Fourteenth Century Verse & Prose

English literature -- Middle English, 1100-1500; Great Britain -- History -- 14th century -- Sources

The Prologue is a curious example of the pseudo-critical attitude of the
Middle Ages. Homer is despised as a teller of impossible tales, and a
partisan of the Greeks,—for Hector is the popular hero of the mediaeval
versions. The narratives of Dares Phrygius and Dictys Cretensis,
products of the taste for fictitious history that spread westward from
Greek-speaking lands in the fourth and following centuries, are accepted
as reliable documents; and Guido de Columna as their authoritative
literary interpreter. No mention is made of Benoît de Sainte-Maure,
whose _Roman de Troie_, written in French about 1184, served as source
to Guido, and, directly or indirectly, as inspiration to the whole body
of Western writers who dealt with the 'Matter of Troy'. For these lapses
the English translator need not be held responsible. On the merits of
Homer, Dares, Dictys, and Guido de Columna, he probably accepted without
question the word of his master Guido.


PROLOGUE.

      Maistur in magesté, Maker of alle,
      Endles and on, euer to last!
      Now, God, of þi grace, graunt me þi helpe,
      And wysshe me with wyt þis werke for to ende
      Off aunters ben olde of aunsetris nobill,                     5
      And slydyn vppon shlepe by slomeryng of age;
      Of stithe men in stoure, strongest in armes,
      And wisest in wer, to wale in hor tyme,
      Þat ben drepit with deth, and þere day paste,
      And most out of mynd for þere mecull age.                    10
      Sothe stories ben stoken vp, and straught out of mynde,
      And swolowet into swym by swiftenes of yeres,
      For new þat ben now next at our hond,
      Breuyt into bokes for boldyng of hertes,
      On lusti to loke with lightnes of wille,                     15
      Cheuyt throughe chaunce and chaungyng of peopull;
      Sum tru for to traist, triet in þe ende,
      Sum feynit o fere and ay false vnder.
        Yche wegh as he will warys his tyme,
      And has lykyng to lerne þat hym list after.                  20
      But olde stories of stithe þat astate helde
      May be solas to sum þat it segh neuer,
      Be writyng of wees þat wist it in dede,
      With sight for to serche of hom þat suet after,
      To ken all the crafte how þe case felle                      25
      By lokyng of letturs þat lefte were of olde.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

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History

Fourteenth Century Verse & Prose

English literature -- Middle English, 1100-1500; Great Britain -- History -- 14th century -- Sources

The Prologue is a curious example of the pseudo-critical attitude of the
Middle Ages. Homer is despised as a teller of impossible tales, and a
partisan of the Greeks,—for Hector is the popular hero of the mediaeval
versions. The narratives of Dares Phrygius and Dictys Cretensis,
products of the taste for fictitious history that spread westward from
Greek-speaking lands in the fourth and following centuries, are accepted
as reliable documents; and Guido de Columna as their authoritative
literary interpreter. No mention is made of Benoît de Sainte-Maure,
whose _Roman de Troie_, written in French about 1184, served as source
to Guido, and, directly or indirectly, as inspiration to the whole body
of Western writers who dealt with the 'Matter of Troy'. For these lapses
the English translator need not be held responsible. On the merits of
Homer, Dares, Dictys, and Guido de Columna, he probably accepted without
question the word of his master Guido.


PROLOGUE.

      Maistur in magesté, Maker of alle,
      Endles and on, euer to last!
      Now, God, of þi grace, graunt me þi helpe,
      And wysshe me with wyt þis werke for to ende
      Off aunters ben olde of aunsetris nobill,                     5
      And slydyn vppon shlepe by slomeryng of age;
      Of stithe men in stoure, strongest in armes,
      And wisest in wer, to wale in hor tyme,
      Þat ben drepit with deth, and þere day paste,
      And most out of mynd for þere mecull age.                    10
      Sothe stories ben stoken vp, and straught out of mynde,
      And swolowet into swym by swiftenes of yeres,
      For new þat ben now next at our hond,
      Breuyt into bokes for boldyng of hertes,
      On lusti to loke with lightnes of wille,                     15
      Cheuyt throughe chaunce and chaungyng of peopull;
      Sum tru for to traist, triet in þe ende,
      Sum feynit o fere and ay false vnder.
        Yche wegh as he will warys his tyme,
      And has lykyng to lerne þat hym list after.                  20
      But olde stories of stithe þat astate helde
      May be solas to sum þat it segh neuer,
      Be writyng of wees þat wist it in dede,
      With sight for to serche of hom þat suet after,
      To ken all the crafte how þe case felle                      25
      By lokyng of letturs þat lefte were of olde.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Fourteenth Century Verse & Prose

Fourteenth Century Verse & Prose

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