The Criticism of Middle English Lyrics

Author(s): Robert D. Stevick

Source: Modern Philology , Nov., 1966, Vol. 64, No. 2 (Nov., 1966), pp. 103-117
Published by: The University of Chicago Press

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/436540

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 THE CRITICISM OF MIDDLE ENGLISH LYRICS

ROBERT D. STEVICK

investigation of context and conventions

O CHARGE the world of letters with
neglect of Middle English lyrichas produced admirable results in some
verse
without being ungracious in the instances2 and has raised fascinating
presence of past study implies some controversy over the Corpus Christi
measure of hope and some confidence that Carol,3 but the attractions of Chaucer, Sir
the texts of the lyrics have not yet yielded Gawain and the Green Knight, Piers
up everything in them that can interest us. Plowman, the Wakefield pageants, etc.,
A great deal of attention has indeed been have left the lyrics with unequal attention.
devoted to the English lyrics of three or Explication de texte applied to the lyrics
more centuries extending about equally on has been only sporadic and undisciplined.4
either side of Chaucer's literary career: The New Critics liked a late lyric ("Western
texts have been searched out and meticu- Wind") very much, but none seems to
lously edited and re-edited to the point have worked systematically through a
that nearly all the verse is readily access-representative sample of the surviving
ible; dating, collating, glossing, and verse. The exegetes of myth, syndrome, and
emendation have become for the most conflict of social classes apparently have
found the lyrics too thin to supply the
part the stuff of notes for learned journals;
and the editions and discussions are stuff of their doctrines. And it is charitably
indexed for scholars' convenience. The to be hoped that many texts will escape
all-or-none
lyric verse also has its history written in patristic interpretation.5
The lyrics are not without their advocates
several modes; if we except the ballads and
who undertake to survey critically the
perhaps some aspects of the carols, further
historical reconstruction apparently verses*
must and their traditions. But even the
await discovery of new evidence. The advocates have not supplied the extent and
charge of neglect can not be brought rigor of critical study we may wish for and
against the editors, lexicographers, literary expect. In most instances they seem to have
historians, and bibliographers. They have a sure sense of the best and the worst
done their jobs so thoroughly and well among the verses. Their consensus in
that the ungracious disparagement of their approving certain poems is remarkable
work by John Speirs is as objectionable as and does not appear to depend upon
are the crotchets of his "criticism." 1 2 The thoroughness of Stephen Manning's explication of
symbol and tradition in "I Syng of a Myden," PMLA, LXXV
It is not the world of letters as it was in (1960), 8-12, may be taken as a model.
a Speculation about its meaning may now be at an end,
which Middle English lyrics suffer neglect. with Richard L. Greene's "The Meaning of the Corpus Christi
Carol," Medium ,Evum, XXIX (1960), 10-21.
It is the world that is now, the one 4 Leo Spitzer's "Explication de Texte Applied to Three
Great Middle English Poems," Archivum Linguisticum, 1II
distinguished by criticism of increasing
(1951), 1-22, 137-65, is the principal instance, severely dealt
with by Richard Leighton Greene in A Selection of English
skill and scope. Biographical criticism, to
Carols (Oxford, 1962), pp. 219, 253.
5 See E. Talbot Donaldson, "Patristic Exegesis in the
be sure, can not be expected to operate on
Criticism of Medieval Literature: The Opposition," in
Critical Approaches to Medieval Literature (New York, 1960),
texts nearly all anonymous. Historical
pp. 1-26, a response to D. W. Robertson's analysis of "Maiden
in the Moor": "Robertson's hard-and-fast, this-sense-or-no-
sense allegory, however, seems to me so well-concealed and,
1 Medieval English Poetry: The Non-Chaucerian Tradition when explicated, so unrevealing that it can be considered only
(London, 1957), esp. pp. 29, 48. disappointing if not entirely irrelevant" (pp. 23-24).

[Modern Philology, November, 1966] 103

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 104 ROBERT D. STEVICK
mutual imitation or subservience to a of all that he sees or imagines, and this
dominating predecessor. Their criticism,
characteristic of the season he manages to
however, is of such uneven merit introduce
and into the song [pp. 51-52].
limited means that the charge of neglect
This is the generic account of "Sumer is
may stand. I first select for substantial
icumen in" (Index 3223).7 It is necessarily
comment three major, recent ventures into
specious. Moore's few statements pertain-
critical appraisal of these poems.
ing more to the poem than to the writer
I whom he has conjured are less than
fortunate. There are "two kinds of move-
The secular lyrics have come under
ment" featured in the poem-plant growth
book-length survey by Arthur K. Moore.6
and animal capering; they are "diverse
His historical ordering of the poems into
sorts of activity ... reconciled by verbs of
three stages of lyric development in
motion" (p. 52). These are the "verbs of
England-the embryo, the immature lyric,
motion," for which I supply in parentheses
and the art lyric-is unobjectionable, as is
their subjects: (sed) groweth, (med) blow-
the classification of the principles of
eth, (awe) bleteth, (calue) lhouth, (bulluc)
development of the poems by amplification
sterteth, (bucke) uerteth.
and diversification (p. 23). One would not
Moore's remarks on "Western Wind,"
undertake to quarrel with the definition of
on the one hand, provide an account of the
lyrics as "amplified exclamation in verse;
that is, direct or indirect commentary on
poem's genesis by hypothesizing, again,
the poet's lyric impulse: 'tLikely enough
segments of experience, ideally marked by
freedom of the emotions and liveliness of the season is winter, the poet's condition
miserable." On the other hand, they
the imagination" (p. 6)-if it were not for
appear intended to induce an esthetic
its implications for the critical procedures
exhilaration in the reader of his remarks-
and results proceeding from it. For
again a specious procedure: The poet
repeatedly Moore can do little more than
"longs for the springtime 'When Zephirus
try to put the impressionable reader into a
eek with his sweete breeth' blows over
frame of mind in which to imagine that he
England in warm currents laden with
is writing the poem himself.
moisture from the Gulf Stream. This is the
One morning on the southern countryside,'azure sister of the spring' which resusci-
the poet becomes suddenly aware of the arrival
tates dormant nature and sets the spirit of
of joyous "sumer" (probably April). [A foot-
man aglow in the blessed revival.... The
note here, discussing the relation of the Julian
idea of spring and rain suggests and
calendar to the seasons, demonstrating that
supports the central statement, which for
"the Harleian poet. . . was unquestionably
all its frankness is an immortal expression
correct."] Realization comes in a moment so
brief that he cannot hope by ordinary means of primal longing" (p. 30).
to give concrete representation to the complex In Alysoun (Index 515) "Romance
of impulses which unite almost a single sense- convention and English spirit and rhythm
impression to inform him of the happy fact. are consummately wedded," while "the
Nor can he by conventional methods animate Midland poet thrills with the prospect of
the symbols which have flashed "sumer" upon union with his 'make"' (p. 68). "If the
his conscious mind. The composer properly emotion is counterfeited, no one suspects
takes rapid movement as the common factor
7 Index numbers are those of Carleton Brown and Rossell
6 The Secular Lyric in Middle English (Lexington, Ky., Hope Robbins, The Index of Middle English Verse (New
1951). York, 1943).

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 THE CRITICISM OF MIDDLE ENGLISH LYRICS 105

the deception" (p. 69). In the secular that he was treating a great and sacred
"Lutel wot hit anymon" (Index 1921) "itsubject, which to him had a completely
is the poet's obvious intention to concealindependent importance, affected his atti-
the real situation" between himself and tude to what he wrote as poetry" (p. 108).
his love (p. 73). It is "agreed that WepingTo posit the poet's consciousness in any
Haveth Myn Wonges Wet [Index 3874] is a
individual instance is unnecessary and
perfectly sincere apology by a poetinvolves,. . ." with these poems, a circularity of
(p. 73). Occasionally the commentary critical argument.9 The hazards of circu-
concerns such things as the question of larity are avoided in assertions describing,
whether the poet had or had not been a for example, the poets' manifest procedures
one-night guest of his lady (p. 64), or theand (rhetorical) attitudes with moralizing
language is characterized as "idiomatic lyrics. The statements are often illumi-
and muscular" (p. 61). nating: "to apply in verse, as emphatically
It is pointless to multiply examples of as he could, the conventional homiletic
the persistent attempt to criticize the material" (p. 111) is a good inference
secular lyrics by inventing ad hoc hypoth- about the procedures of the writers; their
eses to describe how the poet came to attitude is reflected in the "mission to
write his poem-how, correlatively, we preach and convert," implying in turn "the
may vicariously write it too. We are superior point of view of men who were
offered fiction when we would have and knew themselves regenerate" (p. 114).
criticism. But the assertions about the causes of
George Kane's complementary study excellence
of are ad hominem or untestable:
the religious lyrics8 begins with an ad-
the moral poems written from that
mirably sane and justly forbidding con- point of view have a "repellent
superior
sideration of the special problems in coldness, ... for no show of self-righteous-
dealing critically with lyric verse in Middleness is ever quite attractive in any age."
English. The remoteness and diversity ofThe exceptions, like the poem beginning
the languages (dialects), the scant evidence "Louerd, pu clepedest me" (Index 1978),
for generalizing about the genre, the are "written by men conscious that what
anonymity of the texts, and the foreignnessthey wrote applied to themselves" (ibid.).
of the medieval ideas of the lyric and its The assertions about the poetic merit
criteria of success-all these barriers stand regularly contain synoptic critical observa-
in the way of successful criticism. All thesetions in phrases only, while the sentences
barriers Kane is eminently qualified tofinally resolve themselves into conjectures
overcome. Yet, though many of his about the poet. Of the poem
statements about the poems are just and
Louerd, pu clepedest me
valuable, much of his study is based on
An ich nagt ne ansuarede pe
critical procedure that leads inevitably to Bute wordes scloe and sclepie:
many irrelevant or misleading statements 'pole yet! pole a litel!'
or, most regrettably, leaves unsaid or only Bute 'yiet' and 'yiet' was endelis,
hinted what we should wish to have said And 'pole a litel' a long wey is.
about the poems. The quality of the
Kane says: "To have seen how those few
Middle English religious lyrics, he says,
"is to be accounted for by a study of the9 It would be about as fitting and informative, if one
adopted the medieval outlook, to posit God's will exercising
manner in which a poet's consciousnessitself on the mortal's mind. Kane's procedure in criticism has
its classic, and perhaps best, instance in A. C. Bradley's
8 In Middle English Literature (London, 1951). criticism of Shakespearean tragedy.

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 106 ROBERT D. STEVICK

lines in the greatdescribed

book [in Augustine's
impressionistically as "rough"
Confessions] were a unity,
or "irregular." to
In a six-line poemhave
the first cas
two lines rhyme,
them into poetic form, making as do thethe
last two, but
abstra
expression of the original
the third line hasconcrete,
its rhyme (with the and
first t
have done this briefly, intensely and two) unusually placed, and the fourth line
beautifully were the work of a man who is not linked to any other by rhyme. The
had either entered into the experience ofscansion is difficult, but it is obvious that
the famous penitent in his imagination, or there is no regularity in number of
had himself experienced the same spiritual syllables or number of stresses per line;
movement in his own right. However that the nearest we can approach to regularity
may be, his poem was produced by a -by catching "an ich" (1. 2) under
sincere poetic impulse and shows signs ofanacrusis-is to read three stresses in the
an inspired creative imagination" (ibid.). first three lines, four stresses in the latter
Again: "The immediacy of [a familiar,three. Perfect evenness or balance of
day-to-day] subject seems to intensify the metrical structure does not guarantee a
excitement of contemplation to a point good poem, of course, nor does unevenness
where it takes control of the poem, or imbalance guarantee either failure or
awakens the author's creative faculty," success. To judge the extent of the regu-
etc. (p. 118). One kind of poetry that haslarity of meter is something less than to
survived "displays an abundance of judge the literary object.
emotion, and its authors.., .have appre- In this poem the relation of linguistic
hended personally what they had to and metrical structures is at once appro-
communicate" (p. 126). Kane grades fivepriate and continually interesting. In both
methods of inducing a devout state of three-stress and four-stress lines, it is the
mind through verse by their artistic first and the last stresses that are usually
potential (pp. 130 ff.), offering a classifi- strongest in Middle English rhymed verse;
cation of poems that provides a sound that is, the constituents of phrase and
basis for comparison and evaluation; but clause constructions that have higher
to take advantage of the analysis one must linguistic stress 1 normally fall in those
systematically excise the statements that positions in the line. The regularity is
reverse legitimate procedures-accounting made the more prominent by the un-
for the poem's limitations or excellence by commonness of run-on lines: coincidence
the poet's "own emotional experience," of major syntactic boundaries with line
his "sincerity," his "mind." boundaries puts a primary linguistic stress
In'place of conjectures about the poet's in nearly every line. The rhyme word thus
imagination it is possible to offer state- comes habitually under one of the stronger
ments about a poem's structure and stresses.l" The first two lines of this poem,
execution. Only the latter can be relevant however, rhyme the final words which will
to criticism of anonymous lyrics, and onlyhave lower degrees of stress in their
with them can we decide whether the clauses unless they occur in contrastive
statements are true. Some remarks on the sentences (or clauses) which raise the
poem quoted above may serve as an degree of stress on the two pronouns.
example. Perhaps the most significant Contrastive circumstances are not present.
aspect of this poem is the relation of the10o I refer to primary and secondary stress, in a four-level
system of stress analysis.
linguistic structure to the metrical struc- 11 Characteristics of the four-stress line in rhymed Middle
English verse are described in more detail in Sect. III of this
ture. The metrical form probably would be
paper.

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 THE CRITICISM OF MIDDLE ENGLISH LYRICS 107

They are in fact rendered inappropriate

conjunctions beginning the final two lines
notstatement.
by the substance and form of the only has the opposition adversative
coordinate
To raise me to higher stress would, through but is further varied by the
metrical patterning, raise beunequal
to higher
structural features that they mark:
"Bute" implica-
stress also, creating a contrastive relates the final two clauses to the
tion that the syntax and thepreceding referent statement while "and" relates
Louerd render improbable. The the metrical
two clauses to each other. The final
and linguistic structures jointlytwo clauses are linked by parallel corre-
determine
the statement of these lines. At the end spondence of sounds (rhyme), syntactic
of line 2 a rhyme pair is completed; constructions, and morphological class
the establishment of a phonological (the substantive verb). At the same time,
correspondence (rhyme) coincides with athe existential predication of the verbs
correspondence of morphological class (pro-which contributes to the pairing of the
nouns) occurring in corresponding syntacticlines is, to the poem's statement, so
constructions. Coincidence of these corre- predictable as to be of little interest, and
spondences normally accompanies, in the it is the contrast of tense that is prominent.
contemporary rhymed verse, a complete That contrast of tense, in turn, finds a
statement. The initial statement of this correspondence in the repeated elements
from
poem, though, is completed only in line 3. the exclamations, and, in their turn,
The extension of the statement beyondthese
the patterns establish control of the
rhyme pair could have been achieved ambiguity of "pole." The ambiguity is not
primarily through syntax: "and I but static, with two meanings of "pole"
answered thee with words," or something equally available; it is generated by the
of the sort. Instead, the extension is metrical and linguistic structures, so that
achieved primarily through meter and thein any line the meaning of "pole" is not
phrase structure of "Bute wordes" (whereambivalent. As at the beginning, these
Bute is not a conjunction). While the third
structures jointly determine the meaning of
line is an extension beyond the pairsthe ofutterance.
sounds, forms, and constructions of theThe primary linking of the poem is
opening two lines, it is the first linelexical,in and the central term is "wordes"
which a higher linguistic stress occurs inin
line 3. The "wordes" are the substance
position of the final metrical stress of the of line 4, repeated in the subsequent lines
line. That signalling of finality of the in the way already described. "Wordes" is
sentence is reinforced by the construction connected to "ansuarede" as part of an
in which paired adjectives occur post- obvious semantic field, though syntacti-
nominally and constitute an alliterating cally as, apparently, an instrumental
pair ("scloe and sclepie") in which the object: the contrast between "answer
second member rhymes with the already questions/men" and "answer [with] words"
established rhyme in lines 1-2. will illustrate this. "Ansuarede" again is
I shall deal more briefly with the further plainly linked to "clepedest." To the
constructional features of the poem. A direct lexical linking may be added the
pair of exclamations constitute line 4, the correspondence of the first and final pairs
unrhymed line; they have their obvious of lines in having a symmetry of corre-
counterparts in the final rhymed couplet, spondences in the materials of sound,
the connection being made through simple morphological class, and syntactic
lexical repetition. The correspondence ofconstruction.

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 108 ROBERT D. STEVICK

The primary poetic caught up in his experience and

interest in dramatizes
the it poe
seems to me to lie in the relationship as though it is actually happening at the
between metrical and linguistic structures moment [pp. 36-37].
of the kind described. I have offered as
literary criticism an analysis of that The critical procedure here is somewhat
relationship with the intention of describ- more enlightening than that of Kane or
ing what it is to which we may respond-- Moore, in detailing the nature of the
and what it is that controls our response situation which the poem implies; in
-in appreciating the verbal construction regarding the poem as a dramatic lyric it is
(the poem) as a poem. Inferences about legitimate to talk about the "speaker."
the poet's imagination, especially where Unfortunately, the explication of the
nothing is known about the poet other speaker's situation reflects an important
than the fact that he wrote this poem, do error or oversight in reading the text. All
not fulfil this function of criticism. the non-imperative verbs are past tense
Still another commentary on the sameexcept in the final line, "and 'pole a litel' a
poem, through which we may come to long wey is," so that the speaker's situation
the third major treatment of the lyrics,and hence his emotion must be different
heads a chapter in Stephen Manning's from what Manning describes. The speaker
critical study of religious lyrics.12 The presumably is past acting, past help, past
poem, Manning says, indicates "the the opportunity of salvation. We have to
degree to which the dramatic lyric may be do-as with a number of poems, especially
found in Middle English" (p. 36). The on death-with the effects, not the
dramatic situation is this: a sinner, "who condition, of spiritual lethargy. The sad-
has been called personally by the Lord ness of the last two lines clearly derives
Himself," gives only a sleepy answer, from something more obvious than
"indicating his spiritual lethargy." "sound." In turn, Manning's construing of
the ambiguity of "pole a litel" is untenable.
But the speaker realizes both what he should He says: Line 4 "has something of the effect
do and what he is doing; caught between his of 'Permit me to stay away from You just
obligation and his lethargy in this most urgent a little while longer.' . . . Perhaps there is
of situations, he is almost helpless. The fact also a reminder in kole of the crucified
that he can see his spiritual condition heightens Christ, suffering for man's sins; the speaker
the emotion of the entire poem, especially of thus asks Christ to endure this suffering
the last two lines and of the note of sadness
just a bit longer until he can summon up
which the sound creates in them. That he
enough strength of character to act"
directly addresses his Lord rather than himself
(p. 37). Rather, the ambiguity is of the
fortifies his awareness of wanting to act and
grimmest kind: because "'yiet' and 'yiet'"
knowing that he should. At the same time, the
chosen address implies perhaps that the
was endless, the sense of "pole a litel" is
speaker would like the Lord to intervene once defined (though understated) as "suffer
the
again and end his helplessness for him. In this torments of hell"-suffering that "a
long wey is." At least this is what the text
context, the word pole (line 4) has an am-
biguity which intensifies the speaker's charac-says.
terization. ... Obviously the speaker is not Inferences about the poet's imagination,
merely reporting his feelings.... but he isor creative faculty, or consciousness, seem
to be about as untrustworthy as grounds for
12 Wisdom and Number: Toward a Critical Appraisal of the
Middle English Religious Lyric (Lincoln, Neb., 1962). evaluation as they are deficient in providing

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 THE CRITICISM OF MIDDLE ENGLISH LYRICS 109

a satisfactory accounting of the The lines

poem. contain
In four stresses with a
some instances, in fact, Kane'svarying accountingnumber of syllables, alliteration
of a poem leads to evaluations occurs with occasionally,
which and rhymes organize
one may wish to take issue. One the stanzas
of the (ababbcbc), but these features
quia amore langueo poems, "In at no
a time
valey interact
of with or reinforce the
this restles minde" (Index 1463), has "linguistic message." The metrical and
several "changes of motive" that mightlinguistic structures merely run roughly
suggest "shortcomings of construction."parallel. The mode or form of the message
Even so, "The knight wounded by love, is that of meditation which in this instance
the relentless hunter, the eager suitor, thehas formal affinities with a dream or
bridegroom, the parent, the husbandvision. In so far as the elements of the
follow hard upon one another in the poet's message are ordered, the order may well
fancy, and one concept slips into the next be, as Manning explains, that of the
with an ease made possible only by the mystical tradition which "follows the
high excitement of his creative faculty"state of man's soul from her baptism
(pp. 159-60). The assertion of the poem'sthrough her sinfulness to her conversion,
"success"-contrasted with the "failure" through the Purgative Way of beginners
of the Marian quia amore langueo (Index to the Illuminative Way of the proficient,"
1460)-is not substantiated by referencestopping short, though, of the Unitive
to the "high excitement of [the poet's]Way (p. 59).
creative faculty." It provides no grounds Let us allow frequent shifts of "motive"
for dealing with a counter-assertion thatand inertness of verse structure, refrain,
the poem is an inexpensive train of stockand vision format. There remain serious
stimuli lacking any structure capable of flaws that are hardly compensated for by
producing more than a series of stock putative excitement of the poet's creative
responses-that the verses consist of faculty
a or the mystical tradition. Chief
tactless linking of mismatched cliches.among
I these flaws are the distracting
shall not deal at length with this poem butshifts in the direction of direct address.
offer only enough statements about the Once the "I" of the poem has asked Christ
text to indicate that the counter-assertion,why he complains, Christ begins His
though overstated, expresses a more explanation and continues it for several
defensible judgment of the poem than thestanzas. Without warning13 Christ ap-
judgment supported by statements about
parently interrupts His explanation (1. 71)
the poet's creative faculty. to call to His spouse, man's soul, continues
The primary structural feature of the
His explanation only to interrupt himself
verse is the recurrence of a line consistingagain (1. 79), before turning aside from the
of (or containing) Quia amore langueo at
speaker of the poem to exhort and entice
the end of every eight-line stanza. TheHis spouse for two entire stanzas(ll. 81-96);
recurrence is not exploited by varying its then He turns to the speaker to ask "What
significance through patterned variationshal y do... ?" and then directs the
of context, as is the recurrence of Timor
speaker to hold his peace while the spouse
mortis conturbat me in "As I went in a sleeps, and concludes by addressing the
mery mornyng" (Index 375), nor is last it two stanzas exclusively to his "wijf."
exploited through repetition as an in- Another flaw is in the choice of concepts
escapable, necessary truth, as in the refrain
of Dunbar's "Lament for the Makaris." 13 I follow the text of the Lambeth MS 853.

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 110 ROBERT D. STEVICK

that "slip" one into the next. We can example, as "supplying the basic text,"
allow anomalies and incongruities within though it is "probably not the archetypal
a tradition of religious-especially mystical MS.";14 it also provides the text most
-symbolism, but in a poem we resist commonly anthologized. In this instance
contradictions. In the present instance the the "basic" text is also the best from a
effectiveness of the separate images seems critical viewpoint. It is one of the two in
to depend in part on the explicitness andwhich the verses appear as a separate
directness with which they are presented as lyric; the others, incorporating the stanzas
visual: "Loke vnto myn hondis, man!" in the "Sayings of St. Bernard," hardly
"Se.. .," etc., introduce the "gloves," the provide versions that can be extracted and
"scherte," the wound in Christ's side, and regarded as independent poems. Yet
so on. If we respond at all to the visual comparison of these versions is instructive
force of the images we must encounter the for critical ranking of related texts.
frustration of being shown that man's Sequence of stanzas-the ordering of the
soul has fastened Christ's feet so that he "substance" of the poem-cannot be
dealt with, as it can, for example, in
can only sit still (11. 49-52) and then being
told by Christ that "I renne bifore and differing versions of "Of on pat is so fayr
fleme hir foo" (1. 78). and bri3t" (Index 2645). But in stanza after
I have not included the bridegroom- stanza the readings of a line or set of lines
mother, the wound-chamber-pap, and can be compared. In most instances the
other complexes among the flaws of superiority of the Digby manuscript
structure. Enough has been shown, I version is immediately apparent. The
believe, to indicate that a verse compositionfrequent omission of kat (especially as a
may excite a mystic's mind or its writer's relative) in Digby regularly produces lines
creative faculty and not be good poetry. or syntactic sequences that are no less
clear and usually more effective:
II
Uuere bep pey biforen vs weren
An aspect of literary criticism of special Houndes ladden and hauekes beren
importance to the study of Middle English [Digby, 11. 1-2]
lyrics has to do with critical choice among Where ben heo pat bi-foren vs weren
closely related texts. This aspect has been pat houndes ladden 9 haukes beeren
neglected, though preferences are often [Vernon, and others]
rightly expressed both overtly and by
Also characteristic of the Digby version is
selection of texts for anthologizing or
stylistic linking in place of the overt
commentary. The task of sorting and
linking of clauses and phrases in the other
comparing texts to ascertain their historical
versions-a characteristic related to omis-
sequence and filiation involves use of
sion of relative kat:
independent orderings of data established
in such disciplines as paleography and If pat fend, pat foule ping,
historical and geographical linguistics. porou wikke roun, porou fals egging
The task of ranking texts by their literary [Digby, 11. 31-32]
merit must be carried out with the 3if pe feond, pat foule ping,
resources of literary criticism alone. The With wicke roun opur vuel egging
[MS Laud 108, 11. 169-70, similar to MS
Digby manuscript version of Ubi Sount
Harley 2253, 11. 145-46]
Qui Ante Nos Fuerount (Index 3310) is
14 In English Lyrics of the Xlllth Century (Oxford, 1932),
considered by Carleton Brown, for p. 202.

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 THE CRITICISM OF MIDDLE ENGLISH LYRICS 111

3if pe fend porw his fondyng together, while supplying the specification
Or of defaute of wip-stonding"vr lord" as "pi scheld." At the same time
[Vernon, 11. 151-52]
there can be no doubt that the Vernon
manuscript
Word choice in the Digby version as usual is inferior in diction
usually
and line structure.
is more skilful, as in the line (19) "Hoere The problem we are
left with,
paradis hy nomen here," where "nomen" then, is this: although among
corresponds to "maden" in extant texts one is clearly superior but has
the Harley
an obvious flaw that another text avoids,
version and "hedden" in the Vernon text.
must we limit our assessment of the poem
The stanza which this line begins has the
to the quality found in a given text, or may
following final three lines in three versions:
we replace segments of one version with
Long is ay and long is ho,
corresponding segments of another in
Long is wy and long is wo-
making critical judgments? Can we dis-
pennes ne comep pey neuere
[Digby, 11. 22-24] tinguish a poem from a single text ?
A suggestion that texts be tinkered with
Stronge y-pyne P. stronge in wo,
Longe is ay 9 longe ys o, until they resemble our ideal version of the
Out ne comep hue neuer poem, or that we criticize the ideal rather
[Harley, 11. 142-44] than the real texts, invites the response,
Strong is pere in peyne and wo "That way madness lies." For the poem
Ac hopen par hem neuer-mo, we have been considering it would even
ffor out ne comen pei neuere allow excision of the moralizing verses (as
[Vernon, 11. 202-4] didactic heresy, presumably), as in the

In these lines, the stylistic linking of thecase of at least one anthologized version
first pair in Digby only, and the efficient of it. At its worst it would encourage the
"pennes" are enough to establish prefer-abuse of critical reconstruction exemplified
ence for this version. in certain commentaries on the Corpus
While the Digby version of this poem is Christi Carol; in an attempt to uncover
superior on many counts-making it the the pure platonic idea, regarded ultimately
as the real poem reflecting the Grail
best single text-it is possible nonetheless
to question its absolute superiority. The legend, each of the four extant versions
comes to be regarded as an imperfect copy.
seventh and eighth stanzas have flaws in the
development of the figurative shield of On the other hand, restoration of texts is
righteousness and the staff-cross-weapon not unprecedented in the world of letters
and has in fact been a common resort
of faith. Stanza 7 begins as exhortation to
take the rood as thy staff, and think on when it is known that no reliable text of
a known
Him who gave his life on it--the rood; author's work has survived.
requite Him for the sacrifice of His life;With the lyrics in Middle English, trans
take the staff and avenge Him. Stanza 8mitted as they were, often with recom-
exhorts "[Thou] of ri3tte bileue" to take position, critical assessment, once it ha
ranked extant texts, in many instances
"pat sheld," which is unspecified, that is,
unexplicated, and with thy staff's point may fall short of the extent and significanc
defeat the traitor and thus attain "pat it could have if these texts were not, in
mvrie londe." The text of the Vernon turn, considered in the light of a reason
manuscript develops these materialsable in an
hypothetical text.
orderly fashion, beginning with the shield, The several texts beginning "Erpe toc
and keeps the "staff" and its "ord" of erpe" (Index 704, 3939, etc.) and thos

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 112 ROBERT D. STEVICK

developing the relation second person

of pronominal
wit and form is to be
reason
used,
to display Christian paradoxes (Index 4181) "thou" is much more effective here
for
pose instances of texts that are related asits unobtrusiveness as the frequent
imitations, expansions, Middle English idiom of imperative
redactions, con-
and
structions;
mixing of versions. A set of texts of this for its (morphologically) direct
sort in many ways is confronting
simpler of theto addressee,
dealinsofar
with as
than a set like that meter, of the aside from
Ubiclause Sunt structure,
poem. gives
It is not difficult, itfor prominence; and for avoiding
instance, tothe dis-
criminate between the longer "O man semantic redundancy of the first version,
vynkynde/hafe in mynde" (Index 2504) which, if it is felt, will be felt to be a
and the shorter poem beginning in the distraction in so short and direct a poem
same way (Index 2507). But when, as in as this one is. The conjunctive "And" in
this case, slightly different versions of the line 4 of the first text also weakens the
shorter-and better-poem survive, we poem by expressly giving only co-ordinate
cannot rest merely with the gross dis- relationship between the two assertions
crimination. I cite two texts: 15 which the form of the poem identifies;
simple juxtaposition, as in the second
O! Mankinde, O man unkynde, version, emphasizes the separation of the
Have in thy minde Have thou in mynde clauses, thereby enhancing the exclamatory
My Passion smert, My passioun smerte!
effect from which, presumably, the urgency
And thou shall finde Thou shalt me fynde
of the entire utterance-the potential
Me full kinde- To thee ful kynde:
power of the poem-may arise. The effect
Lo! here my hert. Lo, heer myn herte.
of expressing "thee" in line 5 and metrically
Rhyme words are identical except in suppressing
the "me" in line 4 operates to
advantage in the second version in ways
first lines, but only the third and sixth
lines are the same throughout. The similar to the composition of line 2.
qualitative differences are extensive. In the If only the first version of the preceding
first text Christ addresses mankind-a poem had survived, along with the other,
generic address that lacks the point oflonger
the poems making use of similar lines
other version that addresses the man and themes, a critical hesitancy to consider
more than the extant versions would
unkind to Him, the one who metaphorically
require
inflicts suffering on Christ through his generalized condemnation of the
"Othe
misdeeds, the one who is in need of mankind/have in mind" poems as
compassion of Christ offered laterliterary
in thecreations. In this instance, chance
has preserved a superior text.
poem. The second line in each version
To mention briefly but one instance in
contains redundancy: in the second version
which two full and "good" texts survive
the overt nominative pronoun is redundant
yet the flaws and excellences complement
to the imperative predicate, with "singular"
second person implied in the openingeach other, we may cite Jesus Appeals to
line;
Man by the Wounds (Index 4185). The
in the first version the possessive pronoun
first
is semantically redundant, since the stanzas read thus:
com-
mand to "have in mind" is not rendered Wip scharpe pornes pat weren ful kene
more specific by "have in thy mind." If
Myna heed was crowned, 3e moun wel sene
The blood ran doun al bi my cheke
15 Both texts are quoted from editions that normalize
spelling. The first is from R. T. Davies (ed.), Medieval English
Lyrics (London, 1963), p. 168; the second from my edition,
pou proude man, perfore be meke
One Hundred Middle English Lyrics (New York, 1964), p. 161. [Harley 2339]

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 THE CRITICISM OF MIDDLE ENGLISH LYRICS 113

With a garlande of thornes kene III

My hed was crowned pat was sene Finally, an area of literary criticism
The stremes of blode ran by my cheke
that remains a limbo of critical endeavor
pou proude man lorne to be meke
is worth surveying, though I cannot hope
[Cambridge University Library, Ff. it
to make 5.48]
very much less fearsome than it
The second version is superior, is. This is the area of stylistics. One of its
particularly
aspects
for its diction: to predicate of is "formulaic" expression, in
"scharpe
pornes" (in the opening line) phrase, in line, and in developmental
that they
"weren ful kene" is so weak that the forms. The last of these has been studied

degree of semantic redundancy of to some extent, in such types as the

"scharpe" and "kene" renders the entire penitential lyric. Neglect of the lyrics is
line nearly worthless-certainly far in-more prominent in the formulas of phrase
ferior to the other version; "The stremes and line. Though I shall not deal with
of blode," like the "garlande of thornes this aspect here, it may be observed that
kene," shows the efficiency of phrasing- the abundance of Middle English texts in
however conventional-of the second both prose and verse, while making the
version, absent in the first. Also,study
the of formulaic expressions necessarily
"perfore be meke" provides only cumbersome,
the makes it also potentially
highly rewarding. If it is essential to
obvious connection between the appeal
consider the techniques of manipulating
and the occasion, while "lorne to be meke"
artistically the familiar, connotationally
implies the obvious connection while
supplying a verb other than the merely rich but unoriginal phrases in Old English
existential one. On the other hand, the verse, so much the more is it essential to
stanza addressed to "Gula" in the Harley the study of Middle English. There are the
version is superior on the same grounds: cliches, often as rhyme tags, to sort out,
"In al my pirst vpon the rode," etc., but there are also the appeals for "thyne
beside "In alle my paynes I sufferd on ore," the mother-and-maiden phrases, and
rode" in the Cambridge University manu- lines such as "Now it is, and now it nis"
script. The final line of the stanza on that cannot be dismissed simply with the
"Accidia" is flawed in both versions, remark that they occur commonly.
though in quite different ways: "panke me The aspect of stylistics with which I
perfore, al was for pee" (Harley), beside deal is one of structures. It is not remark-
"Thynk on man, pis was for the" (Cam- able that the best of the (anonymous)
bridge University MS). The orderinglyrics of share a number of formal character-
istics: they are rhymed in simple stanzas,
stanzas is also different, as is the substance
the lines contain four or fewer stresses, and
of the concluding stanza, the Harley
version summing up with a prayer to the lines constitute syntactic units, that is,
Jesus by "pi woundis fyue," the Cambridge if not end-stopped (with modern punctu-
version with an appeal by Jesus that "Syn ation), they almost always end at the
termination of a noun phrase, modifying
pouOne
lefe
can, only
schrifte pou take,"
conclude, in viewetc.
of the construction, clause, or the like. The
qualitative complementation of the versions five-stress line gained currency only with
in comparable literary aspects, that there Chaucer and his successors and apparently
must have been a better version of this was used principally by self-conscious
poem and that we can imagine in specificwriters working outside the popular tradi-
ways what it would have been like. tions of English lyric poetry. Differences

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 114 ROBERT D. STEVICK

convention of stanzaic
between the potentialities organization
of four-stre
lineseven
and five-stress lines, with rhyme,
when in well
turn restricted
under
stood, are particularly
variability noticeable
of the line. Rhyme,when
comin
one reads extensively in the
the terminal early
position and on alyric
metric
and then turns to Chaucer or fifteenth- stressed syllable, tended to give promine
to the rhyme word, establishing a val
century lyrics such as "Farewell this world,
I take my leve for euer" (Index 769). Thefor the highest linguistic stress. In its t
five-stress line has what must for want of a normal coincidence of highest lingu
better term be called more "weight." More stress with rhyme terminating a set of
significantly, it has greater variability. relatively stressed syllables tended to p
The limited variability of the four-stress linguistic terminal juncture at the en
line in rhymed Middle English verse has each line; the line and major syntact
far-reaching consequences for the structur- constructions thus were generally co
ing of expression in poetry and warrants extensive-hence the frequency of (mode
careful description. It must be granted at end-stop punctuation and the tendenc
the outset that the typical line structure the verses to a sing-song rhythm.
could have been other than it was. The The pattern of line characteristics
described constitutes a structure of met-
stress accent of English, the morphotactics
of the language, the common syntactic rical, linguistic, and quantitative features
structures did not impose on verse inthe
conformity to which the linguistic
"message"
pattern it generally took: alliterative verse was normally expressed. It
structure fits the language as well isasinthelight of this structure that the
four-stress, essentially iambic line; poetic
intro- structuring of the message-that
duction of five-stress lines does not
is, the poetic utterance-can be best under-
stood.
coincide with any significant change Division of the line was nearly
in the
language; unrhymed (blank) verseimpossible. was no A major syntactic boundary
more compatible with the "genius" of after any but the second stress left only one
English in the sixteenth century than was stressed syllable together with two
rhymed pentameter, trimeter, etc. It must (or three) unstressed syllables with which
also be granted, though, that from the to make a second major syntactic unit;
beginnings of the English lyric into the insofar as this was undertaken, the
sixteenth century, the four-stress line in short construction usually came at the
rhymed stanzas was the norm. (Shorter end of a line and consisted of an ex-
lines, of course, were common within clamation or a qualifier such as "I wene"
stanzas whose pattern was set by four- -units usually amounting to merely rhyme
stress lines.) From whatever origin, tradi- tags and line fillers; otherwise the short
tion held one model dominant for construction could hardly exceed an
composition of lyric verse. initial exclamation or vocative expression.
The four-stress line in rhymedAverse major was
syntactic boundary after the
essentially iambic. Though the second stress left two successive two-stress
anonymous
versifiers seem to have felt no strong
segments to be given linguistic substance;
obligation to keep strict alternation in English ofthere are not many syntactic
heavier and lighter stress on successive patterns that will coincide with that verse
syllables, the line had only a narrow structure-even
range fewer in Middle English
in the number of syllables-roughly than inseven
Modern English, since many more
to ten. This limitation, together inflections
with the in the former were syllabic.

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 THE CRITICISM OF MIDDLE ENGLISH LYRICS 115

Successive two-stress constructions, fur- whether secular or religious in subject,

thermore, tend to be subsumed under a depends on juxtaposition of metrical-
larger four-stress construction with dif- expression units with implicit structuring.
ferentiation of the heavier stresses in the The implicit structuring may be of
half-lines and loss of terminal juncture several kinds. One of the briefest, highly
between the two halves of the line. That successful poems illustrating this type of
this is the case with successive prepositional
structuring is the early Sunset on Calvary
phrases, with members of a series, with
(Index 2320):
co-ordinate and appositional constructions,
Nou goth sonne vnder wod,-
can be seen readily in the poems. Only with
me reweth, marie, pi faire Rode.
five-stress lines does the division of a line
Nou gop sonne vnder tre,-
produce the flexibility to support syntactic
me rewep, marie, pi sone and pe.
complexity and variation in length of
The poem is particularly instructive in the
constructions which are not overridden by
coincidence of major stress, rhyme, and effective structuring of a sequence of lines,
following terminal juncture. In short, theeach of which is a fully independent
verse norm of traditional Middle Englishsyntactic unit. In neither couplet is one
lyrics was conducive to assertions and line subordinated explicitly to the other,
questions confined to small multiples ofnor are the lines explicitly co-ordinated.
major syntactic unit lines organized by Syntactically, the poem consists of four
rhyme. one-line sentences. The parallelism of the
The poetic structuring, then, will be couplets provides stylistic linking, with
most effectively achieved within these further connection provided by the paired
restrictions that are traditionally "given." temporal adverbs "Nou... Nou..."
The small, fixed, and relatively uniform Within each couplet the statements are
units of expression, furthermore, will connected only by the rhyme and metrical
necessarily occur in a linear arrangement patterning that tend to establish phono-
of simple sequence. A "poetic" structure, logical linking of the two statements. It is
in being single, must unify these "blocks" just this implicit structuring of the
of overt-expression patterns. Such obvious expression, keeping in this instance the
devices of organization as enumeration maximum correlation between line and

(e.g., of the "five joys"), interview (e.g., unit of complete utterance, that elicits the
"I asked X what she meant"), or catalog psychological, temporal, doctrinal, and
(e.g., "She has x, y, and z") achieve unity other connections the reader can supply
only of an external kind: the relation and sets the mode within which those

between one unit of development and the connections are to be made. (These
next need only be conventional and not a connections have been explicated else-
consequence of the form of expression at where.16) The poetically striking effect of
given points in the poem. Formulaic the poem derives from the same factors
development such as that of penitential as those present in metaphor, and the
prayers may develop an internal structure effect is to be accounted for initially
while conforming to the inherited religiouswithin the form of the verbal expression.
formulas; it so happens that most poems Other of the best poems display the
of this type do not. The one type of same characteristics, whatever their theme.
structuring of expression which is sharedThe Corpus Christi Carol is much like
by poems that have been regarded as best, 16 Especially Manning, in Wisdom and Number, pp. 80-83.

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 116 ROBERT D. STEVICK
reason
Sunset on Calvary in to consider the
implicit metrical form
structuring,
with addition of lexical Carol, forrepetition
instance, or that of "I haue a
linking
stanzas ("orchard... orchard, hall... gentil cock crowyt me day" (Index 1299),
hall," etc.), and increasing selectivity inwhich immediately follows "I syng of a
the beholding of a tableau. "Mirie it is myden .. ." in the Sloane manuscript."8
while sumer ilast" (Index 2163), in a quite The poem, like the others mentioned,
different arrangement of lines by length consists of a series of line-based assertions
and rhyme pattern, and "Western Wind," juxtaposed without the machinery of
again a four-line poem, manifest the same hypotaxis: the couplets, in order, consist of
simple juxtaposition of statements withtwo assertions, then one, then one, then
implicit structuring in which the reader or one, then two, only the final line being
audifor supplies the connections elicited rhetorically an exclamation; there are no
and controlled by the form of the ex- "when... then," "therefore," enumera-
pression. "Good" poems, such as "Als i tive, "and," "if... (then)," or other
me rode this endre day/o mi pleyinge"explicit connections between the assertions.
(Nou sprinkes the sprai; Index 360), often Nor is there a stanza explaining how, or
are distinguished from the uninteresting why, or for what purpose the poem is
ones on similar topics by the same composed. It is on the characteristics
characteristics. The commentary on Louerd, of line and implicit organization that
Thou Clepedest Me and O Man vnkynde, the simplicity of the poem is built. At the
given earlier, also will demonstrate this levels of organization above that of the
point. line, simplicity of structure is also main-
The prime example, from this approach tained. No assertion is less than one line,
as well as others, is "I syng of a myden pat none exceeds the length of two lines, and
is makeles" (Index 1367). Evaluations of the three that fill couplets are developed
this poem have done little more than as simple comparison. The parallelism of
merely assert its "freshness and simplicity," the middle couplets provides a stylistic
which require as careful explication in linking like that of the simpler Sunset on
accounting for its quality as do the Calvary; the balance of formal structures
"complexity and tradition," which have of the first and final couplets, contrasting
been given in abundant detail.17 What is with the three central paralleled couplets,
commonly called the economy, directness, completes the formal unity of the verse
simplicity, or freshness of the poem is, I structure. A diagram, constructed to show
believe, explicable in terms of the structur- the pattern of overt expression, makes the
ing of the expression. That structuring is simplicity obvious, if the metrical stresses
clearer if the poem is read as couplets, not
are marked ('), together with junctures (11)
as four-line stanzas: the text is written as
after the first and ninth lines, (1) after the
couplets in the Sloane manuscript, and, third, fifth, and seventh lines, and (#) after
because the rhymes will not produce an the even-numbered lines. The addition of
abab pattern when the poem is written as
four-line stanzas, there seems to be no which
18 "I have a gentil cock .. ." is one of those clever poems in
the joke is on the reader: an "obscene" meaning
different from that of the Corpus Christi unmistakably develops beside an innocent one, but is denied
before the catalogue of characteristics is completed, yet un-
mistakably indicated again in the conclusion. Its cleverness,
like the excellence of "I syng of a myden ...," derives from
17 Manning, in "I Syng of a Myden," provides extensive the structuring of expression such that it is the reader who
must supply the connections among the successive statements
explication. I have drawn the terms of this sentence from his
hence the multiple meanings. In this poem the reader is
conclusion: "But if this lyric is characterized by complexity
and tradition, it is characterized also by freshness and induced to reach a conclusion (interpretation) which is then
simplicity. Herein lies its greatness" (p. 12). both denied and allowed.

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 THE CRITICISM OF MIDDLE ENGLISH LYRICS 117

symbols for rhyme (R) will mark Reasonsthe

for neglect of Middle English
phonological couplings that lyrics define thefar to seek. The language is
are not
boundaries of assertions or pairs of difficult-impressionistically described in
assertions. many handbooks and histories as
To appreciate the necessity of accounting "chaotic"; the tradition of medieval lyrics
for the "simplicity" and "freshness" of has not developed continuously into the
the poem for a complete critical statement modern period of English poetry; ap-
of its quality, one need only recall other preciations and pronouncements have
poems on the same theme that fall short become established as the type of articu-
of its quality; or recall that this poem has lated responses to the poems; and so on.
several cliches (formulaic expressions) that But the most important single reason, I
remain inert in other contexts; or recall suggest, is uncertainty about how to deal
differing versions of a poem among which directly with the poems in performing the
the linguistic explicitness of connections critic's work: how to talk about the poems
between statements (see "O! Mankinde," instead of the (anonymous) poets, how to
discussed above) short-circuits whatever treat the texts as texts rather than as relics
complexity might have been elicited, merely to be preserved and venerated,
leaving to the reader only a passive role. how to analyze the structuring of ex-
The richness of associations and the pression (the poems are linguistic
complexity in which they stand in this of a special kind) more deeply
utterances
poem, as well as the poetically active than for tropes, rhyme schemes, and
nature of the otherwise trite phrases, aremetrical feet. The neglect, its causes, and
possible only when the characteristics ofsome means to act are what I have tried to
the typical line of the lyric tradition areshow.
most fully acknowledged and exploited. UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON

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