And gan this nedle threde anon; And wondir glad was I to se With gravel, ful of stonës shene. Tho gan I walke thorough the mede, The ryver-syde costeying. THE FLOWER AND THE LEAF. The Flower and the Leaf, written, according to internal evidence, by a lady, and about 1450, follows out a fancy of French origin which had already in Chaucer's time found its way into the stock poetical material of the age, and to which he makes reference in The Legende of Goode Women. But helpeth, ye that han conning and might, Ye lovers, that can make of sentement; In this case oughtë ye be diligent To ferthren me somewhat in my labour, Whether ye been with the leafe or with the flour.' The followers of the Flower Are such folk that loved idlenesse, And not deliten in no businesse, But for to hunțe and hauke and play in medes whereas the company of the Leaf, wearing laurel chaplets, 'whose lusty green may not appaired be' by winter storms or frosts, represent the brave and steadfast of all ages, the great knights and champions, the constant lovers and pure women of past and present times. The poem opens with the usual spring morning, and the description of a woodland arbour hedged round with sycamore and eglantine, and haunted with the songs of birds. Thence the poet sees the rival companies of the Flower and the Leaf scattered over the plain outside, and describes their dresses and equipments with a length and wearisome detail which would alone mark off the poem from Chaucer's work. A storm comes on, which drenches the flower-chaplets and green dresses of Flora's train, while it leaves those of the Leaf unharmed. These bring shelter and friendly help to the followers of the Flower, and then the two companies pass singing out of sight, and a 'fair lady,' herself a servant of the Leaf, explains to the poet the meaning of the vision. Dryden's paraphrase of this poem, which he of course believed to be by Chaucer, is well known. [The author having passed a sleepless night. though why she knows not, as she has neither sickness nor disease, wanders out early.] And up I roos three hourës after twelfe, In which were okës grete, streight as a line, With branches brode, laden with levës new, Which, as me thoughte, was right a plesant sight; 2 To right a pleasaunt herber, well ywrought, That benched was, and eke with turfës newe So small, so thicke, so short, so fresh of hewe, With sicamour was set and eglatere♣. breadth. arbour. * * ⚫ eglantine And as I stood and cast aside mine eie, Fro bough to bough; and, as him list, gan ete And to the herber side ther was joyninge Wherefore about I waited busily, On every side, if that I her mighte see; And as I sat, the briddës harkening thus, That ever any wight, I trow truly, Herd in here life; for sothe the armony 1 saw. sot, fool. 3 Old ed. was And at the last, out of a grove faste by, Telle you a part, though I speake not of all. THE COURT OF LOVE. The Court of Love (date about 1500) is a poem of the Chaucerian school, containing many echoes of Chaucer, and making distinct reference to The Compleynte of Pite and The Legende of Goode Women. 'Philogenet, of Cambridge Clerk,' who, in the days of unreflecting Chaucerian criticism, was always supposed to represent the young Chaucer himself, repairs to the Court of Venus, where he finds Admetus and Alceste, the heroine of The Legende of Goode Women, with her 'ladies good nineteene' presiding over the Castle of Love. The Queen's handmaid Philobone takes him in charge and shows him the wonders of the place. He swears allegiance to the Twenty Statutes of Love, and is then introduced to the Lady Rosial, with whom he has already fallen in love in his dream, and whose presence inspires him with long protestations of devotion. Rosial is for the time obdurate, and sends him away again with Philobone to wait her pleasure. After a graphic description of the Courtiers of Love, an unequal but vigorous piece of writing, there appears to be a break in the poem, for we find ourselves suddenly in the middle of a tender speech of Rosial, who describes how Pite, risen from the shrine in which Philogenet had seen her buried within the temple of Venus, had softened her breast towards him. The poem ends with one of the favourite bird-scenes of the time, a curious paraphrase of the Matins for Trinity Sunday. This song in honour of Love, sung on May morning by a chorus of birds, should be compared with the last scenes of the Parlement of Foules. The first of the following extracts, a beautiful sketch of Privy Thought or Fancy, among the Courtiers of Love, is full of delicate imagination, and represents the author better than the tedious Statutes of Love, or the hymn to Venus, taken from Boethius, of |