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Studies in Chaucer's Language of Feeling,' in Accordance with the Suggestion of a Great Cambridge Chaucerian, Derek Brewer

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Studies in Chaucer's Language of Feeling,' in Accordance with the Suggestion of a Great Cambridge Chaucerian, Derek Brewer STUDIES IN CHAUCER'S LANGUAGE OF FEELING MlCHIO MASUI -i.aiS3Li3.3LJ KINSEIDO Tokyo TO DR. TADAO YAMAMOTO Preface In this collection of essays I have examined Chaucer's language in a number of aspects, mainly those concerning the semantic sense. Together they constitute, it is hoped, a study of the meaning of Chaucer's language in the widest sense of the word. These eight articles have received the title 'Studies in Chaucer's Language of Feeling,' in accordance with the suggestion of a great Cambridge Chaucerian, Derek Brewer. Professor Brewer has suggest- ed that I should speak as a Japanese, who feels more often than he does. These articles are, therefore, selected and arranged around the theme of the language of feeling, as follows: "The Language of Love in Chaucer, " Studies in English Literature, English Number, The English Literary Society of Japan, 1960. "Chaucer's Use of 'Smile' and 'Laugh'," Anglica, Vol. 3, No. 3, 1958. "Observations on the Tone of Speech in Chaucer-Especially in Troilus and Criseyde-," Anglica, Vol. 4, No. 1, 1959. "The Development of Mood in Chaucer's 'Troilus' -An Ap- proach," Studies in Language and Literature in Honour of Margaret Schlauch, Polish Scientific Publisher, Warsaw, 1966. "Chaucer's Tenderness and the Theme of Consolation," Neuphilo- logische Mitteilungen, Studies Presented to Tauno F. Mustanoja on the Occasion of His Sixtieth Birthday, 1-2 LXXIII, 1972. "The Prioress's Prologue and Tale-A Structural and Semantic Approach, " Studies in Celebration of Professor Chiaki Higashidd s Sixtieth Birthday, Language and Style, Osaka Kyoiku-tosho, 1974. "Some Thoughts on the Continuity of Themes in Chaucer," Poetica 1, Shubun International Co. Ltd., Tokyo, 1974. "A Mode of Word-Meaning in Chaucer's Language of Love," Studies in English Literature, English Number, The English Literary Society of Japan, 1967. Why did Professor Brewer say it was feeling that underlay my way of thinking? Of all paths of research, this was the most ne- glected. Thus the language of feeling seemed to me a term most pertinent to my approach. And so I entitle my book 'Studies in Chaucer's Language of Feeling,' with the warmest thanks to Derek Brewer for his kindness of heart. I should like to express my gratitude to Masahiko Kanno, a student of mine and an able helper in the preparation of these Studies in Chaucer's Language of Feeling for publication; and likewise to Masuo Umeda, a careful proof-reader and also a student of mine, I appreciate the labour that each has undertaken. Last but not least, I wish to offer thanks to the Kinseido Shoten Publishing Co. Ltd., who willingly undertook the volume for the sake of learning, despite the many difficulties inherent in this kind of publication. Michio Masui 1st April 1988 Professor Michio Masui-A Personal Tribute The work of Michio Masui needs no introduction and it would be otiose for me to offer one. Nor indeed, for the community of scholars of English, does he himself need introduction. He has long been the doyen of students of Chaucer in Japan. He has produced standard works in both Japanese and English which have made his name and fame international. His interest in English literature and life has not been limited to Chaucer as the following essays show. Shakespeare has keenly engaged his attention, while his devotion to Edmund Blunden both as person and as poet has resulted in the Blunden Memorial in Hiroshima. And as a Japanese Michio Masui's virtually life-long connection with Hiroshima has marked him not only as a witness of horror but in consequence as gentle champion of peace. Michio Masui was one of the earliest of Japanese scholars to resume the study of English culture after the long gap enforced by the war. He visited England and Europe in 1954-5 and it was then that I met him, introduced by a mutual friend, the poet and Profes- sor of English, Denis Enright. Professor Masui's eagerness to expe- rience the varieties of English life and weather, his knowledge of many things from medieval architecture to bus time-tables, his excellent spoken English, his gentle politeness, his humour, charmed everybody who met him. Some of his experiences on that trip are overtly referred to in the following essays, illustrating again how knowledge of the general language and culture enriches study of the literature, as literature enriches life. In 1976 Professor Masui established the first Miyajima Seminar, which I had the honour of attending. We finished with, a supper in a restaurant after which he constrained us all each to sing a folk- iv song from our place of origin. I cherish the memory of Professor Masui singing a delightful traditional love-song from his native home. (I sang 'Green Grow the Rushes-O,' hoping my colleagues would join in with the cumulative refrain. At the end someone said 'That was a very long song!') The devotion and interest of Michio Masui's colleagues, friends and pupils was everywhere apparent and his energy and inspiration carried the Seminar to its successful conclusion, though I fear it may have overtaxed his strength. In 1987 we met again in Hiroshima where though now long retired he is the object of respect and affection of his devoted wife and daughter and a circle of learned and genial colleagues who are friends and in many cases former pupils. Life, literature and study have always been bound together in a unity for Michio Masui, even when his work has been of such a technical and laborious nature as his early well-known study of Chaucer's rhymes. This philological contribution is not only valuable in itself but the basis of the detailed knowledge of Chaucer's mind and art which all Michio Masui's work effortlessly reveals. By such close contemplation of apparently impersonal details as rhyming usage and verbal habits we come close to the mind and spirit of a great poet. Into the penetrating study of verbal structures Michio Masui weaves his own rich life experiences and responses. Such an exercise in sensibility is the more valuable and the more difficult as it spans two ancient cultures so different as those of Japan and England. In science we are now close, but in the wider range of social and personal, not to say linguistic acts, attitudes, concepts and responses we are still far apart. For the sake of human diver- sity long may they remain so. But the need for mutual sympathetic study is all the greater. The collection of essays given here is an example of just such study applied to traditional English literature. They reveal a pene- trating yet meditative mind which seizes on detail to illuminate a å whole range of characteristics in Chaucer and Shakespeare. The concern with technical characteristics and artistry does not obscure the warm response to the mind and spirit of the poets, and it reflects the warmth of spirit and care for detail of the scholar himself who turns scholarship into poetry. Derek Brewer Master of Emmanuel College Professor of English in the University of Cambridge December 1987 Contents Preface Professor Mickio Masui-A Personal Tribute The Language of Love in Chaucer Chaucer's Use of 'Smile' and 'Laugh' Observations on the Tone of Speech in Chaucer -Especially in Troilus and Criseyde- 4 The Development of Mood in Chaucer's 'Troilus' -AnApproach- 5 Chaucer's Tenderness and the Theme of Consolation 6 The Prioress's Prologue and Tale -AStructural and Semantic Approach- 7 Some Thoughts on the Continuity of Themes in Chaucer 8 A Mode of Word-Meaning in Chaucer's Language of Love Index 1 The Language of Love in Chaucer The language of love begins with romance in English literature. The spirit of romance may have caught Spenser when he opened his great poem after the manner of Virgil: Lo! I the man, whose Muse whilome did maske, As time her taught, in lowly shepheards weeds, Amnow enforst, a far vnfitter taske, For trumpets sterne to chaunge mine Oaten reeds, And sing of Knights and Ladies gentle deeds; Whose prayses hauing slept in silence long, Me, all too meane, the sacred Muse areeds To blazon broad emongst her learned throng: Fierce warres and faithfull loues shall moralize my song. "Fierce warres and faithfull loues" were the moralizing themes of The Faerie Queene. In it the Elizabethan poet sang of "Knights and Ladies gentle deeds; Whose prayses hauing slept in silence long." About two centuries before Spenser, however, his great master Chau- cer had begun to compose a great poem in a somewhat different tone: The double sorwe of Troilus to tellen, That was the kyng Priamus sone of Troye, In lovynge, how his aventures fellen Fro wo to wele, and after out of joie, My purpos is, er that I parte fro ye. Thesiphone, thow help me for t'endite Thise woful vers, that wepen as I write. The medieval poet was, at the outset, aware of the narrative verse that he was going to write being woeful and 'weeping': "Thise 2 Studies in Chaucer's Language of Feeling woful vers, that wepen as I write." The poet had been pervaded by a sense of tragedy1 already when he took the story in hand. He knew well that his story must take its tragic course "fro wo to wele, and after out of joie." The story of earthly love between Troilus and Criseyde was to end with Criseyde's betrayal and false- hood to her faithful lover Troilus. The historical setting and the material in hand were what the poet could not change a bit.
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