(_b_) There is an interesting _revival in alliteration_. In the true alliterative poem the basis of the line is a system of repeating sounds, such as was the custom in Old English verse. One of the earliest examples of this type which occurs after the Norman Conquest is _Wynnere and Wastour_ (1352), an anonymous poem of no great merit. The tradition is continued in the alliterative romances of the type of _Cleannesse_; and it attains its climax in _Piers Plowman_. Though this last poem gained a great popularity it left no important literary descendants. Hence the revival of the ancient system of alliteration remains as an interesting curiosity. In a very short time after Langland, alliteration becomes simply an ornament to meter--sometimes a device of great beauty, but not vital to the metrical scheme. As regards the actual _poetic diction_ of the period, there is a considerable liking shown for ornate French and classical terms. This can be observed in the earlier poems of Chaucer and in the _Confessio Amantis_ of Gower. We have not yet attained to the aureate diction of the succeeding generation, but the temptation to use French terms was too strong to be resisted. Langland, though he draws upon the French Element, writes with much greater simplicity; and the ballads also are composed in a manner quite plain and unadorned. =2. Prose.= The state of prose is still too immature to allow of any style beyond the plainest. Wyclif’s, the earliest of the period, is unpolished, though it can be pointed and vigorous. Mandeville’s prose style, though it is devoid of artifices, attains to a certain distinction by reason of its straightforward methods, its short and workmanlike sentences, and a brevity rare in his day. In the case of Malory, who comes some time after the others, we have quite an individual style. It is still unadorned; but it has a distinction of phrase and a decided romantic flavor that make Malory a prose stylist of a high class. His prose is, indeed, a distinct advance upon that of his predecessors. EXERCISES 1. The following series of extracts is intended to show the development of English prose style from Old English times to those of Malory. The student should write a brief commentary upon the development of the prose, paying attention to vocabulary, sentence-construction, clearness, and brevity.