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MODULE 15 LANGLAND Dr Kalyani Dixit GENERAL INTRODUCTION MODULE 15 LANGLAND Dr Kalyani Dixit GENERAL INTRODUCTION This module will discuss a brief life history of William Langland. The module discusses the works of Langland. There is a long segment on his most famous work Piers Plowman in this module. Piers Plowman came out in three texts: A- text, B- text and C- text. It will also discuss the language, dialects, and meter used by him. Influence of French and Latin classics reflects into his writings. It will also discuss the alliterative meter used by him. The language used by Langland is different from contemporary English that is why some of the examples have been quoted in modern English for the convenience of the reader. William Langland or Langley was a famous poet of fourteenth century. But the critics are not sure about the date of his birth and death. As per Legouis and Cazamian he was born “in Shropshire about 1330, that is six years after Wyclif and ten before Chaucer.”(pg.114) J. M. D. Meiklejohn writes that “This English poet, according to Bishop Bale, was born about the year 1332 at Cleobury Mortimer, in the country of Shropshire, not far from the borders of Wales.”(pg.16). Eminent historian of English Literature William J. Long is also doubtful ,he writes : “Very little is known of Langland he was born probably near Malvern , in Worcestershire , the son of a poor freeman and in his early life lived in the fields as a shepherd.”(pg.81) We get very little information about his life and his appearance from his own works. He hailed from farmer class. Malvern and London were two most important places in his life. Critics believe that probably he was a scholar and curious learner but ‘not a steady student.’ “the wer lef to learne but loth for to studie.” He learnt many things from nature and many things from books. He wished to learn : “ all the sciences under the sun ,and all the sotyle(subtle) craftes, I would I know and couth kindly in mine heart.” In his works he depicted himself as student of French, Latin, and Classics. He lived the life of a seer, “a prophet after Isaiah’s own heart, if we may judge by the prophecy which soon found voice in Piers Plowman.” (W.J Long .pg.81) In his poems he portrayed himself as a ‘a tall gaunt figure ,dressed in long black gown with large folds, striding along the strand or Cheapside with so strange and absent an air that people say “He is mad.” (MeikleJohn pg. 16 - 17) As per Richard Ferrar Patterson , “We are perhaps justified in thinking of Langland as a tall , somewhat morose man , who lived in London with his wife Kitte and his daughter Calote and who had taken minor orders and supported himself partly singing the placebo and dirige, and partly by engrossing legal documents.” (Six Centuries of English Literature .pg. 36) According to the critics the name of his wife was Catherine and his daughter’s name was Nicolette. Encyclopaedia of World Biography, 2004, defines William Langland in following words: “The English Poet William Langland (Ca.1330 –ca.1400) is known as the probable author of “Piers Plowman”, an allegorical poem which attacks abuses in the government and the church and deplores the misery of a people without true leadership. Except for information that may be gleaned from his poem Piers Plowman, nothing is known about William Langland’s life.” ( http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/William_Langland.aspx ) John But addressed Langland as dead in year 1387. Critics believe that he was the probable author of King Richard II, or Richard the Redeless that came out in year 1399. J. W. Hales in Dictionary of National Biography, Vol. XI writes that: “He was not only a keen observer and thinker, but also an effective writer. His intense feeling for his fellow- men, his profound pity for their sad plight, unshepherded and guideless as he beheld them, were made effective by his imaginative power and his masterly gift of language and expression.” He further writes that “He sees vividly the objects and the sights he describes, and makes his readers see them vividly.” He finds him “as exact and realistic as Dante, however inferior in the greatness of his conceptions or in nobleness of poetic form." He represented himself as a beggar, wandering from door to door and earning some money by singing a ‘Placebo or a Dirige’ for those who provided him money as alms. He was also well aware of Law Courts and Legal terminology. William Langland is remembered today for his works like the vision of William concerning Piers Plowman, and its sequel Vita de Dowel, Dobet, et Dobest, Secundam Wit et Resoum. The whole work is popularly known as Piers the Plowman. It is believed that a year before his death he composed his last poem Richard the Redeless. Piers Plowman, is one of the most popular poems of fourteenth century. This poem is found in three different forms. Text A (written about 1362) Text B (written about 1377) Text C (written about 1398) As per Richard Ferrar Patterson, “According to Skeat and Jusserand and many other competent authorities, the poem in all its three forms is the work of one man,” and explaining the causes of differences between the three versions he says that these differences “are due to the fact that the poet was thirty years of age when he wrote the first version, forty five when he wrote the second, and upwards of sixty when he wrote the third.” (pg-35-36) The first text is shortest and ‘followed close on the treaty of Bretigny and the great plague of 1361.’ 1377 was the last year of the reign of Edward III. After the death of black prince the child Richard took this responsibility of the throne. About the third version Legouis and Cazamian write that “the third and considerably enlarged version belongs to the end of the century, between 1395 and 1398, when Richard II had grown unpopular and was arousing the discontent of his subjects, particularly the London burghers, by his senseless prodigality.” (pg- 113-114) Text A is considered ‘slightly immature’; whereas Text B is considered the best of the three. Text C is considered ‘somewhat prolix’. A- text (or Vernon) (Poem of 1800 lines) ‘Slightly immature’ Work of writer’s youth Contains 12 “passus” or cantos. 2,567 lines Text B (or Crowley) The best of the three Work of poets ‘maturity’. Contains 20 “passus” or Cantos. 7,242 lines Text C (or Whitaker) (15 thousand lines) ‘Somewhat Prolix’ Work of writer’s Old Age Contains 23 “passus” or Cantos. 7,357 lines This poem is special in its objective, it appeals to the common masses. Passus VI of Text B starts with following lines: “This were a wikked way but who – so hadde a gyde That wolde folwen vs eche a fote; “Thus this folke hem mened. Quath Perkyn the plouman “bi seynt Peter of Rome, I have an half acre to erye bi the heigh way; Hadde I eried this half acre and sowen it after, I wolde wende with you and the way teche.” “What sholde we women worche there whiles?” “This were a longe lettynyge”, quod a lady in a skylare, What sholde we wommen worche there whiles?” “Somme shal sowe the sakke, “Quod Piers, “for shedying of the And ye, louely ladyes with youre longe fyngres, That ye han silke and sandal to sowe, what tyme is, Chesibles for chapelleynes Cherches to honoure. {This were a wicked way but whoso had a guide That might follow us each a foot” — thus this folk them moaned. Quoth Perkin 1 the Plowman, “By Saint Peter of Rome! I have an half acre to erie by the highway; Had I eried this half acre and sown it after, I would wend with you and the way teach.” “This were a long letting,” quoth a lady in a scleyre; “What should we women work the while?” “Some shall sew the sacks” quoth Piers, “for shedding of the wheat; And ye lovely ladies with your long fingers, That ye have silk and cendel to sew when time is Chasubles for chaplains, churches to honour. } As per The Encyclopaedia Britannica 14th Edition : “The A –text dating from 1362 contains a prologue and 12 passus or cantos (i.-iv. ,the Vision of the Lady Meed; v.- viii.,the vision of Piers the Plowman ; ix-xii. ,The Vision of Do-wel, Do –bet and Do –best ), with 2,567 lines .The B – text ( c.1377) is much longer , containing 7,242 lines ,with additional passus following after xi. ,of A ,the earlier passus being altered in various respects . The C – text ( c.1395 -98 )with 7,357 lines , is a revision of B.” C-text | Divided into- 23 passus --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. 2. 3. 4. Visio de Petro Vision de Do- wel Vision de Do –bet Vision de Plowman Do - best Do- bet = “do better” The Encyclopaedia Britannica defines these parts of C – text in following words: “...the explanation of the names being that he who does a kind action does well, he who teaches others to act kindly does better, whilest he who combines both practice and theory, both doing good himself and teaching others to do the same, does best.”(pg.692) Walter William Skeat divides the whole into a group of eleven vision : The very first is the “Vision of the Field Full of Folk, of Holy Church and of the Lady Meed (passus i.-v.)” Here the Lady Meed has been portrayed as ‘wonderliche clothed’, who wears precious rings on all her fingers.
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