THE LAND OF COKAYGNE A :study of the Middle English poem and the traditions to which it is related. by Irene T. Howard B.A., The University of British Columbia, 1948 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF M.A. in the Department of English We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA' April, 1964 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of • British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study* I further agree that per• mission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the Head of my Department or by his representatives. It is understood that copying or publi• cation of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission* Department of English The University of British Columbia, Vancouver 8, Canada Date April 10, 1964 ABSTRACT The Land of Cokaygne may be interpreted as a burlesque of the paradise legend of the saints* abode in the Eden of the blessed. Or it may be taken as a poor folk's Utopia, expressing the desire of the common people for a life of abundance and ease. The essay is therefore divided into two parts© The first concerns the poem as burlesque. What beliefs and conventions are being parodied and what can be learned of the satirist? To answer the first question I offer as a frame of reference a resume of conventional paradise motifs as illustrated in cer• tain paradise legends which were widely known in medieval England. To answer the second question I find analogies to the poem in Greek and Celtic literature and discover the sceptical and satirical spirit in which they were written. The Celtic analogue invites comparison of the Cokaygne poet with the wander• ing scholar of the Middle Ages. It is possible that the Cokaygne poet with his sceptical spirit and delight in the sensual plea• sures was a goliardic • clerk. Turning to the poem itself, I set forth those passages of the poem which burlesque the conventional paradise motifs--the list of negative joys, the rivers, the abode of holy men, the garden, well and tree, the catalogue of precious stones and, finally, the barrier. The poet's method is to improvise freely, introducing foreign elements into a familiar series and thus making an exalted theme ludicrous. The Cokaygne motifs--the i v cloister roofed with cakes, the roast goose, the well-seasoned larks--are used in this way. But the poem may be taken out of its Middle English context and given a larger literary relation• ship. Structurally, it may be classed as a satiric utopia, for in his burlesque the poet has created a topsy-turvy land as a vehicle for breaking down existing ideas about paradise and for criticizing the religious orders for their immorality. The second part of the essay concerns the poem as a utopia. The Cokaygne fantasy has its origins in primitive agrarian rites and its themes are abundance without toil, general license and inversion of status. The acting out by the folk of these themes in the medieval folk festivals may be taken as a projection of the world as they would like it to be. Around the Cokaygne fan• tasy the utopia of the folk takes shape. The poet uses the roast goose motif to burlesque the saints1 paradise. But he also uses it as a symbol of the good'life with• out fear of want. His poem takes up the Cokaygne theme of abundance without toil, and communicates as well a sense of the injustice suffered by the poor. Two hundred years later, Thomas More also speaks for the poor and oppressed in his Utopi a, and it is his conviction of social injustice which gives emotional force to the theme he shares with the Cokaygne poet of abundance without toil. Other Utopians have in some way given expression to this theme, but only William Morris in News from Nowhere has captured that sense of freedom and of delight in the abundant earth which pervades the Middle English poem. The Utopian element V in the poem may also be measured by contrasting it with the anti-utopia. Swift, Huxley and Orwell create wonderlands in the spirit of anti-Cokaygne. They mistrust the idea of abundance without toil and take a gloomy view of the perfectibility of man. They have never been inspired by the vision of the wonderful tree, symbolic of Utopian dreams, or else they have rejected it out of concern for our minds and spirits. The burlesque utopia of the Cokaygne poet lives on in North American folk literature of the twentieth century. It is best known in that well-loved Cokaygne song. The Big Rock Candy Moun• tains. i i TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT aae..oa.aaeaaaaaaaaa.«a. iii TEXT OF THE LAND OF COKAYGNE ........... 0 . vi INTRODUCTION a.>e«os»«aaoa*.>sii.« a. 1 PART I. THE LAND OF COKAYGNE AS BURLESQUE Chapter I, THE BACKGROUND FOR THE BURLESQUE ....... 10 II. THE COKAYGNE POET IN A BURLESQUE TRADITION . 23 Ilia AN ANALYSIS OF THE POEM: METHOD AND STRUCTURE 42 PART II. THE LAND OF COKAYGNE AS UTOPIA IV, THE FOLK ORIGINS OF THE COKAYGNE THEME .... 73 V. UTOPIA, ANTI-UTOPIA AND THE LAND OF COKAYGNE. 84 EPILOGUE: A LIVING FOLK THEME ..... , 115 LIST OF WORKS CITED I3O The Land of Cokaycrne Fur in see, bi west spayngne, is a lond ihote cokaygne. ber nis lond vnder heuen-riche, of wel, of godnis, hit iliche; poj peradis be miri and bri-^t, cokaygn is of fairir si^t* what is jber in peradis bot grasse, and flure, and grene ris? £03 f>er be ioi and gret dute, Jaer nis met bote frute; j>er nis halle, bure, no benche; bot watir, man-is burst to quenche. beb ber no men bot two, hely and enok al-so; elinglich mai hi go whar jier wonib men no mo» In cokaigne is met and drink wib-vte care, how, and swink. be met is trie, be drink is clere, to none, runnin, and sopper. i sigge for-so|>, boute were, i>er nis lond on erj>e is pere, vnder heuen nis lond, i-wisse, of so mochil ioi and blisse. per is mani swete si3te: al is dai, nis per no ni^te; ber nis baret nober strif; nis ber no deb, ac euer lif; J>er nis lac of met no clob; ber nis man no womman wrob. j>er nis serpent, wolf, no fox, hors no capil, kowe no ox, j>er nis schepe, no swine, no gote; no non horw^, al god it wote, nober harace, nober stode* be lond is ful of ober gode. nis ber flei, fie, no lowse, in clob, in toune, bed, no house; ber nis dunnir, slete, no hawle; no non vile worme, no snawile, no non storme, rein, no winde. ber nis man no womman blinde» ok al is game, Ioi, and gle« wel is him bat ber mai be. jjer beb riuers gret and fine, of oile, melk, honi, and wine; watir seruip per to no-ping bot to si-jt and to waiissing. 48 per is mani maner frute; al is solas and dedute. per is a wel fair abbei, of white monkes and of grei. 52 per bep bowris and halles; al of pasteiis bep pe walles, of fleis, of fisse, and rich met, pe likfullist pat man mai et. 56 fluren cakes bep pe schingles alle, of cherche, cloister, boure, and halle; pe pinnes bep fat podinges-- rich met to prince3 and kinges. 60 man mai per-of et ino-^, al wip ri^t and no3t wip wo3« al is commune to 3ung and old, to stoute and sterne, isek and boldi 64 J)er is a cloister, fair and li3t, brod and lang, of sembli si3t; pe pilers of pat cloister alle bep iturned of cristale, 68 wip har bas and capitale Of grene Iaspe and rede corale. In pe praer is a tre, swipe likful forto se: 72 pe rote is gingeuir and galingale, pe siouns bep al sedwale, trie maces bep pe flure, pe rind canel of swet odur, 76 pe frute gilofre of gode smakke. of cucubes per nis no lakke. per bep rosis of rede ble, and lilie likful forto se-- 80 pai falowep neuer dai no ni3t; pis a^t be a swet si3t« er bep iiij willis in pe abbei, of triacle and halwei, 84 of baum and ek piement, euer ernend to ri3t rent; of pam stremis al' pe raolde, stonis preciuse, and golde. 88 per is saphir and vniune, carbuncle and astiune, Smaragde, lugre, and prassiune, beril, onix, topasiune, 92 ametist and crisolite, calcedun and epetite* bep briddes mani and fale-- prostil, pruisse and ni^tingale, Chalendre and wodwale, and oper briddes wip-out tale, pat stintep neuer bi har mi^t. miri to sing dai and niot# 3ite i do 30W mo to witte: pe Gees irostid on pe spitte flee3 to pat abbai, god hit wot, and gredip, "gees, al hotel al hotj hi bringep garlek gret plente, pe best idi3t pat man mai se, pe leuerokes, pat bep cup, li3tip adun to man-is mup, idi3t in stu, ful swipe wel pudrid wip gilofre and canel» nis no spech of no drink; ak take ino3 wip-vte swink„ Whan pe monkes geep to masse, al pe fenestres pat bep of glasse turnep in-to cristal bri^t, to 3iue pe monkes more li^t.