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7

For thogh that I be foul, oold, and poore
I nolde for al the metal, ne for oore,
That under erthe is grave, or lith above,
But-if thy wyf I were and eek thy
love."

"My love?" quod he. "Nay, my
dampnacion!

Allas, that any of my nacion
Sholde evere so foule disparaged be!"
But al for noght: thende is this, that he
Constreyned was, he nedes moste hire
wedde,

And taketh his olde wyf and gooth to bedde.

Now wolden som men seye paraventure That for my necligence I do no cure 8 To tellen yow the joye and a tharray That at the feeste was that ilke day; 220 To which thyng shortly answere I shal. I seye ther nas no joye ne feeste at al; Ther nas but hevynesse and muche sorwe. For prively he wedded hire on a morwe,

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And it shal been amended, if I may." "Amended?" quod this knyght. "Allas! nay, nay!

It wol nat been amended nevere mo! Thou art so loothly, and so oold also, And ther-to comen of so lough a kynde, That litel wonder is thogh I walwe and wynde.2

So wolde God myn herte wolde breste!" "Is this," quod she, "the cause of youre unreste?"

"Ye, certeinly," quod he, "no wonder is."

"Now, sire," quod she, "I koude amende al this,

If that me liste, er it were dayes thre,
So wel ye myghte bere yow unto me.

250

3

But for ye speken of swich gentillesse As is descended out of old richesse, That therfore sholden ye be gentil men, Swich arrogance is nat worth an hen. Looke who that is moost vertuous alway,

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Heere may ye se wel how that genterye May understonde that Jhesus, hevene

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6

310

Thenketh hou noble, as seith Valerius,*
Was thilke Tullius Hostillius 5
That out of poverte roos to heigh noblesse.
Reed Senek, and redeth eek Boece;
Ther shul ye seen expres that no drede is,
That he is gentil that dooth gentil dedis;
And therfore, leeve housbonde, I thus
conclude:

Al were it that myne auncestres weren rude,

Yet may the hye God, and so hope I, Grante me grace to lyven vertuously; Thanne am I gentil whan that I bigynne To lyven vertuously and weyve synne, 320 And ther-as ye of poverte me repreeve, The hye God on whom that we bileeve In wilful poverte chees to lyve his lyf. And certes every man, mayden, or wyf

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And auctours shal I fynden, as I gesse.

* satisfied

8 although

9

Juvenal, Satires, X.

21-2

10 miserable

11 a kind of telescope

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THE POPULAR BALLAD

A BALLAD is "a song which tells a story." It belongs to oral as opposed to written literature, and has certain well-marked characteristics that serve readily to differentiate it from all other kinds of narrative poetry. First, it is “popular,” that is, the property of the people. The ballads are all anonymous. Their authorship has long since been forgotten. They are often thought to be the product of a homogeneous group composing under the impulse of a recent occurrence or a common emotion. This is not impossible; indeed, the process has been observed to-day. In a recent collection of ballads sung by the Maine lumberjacks1 the editor quotes one of the men, from whom he obtained a ballad, as to their origin: "Well," he said, "I will tell you. Something happens. Then, at night, when the fellows are gathered around the fire, some one, who can sing better than the rest, starts a song, and the rest chip in. Each adds a little, some make changes and additions, until the song is made. Probably one hundred and fifty took part in making that song." One need not think that all ballads have had such a communal origin. Many were doubtless composed by individuals. But they soon became common property; and since they were not written down but carried in the memory and transmitted by word of mouth from generation to generation, they have undergone changes through repetition by many singers until, as we have them to-day, they are truly the product of the people.

This popular transmission of the ballad is responsible for most of its other special characteristics. The simple stanza forms, the frequent refrains, the repetition of stock phrases and often of whole stanzas, the complete objectivity and impersonality of the narrative, the brevity which results from telling only the essential points in the story and leaving the rest to the imagination,—these are obviously the effects of folk transmission. Other folk characteristics are equally apparent, such as the frank acceptance of the supernatural, the simple-minded credulity that is content with gross improbabilities in the plot, the lavish reference to gold, silver, and precious stones to heighten the effect, and the blunt representation of tragedy and death unsentimentalized.

It is a mistake to expect in the ballad the polish of later, more sophisticated art forms. Ballad art is wholly untutored, instinctive. The English and Scottish popular ballads should be judged for what they are; for of their kind there is nothing finer in the literature of any country.

R. P. GRAY. Songs and Ballads of the Maine Lumberjacks, with other songs from Maine. Cambridge, 1924

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