of art not inferior to that which the fair Abigail had shown on a former occasion; yet in the end she succeeded, and the two were reunited. The romance ends, as it begins, with a most orthodox prayer:·

"But Jhesus Christ, for his grete grace,

In hevyn blis grante us a place,

To hide in, if his wills be,

Amen, amen pur charite!

Though the imagery of this romance is in substance Gothic, it is easy to perceive some glimmerings of an oriental character. Such, undoubtedly, are the scene at the well, and the ring which rendered the wearer invisible. The invention displayed in the parts we have selected-and they are fully equalled by those which we have passed over-will assuredly bear comparison with that of our most celebrated modern works of fiction. We could select other romances, which modern fiction would in vain attempt to equal. In the preceding extracts, however, there is very little of what we may term poetical imagery; in fact, our ancestors looked rather to the substance than to the manner, rather to the narration than to the words. But let it not be supposed that all romances are thus scantily furnished with such imagery. In several, we have passages which show what the authors might have done had they been so inclined. Thus, in Merlin: :

"A merry time it is in May,

When springeth the summer's day,
And damisels carols leadeth,

On green wood fouls gradeth.

Mirie it is in time of June,

When fenil hangeth abroad in tune:
Violet and rose flower

Woneth then in maiden's bower,

The sonne is hot, the day is long,
Foulis maketh miri song.

*Ywayne and Gawin, from v. 1850. to the end.

In

In judging of the poetical talent of our ancestors, we are too apt to be repulsed by their (to us) uncouth language. We should, however, remember that language is but the medium of imagination; that conceptions should be estimated without regard to the garb in which they appear. It is surely no disparagement to the ancient poets, that human speech is not immutable. their day, they employed the conventional forms of words then in use; and as their language was the most cultivated of the period, justice to them requires that, before they are condemned, their compositions should be translated into the corresponding idiom of the present day. In four centuries from the present time, will a Byron, a Scott, or a Southey, be more intelligible than the great masters of romance four centuries ago?*

If from the romantic, we turn to the amatory, de

* Romance of Merlin, part i. and ii. various cantos,

scriptive, and satirical poetry of the period, we shall find much deserving of our attention. Take, for instance, the following stanzas on spring, which are probably as old as the earlier part of the thirteenth century:

"Lenten ys come with love to toune,
With blosmen ant with briddes roune
That al this blisse bringeth:

Dayes ezes in this dales

Notes suete of nyghtegales;

Uch foul song singeth.

"The threstlecoe him threteth oo,

Away es huere wynter wo,

When woderove springeth:

This foules singeth ferly fele

Ant whyteth on huere wynter wele
That al the wode ryngeth.

"The rose rayleth hir rode,*
The leves on the lyghte wode
Waxen all with wille:

The mone mandeth hire bleo
The lilie is lossum to seo
The fenyl and the fille.

"Woroes this wild drake,

Miles murgeth huere makes

As streme that striketh stille

Modry meneth so doh mo

Ichott ycham on of tho

For love that likes ille.

"The mone mandeth hire lyght

(So doth the semly sonne bryght)
When briddes singeth breme,

Deawes donketh the dounes

Deores with huere derne rounes
Domes forte deme.

"Wormes woweth under cloude,

Wymmen waxith wondir proude,

So wel hyt wal hem seme:
Yef me shall wonte wille of on
This wunne weole y wole forgon

Ant whyt in wode be fleme."*

Turn this excellent song into the corresponding language of the day, and we know not the living poet who might be ashamed to own it. A still more remarkable poem is the following, - remarkable alike for its language and its satire-which is evidently aimed at double monasteries. It is of the thirteenth century; and is probably an imitation of some popular French piece. "Far in sea, by West Spain,

Is a land ihote Cokaygne1,

There n' is land under heaven-rich 2
Of wel of goodness it y-like;
Though Paradise be merry and bright,
Cokaygne is of fairer sight.

What is there in Paradise

But grass and flower and green rise ?4
Though there be joy and great dute 5
There n' is meat but fruit.

There n' is hall, bure no bench 6,
But water man is thirst to quench.
Beth there no men but two 7
Holy and Enoch also.

Clinglich may his go

Where there wonith men no mo. 9
In Cokaygne is meat and drink,
Without care, how and swink. 10

The meat is trie 11, the drink so clear,
To noon, russin 12, and suppere.
I sigge, (for sooth boot were 13
There n is land on earth is peer.
Under heaven n' is land I wiss 14
Of so mochil 15 joy and bliss.

* Warton's History of English Poetry, vol. i. p. 31. Warton is the worst critic, except Turner, we ever followed. He has no taste either for language or poetry. But Oxford was satisfied.

"There is many swete sight:
All is day, an' is there no night :
There n' is baret 1 nother strife,
N' is there no death, en 2 ever life.
There n' is lack of meat no cloth;
There n' is man no woman wroth;
There n' serpent, wolf, no fox:
Horse no capil 3, cow no ox:
There n' is sheep, no swine, no goat
No none horwyta 4, God it wot,
Nother harate 5, nother stud,
The land is full of other good.

"N' is there fly, flea, no louse,
In cloth, in town, bed, no house.
These n' is dunnir 6, sleet, no hail;
No none vile worm, no snail;
No none storm, rain, no wind
There n' is man no woman blind:
Ok 7 all is game, joy, and glee.
Well is him that there may be !

"There both rivers, great and fine,
Of oil, milk, honey, and wine.
Water serveth there to no thing
But to siyt 8 and to washing.
There is manner fruit:
All is solace and dedute.9

"There is a well-fair abbey

Of white monks, and of grey;
There both powers, and halls;
All of pasties both the walls,
Of flesh, of fish, and a rich meat,
The likefullest thot men may eat.
Flourer cakes both the shingles 10 all
Of church, cloister, bowers, and hall.
The pinnes beth fat puddings 11,
Man may these of eat enoy,

All with riyt, and nought with woy 12,
All is common to young and old,

To stout and stern, meek and bold.