The French influence

1. The Frenchinfluence p. 23 Millennium 1

2. STUDY QUESTIONS • What changes did the Norman conquest bring about in English language and literature? • The Normans brought a refined civilization and the French language , which became the language of the upper classes, while Latin remained the language of the Church, of culture, government and law. The previous literary forms in Old English, especially the epic, gradually died out. • When did a new literature in English appear? • At the end of the 12th century a new literature in English began to reappear in new forms and genres. It was written in Middle English and it clearly showed the influence of French and Italian literary traditions

3. DO IT YOURSELF The lyric Alliteration and assonancehave beenhighlightedforyou in the first stanza of the poem. Now do the samefor the second and thirdstanzas; • Definition: a short poem that expresses the poet’s thought and feelings. A Middle English Lyric Sumer is IcumenIn Summer has just come in, Sing aloud cuckoo! The seed grows, the mead blows, The wood blossoms now. Sing cuckoo! For her calf lows the cow, For her lambbleats the ewe, The bullock starts, the buck browses. Merrily sing, cuckoo! Cuckoo, cuckoo, O sing you well, cuckoo; Nor let your song be through! Sing cuckoo, now, sing cuckoo! Sing cuckoo, sing cuckoo, now! Usingwords and phrasesfromthissectiongive a definitionof: alliteration, assonance and stanza, • Alliteration: the repetitionofconsonantsoundsespecially at the beginningofseveralwords or syllablesthat are closetogether. Assonance: the repetitionofvowelsounds in severalwords or partsof a word. Stanza: anygroupoflines, or recurrentunit

4. The ballad Íbeat rhyme RHYME SCHEME:a b c b _____________________________ _____________________________ ____________________________ quatrain _____________________________ A B C B • Sir Patrick Spens The Kíngsíts in Dumférline tόwn Drinking the blood red wine: “O where will I get a good sailor To sail this ship of mine? Up and spoke an ancient knight, Sat at the king’s right knee: “Sir Patrick Spens is the best sailor That sails upon the sea” The king has written a broad letter And signed it with his hand, And sent it to Sir Patrick Spens, Was walking on the sand. D E C E F G H G DO IT YOURSELF Highlight the rhymingwords in the second , and thirdstanzas. • 2. Giveotherwordsthatrhymewiththoseof the ballad: forexample, town/down wine/dine; sailor/taylor; mine/shrine; knight/sight; knee/ tree; letter/better. • 3. Nowchooseanythreewords (preferablyone-syllablewords) and give at leasttworhymestoeachofthem. pull /bull /full; grow/ low/ row; feet/ meat/eat. • 4. Complete the rhymeschemeof the quatrains

5. Medieval romance p. 30 Millennium 1

6. STUDY QUESTIONS • What were the subjects of the medieval romance? • The subjects of medieval romance were the adventures of knights and their extraordinary deeds. • What did the deeds of the knights include? • They included much fighting, romantic love, fantastic journeys in exotic places and supernatural events. • What was the medieval romance a portrayal of? • It was a portrayal of both the exterior and ethical aspects of feudal knighthood. As far as the exterior aspects are concerned, clothing, hunting, feasting and tournaments weredescribed; ethically, the knight was totally bound to his God, his king and his lady. It was for them that the knight faced dangers, supernatural events defending the weak against evil forces. • What did the “matters” which make up the corpus of medieval romance include? • They can be divided into three groups: the matter of France dealing with the stories of Charlemagne, Roland and Roncevalles; the matter of Britain (i.e. Brittany in the north of France) dealing with the stories of the Arthurian legend, and the matter of Rome which includes the story of Troy, the story of Thebes and the stories of Alexander the Great . • Who were King Arthur’s best knights? • The best knights of the Round Table were Lancelot, Gawain, Tristan and Perceval.