CHAPTER II

THE METRICAL ROMANCE

Characteristics of the Metrical Romance. The metrical romance is a long, rambling love story in verse. It is the type of literature most characteristic of the Middle Ages, "when knighthood was in flower," and hence it is filled with the ideals of that time. Chivalry, romantic love, and religion predominate. Wonderful and impossible adventures are set forth. Everywhere is there much more of fancy than reality. The characters are always high born. In the older romances, in that magic "Once upon a time," the mailed knight sallies forth to do mighty deeds. He has taken upon himself the sacred vows of knighthood-to right wrongs, "uphold the Christ," do courteous, brave deeds, and, so far as lies in his power, to further the cause of truth, honor, and freedom. He is also anxious to increase his fame as a knight, and to win the favor of the beautiful lady of his choice. The love element is especially strong in the romance. Many of the adventures related are undertaken in the interests of some beautiful distressed maiden, and the happy marriage of the knight and lady is usually the culmination of the story. The metrical romance pictures beautiful scenes, personages, or events. There is much of color and pageantry. There are spectacular and gorgeous court scenes, tourneys, and gay processions of knights and ladies who, dressed in suits of forest green, go a-maying or follow the hunt. The hideous element is also to be found in the form of some wicked magician or ugly monster that must be overcome by knightly valor. The theme of the metrical romance is not so noble and stately as that of the great epic. Although the supernatural element is prominent in all the older metrical romances, it disappears in the more modern ones. The latter are true to the type, nevertheless, since they are long, rambling love stories in verse, in which the imagination is given such play that we feel the events depicted are removed from the life we see about us. An effort is usually made to give these events the appearance of truth, but their improbability is none the less apparent.

The Earlier Romances in England.-About the time of the Norman Conquest of England, the metrical romance was the most popular form of literature on the continent of Europe. Consequently, the Normans carried this type with them to England. The chief romances of the time were grouped into five great collections or circles of stories, centering around (1) King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, (2) Charlemagne and his Paladins, (3) Robin Hood and his Merrymen, (4) Alexander the Great, and (5) the old heroes of the Trojan war. Of these groups the first has the greatest interest for us since the Arthur stories have been told and retold by so many of our later writers.

One of the most interesting of the earlier metrical romances is "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight," which dates from about the middle of the fourteenth century. Students who have read Tennyson's "Idylls of the King" will be interested in the story of this old romance since it tells the adventures of a knight of the Round Table. The story is briefly told in prose in Moody and Lovett's A History of English Literature, pp. 26-28; Long's English Literature, pp. 57-58; The Cambridge History of English Literature, Vol. I, pp. 364-365; Ten Brink's English Literature, Vol. I, pp. 337-347.

After taking up the story as outlined in one of the above references, read the following passages from "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight as put into modern verse by Miss Jessie L. Weston:

DESCRIPTION OF THE GREEN KNIGHT

All green bedight that knight, and green his garments fair;
A narrow coat that clung straight to his side he ware,
A mantle plain above, lined on the inner side
With costly fur and fair, set on good cloth and wide,
So sleek, and bright in hue therewith his hood was gay
Which from his head was doffed, and on his shoulders lay.
Full tightly drawn his hose, all of the self-same green,
Well clasped about his calf-there-under spurs full keen
Of gold on silken lace, all striped in fashion bright,
That dangled beneath his legs-so rode that gallant knight.
His vesture, verily, was green as grass doth grow,
The barring of his belt, the blithe stones set a-row,
That decked in richest wise his raiment fine and fair,
Himself, his saddle-bow, in silken broideries rare,

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1 Used by special arrangement with the publishers, Houghton Mifflin ComFrom Miss Weston's Chief Middle English Pocts.

pany.

"Twere hard to tell the half, so cunning was the wise

In which 'twas broidered all with birds, and eke with flies!
Decked was the horse's neck, and decked the crupper bold,
With gauds so gay of green, the center set with gold.
And every harness boss was all enamelled green,

The stirrups where he stood were of the self-same sheen,
The saddle-bow behind, the girths so long and fair,

They gleamed and glittered all with green stones rich and rare.
The very steed beneath the self-same semblance ware.

A green horse great and tall;

A steed full stiff to guide,

In broidered bridle all

He worthily bestrides.

THE CHALLENGE

he rides

"Nay, here I crave no fight, in sooth I say to thee
The knights about thy board but beardless bairns they be:
An I were fitly armed, upon this steed so tall,

For lack of strength no man might match me in this hall!
Therefore within thy court I crave a Christmas jest.
'Tis Yuletide, and New Year, and here be many a guest.
If any in this hall himself so hardy hold,

So valiant of his hand, of blood and brain so bold,

That stroke for counter-stroke with me exchange he dare,
I give him of free gift this gisarm rich and fair,
This axe of goodly weight, to wield as he see fit,
And I will bide a blow, as bare as here I sit.
If one will list my words, and be of valiant mood,

Then let him swiftly come, and take this weapon good,-
Here I renounce my claim, the axe shall be his own.
And I will stand his stroke, here, on this floor of stone,
And I in turn a blow may deal, that boon alone

The Green Knight on the ground made ready speedily.
He bent his head a-down, that so his neck was free,
His long and lovely locks, across the crown they fell,
His bare neck to the nape all men might see right well.

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Gawain, he gripped the axe, and swung it up on high,
The left foot on the ground he setteth steadily;
Upon the neck so bare he let the blade alight,

The sharp edge of the axe the bones asunder smite-
Sheer thro' the flesh it smote, the neck was cleft in two,
The brown steel on the ground it hit, so strong the blow,
The fair head from the neck fell even to the ground,
Spurned by the horse's hoof, e'en as it rolled around,
The red blood spurted forth, and stained the green so bright,
But ne'er for that he failed, nor fell, that stranger knight,
Swiftly he started up, on stiff and steady limb,

And stretching forth his hand, as all men gaped at him,
Grasped at his goodly head, and lift it up again,
Then turned him to his steed, and caught the bridle rein,
Set foot in stirrup-iron, bestrode the saddle fair,

The while he gripped his head e'en by the flowing hair.
He set himself as firm in saddle, so I ween,

As naught had ailed him there, though headless he was seen

He turned his steed about,
That corpse, that bled withal.

Full many there had doubt

Of how the pledge might fall!

THE DEPARTURE OF THE GREEN KNIGHT

The head, within his hand he held it up a space;
Toward the royal dais, forsooth, he turned the face,

In hall;

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The eyelids straight were raised, and looked with glance so clear,
Aloud it spake, the mouth, e'en as ye now may hear:
"Look, Gawain, thou be swift to speed as thou hast said,
And seek, in all good faith, until thy search be sped,

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E'en as thou here didst swear, in hearing of these knights—
To the Green Chapel come, I charge thee now aright.
The blow thou hast deserved, such as was dealt to-day,
E'en on the New Year's morn I pledge me to repay.
Full many know my name, 'Knight of the Chapel Green,
To find me, should'st thou seek, thou wilt not fail, I ween,
Therefore thou need'st must come, or be for recreant found."
With fierce pull at the rein he turned his steed around,
His head within his hand, forth from the hall he rode,
Beneath his horse's hoofs the sparks they flew abroad,
No man in all the hall wist where he took his way,
Nor whence that knight had come durst any of them say,
When then?

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The King and Gawain there
They gazed, and laughed again.
Proven it was full fair

A marvel unto men!

SUGGESTIONS TO STUDENTS

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1. Make a comparison between Sir Gawain, the hero of this metrical romance, who does valorous deeds with a desire for knightly fame, and the hero of the great epic, "Beowulf," who, prompted by the great desire to save a people, undertakes his perilous enterprises. 2. There are other interesting points of comparison which will bring out the differences between the great epic and the metrical romance. For instance, which poem shows a greater love for beauty and the refinements of life? Which one shows the more imagination? Which one represents the deeper human emotions? The nobler ideals? Which one deals with life on the larger scale? In which one is the moral of the story most evident? What is this moral? Is there a moral to be found in the other? If so, what is it? Which poem shows the love element to the greater degree? Which one has the grander theme? How many people are vitally interested in the deeds of Sir Gawain? In those of Beowulf? Which shows the greater love for color and pageantry? Notice the methods of warfare used in each poem. How did Beowulf's adversary compare with that of Sir Gawain?

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The Faerie Queene.--The greatest English metrical romance, as well as poetic allegory, is Spenser's 1 "Faerie Queene," which was written in the time of Queen Elizabeth and dedicated to her. According to the original plan, the author intended to write twentyfour books: the first twelve to portray the twelve moral virtues shown in Prince Arthur; and the other twelve books to set forth the twelve political virtues which Arthur possessed after he became king. Of this plan only six books were completed, and yet, abbreviated as the poem is, it is the longest one in our language. Each book of the "Faerie Queene" is complete in itself, since, for the most part, it tells the story of a set of characters not found in the other books. These books are bound into an organic whole, however, by the fact that the hero of each sets out on his mission from the same court, that of Gloriana, the Faerie Queene; and, furthermore, each knight is rescued from his worst peril by Prince Arthur, who, on his way to find his foreordained bride, the Faerie Queene, rides up at the most critical moment when the knight is unable to 1 Edmund Spenser, 1552-1599.