=5. Sir Thomas More (1478–1535)= was born in London, and was the son of a judge. He was educated in London, attached to the household of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and became a lawyer. A man of eager and aspiring mind, he fell under the influence of Erasmus, Colet, and other humanists of the period. For a time he sat in Parliament and saw State service. His advanced political views led to his imprisonment (1534), and he was beheaded in the following year. Owing to their elegance and wit, his Latin works are of unusual importance. They include his _Utopia_, the description of his imaginary ideal state. This book was not translated into English until 1551, and so does not count as an English work of More’s. His English prose works include _The Lyfe of John Picus_, _The Historie of Richard III_, and a number of tracts and letters. He writes ably and clearly, but with no great distinction of manner. He is the first writer of the middle style. THE DEVELOPMENT OF LITERARY FORMS =1. Poetry.= In this period we have to chronicle the appearance of the _eclogue_ or _pastoral_ in the work of Barclay (_Ecloges_) and in some shorter poems like Henryson’s _Robene and Makyne_. The pastoral, which in classical times had been practiced by Virgil and Theocritus, became a common form of poetical exercise in Italy, France, and Spain before, in the sixteenth century, it appeared in England. It was marked by a set of conventional shepherds and shepherdesses, possessing such names as Colin, Phyllis, and Phœbe; by stock scenes introducing sheep, meadows, and flowers; and it was often made the medium for philosophical and political theories. As yet the golden age of the pastoral had not made its appearance in England, but the beginning of the vogue was apparent. A glance at the poems mentioned in this chapter will reveal the importance of the _allegory_. In this period it grew and hardened into a mechanical and soulless device, for the poets lacked sufficient poetical fire to give it life. The allegory, as we can see in Dunbar’s _Golden Targe_ and Lydgate’s _Temple of Glass_, usually opened with a garden and a dream, conventionalized to an absurd degree, and it continued with the introduction of the Goddess of Love, the Virtues and Vices, and similar stock personations. The allegory, however, in spite of its enormous elaboration, was not at the end of its popularity, and, as we shall see in the next chapter, it was to add another great poet to its list of devotees. The development of the _ballad_ and _carol_ continued, with highly satisfactory results. These poems began to acquire polish and expertness, for the early rudeness was becoming a thing of the past. To this period probably belong the lovely carol to the Virgin Mary beginning “I sing of a maiden,” and the ballads connected with Robin Hood, Fair Rosamund, and many others.