Alliterative Poems of Middle English Period: Pearl, Purity,

Patience and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

After the Norman Conquest the French Influence rendered great impact on literature and rhymed verse
gained ascendancy. It is after the victories of King Edward III in France a national self consciousness as
well as a new enthusiasm for the English tongue becomes prominent. In schools and colleges and law
courts English started to displace the French. In 1362 parliament was opened in English language. As the
result of all these old English verse form revives again in the Middle English period. Roughly between the
year 1350 and 1400 there appears a number of poem which bring an unbroken development of old
English all iterative verse. In colossians manuscript we get four remarkable poems written in west
midland dialect. They are Pearl, Purity, Patience and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. It is
supposed that these poems are written by the same poet.

Pearl:-It is a poem of 1200 lines. The total poem is divided into 110 stanzas of 12 lines each. It is a kind of
dream poem. The poet has lost his two years old daughter. One august day the poet falls asleep on the
grave and in dream he meets with his dead daughter dressed in white with ornaments of pearl. The poet
wants to cross the river in order to unite with her but she says that after the fall of Adam the river only
can be crossed after death. His daughter consoles him and asks her to surrender the God. His dream
breaks and the poet rises having new spiritual realization. The poem is takes both as an allegory and as
an elegy. In symbolize the Christian faith and Eucharist as well as a typical elegy the poem treats the
personal loss of the poet and his lamentation. A. C. Rickett In its external love lines and ever more in
its deeper spiritual beauty and themes sufficient reason for most patient and devoted study of The vita
Nova of our layuage.

Patience :-It is a poem of 531 lines. Basically it is a poetical paraphrase of the book of Jonah, and the
gourd in the Bible exalting of patience.

Purity :-It is a collection of Bible stories in which the poet shows the impossibility to approach God
without purity. It shows how greatly God is displeased at every kind of impurity and how sudden and
severe is the punishment meted out for offence against the divine Laws.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight:-It comes from colossians manuscript- poems written in west midland
dialect. It supposed that these poems are written by the same poet. It is a poem of 2530 lines. The poem
basically belongs to Arthurian romance. The stories of the poem open with the appearance if a green
knight riding a green horse to King Arthurs court at Camelot. He challenges the knight to strike of his
head with the blow of his great are on condition to receive the similar blow after a year from him after
finding him out. When hesitation is going on Sir Gawain accepts the challenge and strikes of his head of
the Green Knight leaves the court picking up his severed head. After a year according to the promise
Gawain sets out in search of the Green Knight and a after a long wandering through wilderness he
reaches a castle and he learns that his good is near hand. Each morning the lord of the castle goes off to
hunt white the beautiful wife of the lord tries to tempt him but Gawain remains pure resisting all
temptation. Finally he receives from her a green girdle. The lord of the castle proves to be the Green
Knight and the blow from him only slightly cuts him skin. In shame Gawain throws the Green girdle but
green knight presents it as a free gift and Gawain returns to Arthurs court and tell the Knights the whole
story. The poem to remarkable for several reasons

(I)
The Romance shows close acquaintance with the courtly life the epic and combined with a
lyrical clement.

(II)
It is remarkable also for the deep and tender love of nature displayed thought out the poem
and some of its most delightful passages describe the charms of wild scenery

(III)

It displays an intimate knowledge of medieval craftsmanship and art.

(IV)
It shows literary power in its treatment of the story of the story of the story avoiding monotony
and repetition with great skill.

A Brief Survey of Middle English Metrical or Alliterative

Romance
Simply speaking, romances are fantasies in which the authors make the fullest use of their imagination
and fancy and create an ideal world, which bears little or no semblance with real life. In the middle of
the fourteenth century a revival of the old English alliterative verse occurs through romances, which
develops side by side with religions literature. This literature is inspired by French romantic poems and
centers around Chivalry. There is an absence of originality but the fervour of nationalism is present in
the literature of this period. Heroes and subjects connected with Britain are given reference in the
romantic cycles of chivalry. British stories are valued most and the native poets get material for their
original works.

Thus a series of romances appear with the Old English epic versification and French romance invested
with dignity and stately splendor. In the Middle English period literature of the 14th and 15th centuries
is much more diversified than the previous Old English literature and a very great number of romances
can be classified according to subject, through it should be noted that they are both alliterative and
rhyming in metre. A variety of French and even Italian elements influenced Middle English literature,
especially in southern England. In addition, different regional styles were maintained, in literature and
learning had not yet been centralized. For these reasons, as well as because of the vigorous and uneven
growth of national life, the Middle English period contains a wealth of literary monuments not easily
classified. However, the romances of that period are grouped in three categories. The romances which
deal with English history are known as The matter of England; romances dealing with king Arthur is
called The Matter of Britain; romances dealing with classical theme is called The matter of Rome the
Great; with the French legends is called The Matter of France. The Middle English literature of the 14th
and 15th centuries is much more diversified than the previous Old English literature.

Among the English historical romances king Horn, Havelock The Dane, Guy of Warwick and Bevis of
Hampton are the best. In Bevis of Hampton has lively characterization of Josiane the heroine and
Ascapart the giant, but the theme is well-worn of a faithless wife, a murdered husband and father, a
disinherited son, and an intruding tyrant. There is some interest in Beviss vengeance on his fathers
murderer and his own wrongdoex, appropriately named Sir Murdour; and his horse Arundel and sword
Morglay rank well among those favourite properties of Romance.

In the matter of Britain the Arthurian cycle covers a lot of romances. Tristrem, Arthur and Merlin
Ywain and Gawain, Morte d Arthure are notable. The best of this group of Sir Gawayne and The Grene
Knyght is a secular work based on all the earlier Arthurain romances specially perceval of Chrestien de
Troyes. This is one of the four alliterative poems contained in a single manuscript MSS the other
poems being Pearl, Purity, and patience. The author of these poems M.S.S. is unknown but surely he
would have known courtly society, been familiar with castles, banquetings and hunts and
tournaments. Sir Gawayne and Grene knight (late 1300s), has the central character Sir Gawayne who
holds the place of honour, for attractiveness of personality. He is the best beloved comrade of Arthur.
He is the mirror of knighthood, truest of speech and fairest of farm, very perfect and gentle. In the story
we find that the giant like Green knight enters into the great Hall of Camelot on a giant horse, when king
Arthur is celebrating Christmas among the knights of the Round Tables. His aim is to challenge Arthurs
knight. He is ready to allow his head struck off if the same thing is agreed to by any knight within a year
and a day. Gawain takes the axe and cuts the head of the knight. The giant collects his head coolly and
asking Gawain to keep his word turns back. After a year Gawain leaves in search of the green knight. On
Christmas ever he reaches a castle and is well received there. After a maze course a Green Knight is
found, but by the magic of green silk Gawain resists his own death. Later he returns to the court with
triumph. Thus the tale is told of the knight's resistance to the blandishments of another man's beautiful
wife.

The shorter alliterative vision poem, The Pearl, written in northwest England in about 1370, is a
discussion between the poet and the pearl. It is doctrinal, but its tone is ecstatic, and it is far more
deliberately artistic. Here is sincerity, passion, love and beauty. Here the pearl is of hope, beauty and
Christianity. Apparently an elegy for the death of a small girl (although widely varying religious
allegorical interpretations have been suggested for it), the poem describes the exalted state of childlike
innocence in heaven and the need for all souls to become as children to enter the pearly gates of the
New Jerusalem. The work ends with an impressive vision of heaven, from which the dreamer
awakes. The other two poems Patience and Purity are didactic and of lesser importance than the Pearl.

Apart from above poems Coilzear and Sir Ferumbras are the French romances grouped under The
Matter of France. Again, William of Palerne and Floris and Blauchefleur have two interesting subjects
of missing heir and of the love of a kings son for a captive maid. Amisand Amiloun is the superior for
pathos and beauty. In the Roman stories, king Alisaunder and The Destruction of Troy are long
alliterating with popular classical theme.

The Middle English romances are in most cases meant to supply amusement and entertainment to
the listeners. They perform the part of picture palaces in the Middle English England. Yet with the

popularity of alliterative verse a more serious view is given to the romance. They bear historical value,
charm of nature and wild scenery, high ethical ideal and a great literary craftsmanship.

Important Events in Chaucers Age : Hundred Years war, Black

Death, Peasants Revolt, Collards Movement, and Revolutionized
Language
The period from 1340-1400 is called the age of Chaucer. It was an age of transition. This transition
implies a shift from medieval to the modern times. The most important events, of the time are: Hundred
Years war, Black Death, Peasants Revolt, collards Movement, and Revolutionized Language.

Hundred Years war: The period between 1338 and 1453 is marked by Hundred Years War, a long
succession of skirmishes and armed conflict between France and England. The War was a series of short
conflicts, broken intermittently by a number of truces and peace treaties. It resulted from disputes
between the ruling families of the two countries, the French Capetians and the English Plantagenets,
over territories in France and the succession to the French throne. These battles were largely won by
English Yeomen. These wars generated the feeling of patriotism and nationalism.

Black Death: In the middle ages, people did not bother much about sanitation and cleanliness, so leprosy
and other diseases which breed in dirt were very common. England was often visited by epidemics;
especially plague . Black Death, outbreak of bubonic plague that struck Europe and the Mediterranean
area during later half of the 14th century.The severest attack of this dreadful epidemic came in 1377. It
was called the Black Death. The epidemic swept away of the total population of the England at that time
and left the country totally disorganized price, rose and the value of money declined.
Peasants Revolt: The suffering peasants of England became very restless and discontented. They revolts
in 1381 because , the poll taxes imposed in 1377, 1379 and 1380 were oppressive , Watt Taylor, Jack
Straw and John Bull led the peasants revolt .The mob stormed Landon, but Richard II handled the
situation very cunningly and got the leaders arrested and then beheaded.

Collards Movement: The medieval cleric was in Latin; very few people could understand what the priest
was saying. Moreover, the clergyman had become corrupt undisciplined. John Wycliffe (1320-1384) was,
the first Englishman to challenge the Catholic Church. He started what is called the collards movement
.He translated the bible from Latin in to native tongue and sent his poor priest to all parts, of the country

for spreading his message of simplicity causticity & purity .His movement was the beginning of
reformation.
Revolutionized Language: Latin and French were the dominant languages in the 14th century in England.
However, in lateral half of 14th century English came to its own because of the great works done by
Chaucer, Langland and Wycliffe, who wrote in English. Extending from 1066 to 1485, this period is noted
for the extensive influence of French literature on native English forms and themes. From the NormanFrench conquest of England in 1066 until the 14th century, French largely replaced English in ordinary
literary composition, and Latin maintained its role as the language of learned works. By the 14th
century, when English again became the chosen language of the ruling classes, it had lost much of the
Old English inflectional system, had undergone certain sound changes, and had acquired the
characteristic it still possesses of freely taking into the native stock numbers of foreign words, in this
case French and Latin ones. Thus, the various dialects of Middle English spoken in the 14th century were
similar to Modern English and can be read without great difficulty today. The Middle English literature of
the 14th and 15th centuries is much more diversified than the previous Old English literature. A variety
of French and even Italian elements influenced Middle English literature, especially in southern England.
In addition, different regional styles were maintained, in literature and learning had not yet been
centralized. For these reasons, as well as because of the vigorous and uneven growth of national life, the
Middle English period contains a wealth of literary monuments not easily classified.The Vogue of
romance was passing and the realistic poetry was taking roots. In a way, the age of Chaucer stands,
between the medieval and the modern life. Compton Racket Observers, Chaucers world is medieval;
but beneath the medievalism, the heaven of the Renaissance is already at work.