Thoughts on the Mediaeval Lyric
- Author/Editor
- Kar, G
- Title
- Thoughts on the Mediaeval Lyric
- Published
- Kar, G. "Thoughts on the Mediaeval Lyric." : Blackwell, 1933
- Review
- Kar's study of the medieval lyric contains a chapter on Gower's CB entitled "Amorous Gower." After reviewing the opinions of Warton and Macaulay, Kar argues that the CB can be split into two sections: the first 5 discuss love leading to marriage, whereas the rest are more in the spirit of courtly love. In addition, Gower frequently invokes two central ideas of troubadour poetry: "fin amor" (pure love) and "joie." However, Kar disagrees with J. Audiau that every echo of troubadour imagery (e.g., the flight of birds, the attraction of the loadstone, the need of a physician) can be attributed to direct imitation of provençal poetry. For instance, Gower would have been more likely to have borrowed the image of the storm-tossed ship from Ovid. Finally, "the rhythm of Gower's Cinkante Balades [with its combination of syllabic and accentual measures] is almost openly anti-Provençal" (62). [CvD]
- Date
- 1933
- Gower Subjects
- Sources, Analogues, and Literary Relations
- Cinkante Balades