb of a hermit

unholy of workes not holy in conduct

Went wyde in this world wondres to here. marvels hear

THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY 51

Ricardian poetry 1377–99

Events Literature

1337–1453 Hundred Years War, between
England and France
1346 Edward III’s victory at Crécy
1348–9 Black Death
1356 Victory at Poitiers
c.1370 Geoffrey Chaucer, The Book of the
Duchess
1377 Richard II’s accession c.1377 William Langland, Piers Plowman
(B Text)
1381 Peasants’ Revolt c.1382–5 Chaucer, Troilus and Criseyde
c.1387 Chaucer begins Canterbury Tales; John
Gower begins Confessio Amantis
Popularity of Mystery plays evident
from Chaucer’s ‘Miller’s Tale’
c.1390 Gawainmanuscript;
Anon.; StanzaicMorte
1399 Richard II deposed by Henry IV c.1400 Anon., Alliterative Morte