Constantinople. Common practice of the
Greek exiles to translate the popular

Italian poems. Specimens both of the

Greek and Italian Theseid. Critical ex-
amination of the Knight's Tale, 224, 243
SEC. XIII. The subject of Chaucer con-
tinued. His Romaunt of the Rose.
William of Lorris and John of Meun.
Specimens of the French Le Roman de la
Rose. Improved by Chaucer. William
of Lorris excells in allegorical personages.
Petrarch dislikes this poem, 243, 253

SEC. XIV. Chaucer continued. His Troi-

lus and Cresseide. Boccacio's Troilo.

Sentimental and pathetic strokes in

Chaucer's poem.
House of Fame. A

Provencal composition. Analysed. Im-

properly imitated by Pope,
253, 261

SEC. XV. Chaucer continued.
The sup-

posed occasion of his Canterbury Tales

superior to that of Boccacio's Decameron.

Squire's Tale, Chaucer's capital poem.
Its fictions. Story of Patient Grisilde.
Its origin, popularity, and excellence.
How conducted by Chaucer,
SEC. XVI. Chancer continued.
the Nun's Priest. Its origin and allusions.
January and May. Its imitations. Licen-
tiousness of Boccacio. Miller's Tale.
humour and ridiculous characters.
Tales of the comic species. Their origin,
allusions, and merits, Rime of Sir Thopas.
Its design and tendency,

SEC. XVII. Chaucer continued.

262, 276

Tale of

Its
Other

276, 287

General

view of the Prologues to the Canterbury

Tales. The Prioresse. The Wife of

Bath. The Franke'ein. The Doctor of
Physicke. State of medical erudition and
practice. Medicine and astronomy
blended. Chaucer's physician's library.
Learning of the Spanish Jews. The Somp-

nour. The Pardonere. The Monke.
Qualifications of an abbot. The Frere.
The Parsoune. The Squire. English
crusades into Lithuania. The Reeve.
The Clarke of Oxenford. The Serjeaunt
of Lawe. The Hoste. Supplemental
Tale, of Beryn. Analysed 237, 302

SEC. XVIII. Chaucer continued. State

of French and Italian poetry: and their

influence on Chaucer. Rise of allegorical

composition in the dark ages. Love-

courts, and Love-fraternities, in France.
Tales of the troubadours. Dolopathos.
Boccacio, Dante, and Petrarch. Decline
of Provencal poetry, Succeeded in France
by a new species. Froissart. The Floure
and the Leafe. Floral games in France.
Allegorical beings,
302, 310

SEC. XIX. John Gower. His character and

poems. His tomb. His Confessio Am-

antis. Its subject and plan. An unsuc-

cessful imitation of the Roman de la

Rose. Aristotle's Secretum Secretorum.

Chronicles of the middle ages. Colonna.

Romance of Lancelot. The Gesta Ro-

manorum. Shakespeare's caskets. Authors

quoted by Gower. Chronology of some of

Gower's and Chaucer's poems. The Con-

fessio Amantis preceded the Canterbury

Tales. Gower's genius,

311, 335

SEC. XX. Boethius. Why, and how much,
esteemed in the middle ages. Translated
by Johannes Cappellanus, the only poet
of the reign of king Henry IV. Number
of Harpers at the coronation feast of
Henry V. A minstrel-piece on the Bat-
tayle of Agynkourte. Occleve. His poems.
Egidius de Regimine Principum, and
Jacobus of Casali De Ludo Scaccorum.
Chaucer's picture. Humphrey duke of
Gloucester. His character as a patron of
literature. Apology for the gallicisms of

Chaucer, Gower, and Occleve, 335, 348

SEC. XXI. Reign of Henry VI. Lydgate.

His life and character. His Dance of

Death. Macaber a German poet. Lyd-

gate's poem in honour of Saint Edmund.

Presented to Henry VI., at Bury-abbey,

in a most splendid manuscript, now re-

maining. His Lyf of our Lady. Elegance

and harmony of his style, 348, 355

SEC. XXII. Lydgate continued. His Fall
of Princes, from Laurence Premierfait's
French paraphrase of Boccace on the
same subject. Nature, plan, and specimens
of that poem. Its sublime allegorical
figure of fortune. Authors cited in the
same. Boccace's opportunities of collect-
ing many stories of Greek original, now
not extant in any Greek writer. Lydgate's
Storie of Thebes. An additional Canter-
bury Tale. Its plan, and originals. Mar-
tianus Capella. Happily imitated by

Lydgate. Feudal manners applied to

Greece. Specimen of Lydgate's force in

description,
355, 368.

SEC. XXIII. Lydgate's Troy-Boke. A para-
phrase of Colonna's Historia Trojana.
Homer, when, and how, first known in
Europe. Lydgate's powers in rural
painting. Dares and Dictys. Feudal man-
ners, and Arabian imagery, ingrafted on
the Trojan story. Anecdotes of ancient
Gothic architecture displayed in the
structure of Troy. An ideal theatre at
Troy so described, as to prove that no
regular stage now existed. Game of
chess invented at the siege of Troy.

Lydgate's gallantry. His anachronisms.

Hector's shrine and chantry. Specimens

of another Troy-Boke, anonymous, writ-

ten in the reign of Hen. VI., 368, 380

SEC. XXIV. Reign of Hen. VI. continued.
Hugh Campeden translates the French
romance of Sidrac. Thomas Chester's Sir
Launfale. Metrical romance of the Eile
of Tholouse. Analysis of its Fable.
Minstrels paid better than the clergy.
Reign of Ed. IV. Translation of the

classics and other books into French.

How it operated on English literature.

Caxton. Anecdotes of English typo-

graphy,
381, 399

SEC. XXV. Harding's Chronicle. First men-

tion of the king's Poet Laureat occurs in

the reign of Ed. IV. History of that

office. Scogan. Didactic poems on che-

mistry by Norton and Ripley, 399, 408

SEC. XXVI. Poems of Thomas Kowlie.

Supposed to be spurious,
408, 427

SEC. XXVII. The reigns of Rich III. and

Hen. VII, abound in obscure versifiers.

Bertram Walton. Benedict Burgh tran-

slates Cato's Latin Distichs. History of that

work. Julian Barnes. Abbesses fond of

hunting and hawking. A religious poem

by William of Nassyngton. His Pro-

logue explained. Minstrels and Gestours

to be distinguished. Gest of the Three

Kings of Cologne sung in the arched

chamber of the Prior at Winchester.

The Gest of the Seven Sleepers. Origi-

nally a Greek Legend. Bradshaw's Life

of Saint Werburgh. Metrical chronicles

of the kings of England fashionable in

this century. Ralph Higden proved to

be the author of the Chester-plays.

Specimen of Bradshaw's poem, from his

description of the historical tapestry in

the hall of Ely monastery when the

princess Werburg was admitted to the

veil Legends and legend-makers.

byan. Watson. Caxton a poet. Kalendar

of Shepherds. Pageaunts. Transition to

the drama. Histrionic profession. Mys-

teries. Nicodemus's Gospel. The use of

Mysteries,

427, 458

Se XXVIII. Reign of Hen. VII. Hawes

His poems. Painting on the walls of cham-

bors. Visions. Hawes's Pastyme of Plea-

sure. The fable analysed. Walter. Med-

wall. Wade,

Fa-

459, 479

Its

SE XXIX. Barklay's Ship of Fools.

origin. Specimens. Barklay's Ecologues,

and other pieces. Alcock bishop of Ely.

Modern Bucolics,

479, 490

Src. XXX. Digression to the Scotch poets.
William Dunbar. His Thistle and Rose,
and Golden Terge. Specimens. Dunbar's
comic pieces Estimate of his genius.
Moralities fashionable among the Scotch
in the ffteenth century,
491, 505

SEC. XXXI. Scotch poets continued. Gawen

Douglas. His translation of the Eneid.

His genius for descriptive poetry. Palice

of Honour, and other pieces, 505, 515

SEC. XXXII. Scotch poets continued. Sir
David Lyndesay. His chief performances
the Dreme, and Monarchie. His talents
for description and imagery. His other
poems examined. An anonymous Scotch
pcem, never printed, called Duncane
Laider. Its humour and satire. Feudal
robbers. Blind Harry. History of the Scotch
poetry recommended,
Sec. XXXIII. Skelton. His life.

515, 541

Pa-

541, 562

tronised by Henry, fifth earl of North-

umberland. His character, and peculiarity

of style. Critical examination of his

poems. Macaronic poetry. Skelton's

Morality called the Nigramansir. The

Moralities at their height about the close

of Henry VII. reign,

Sec. XXXIV. A digression on the origin

of Mysteries. Various origins assigned.

Keligious dramas at Constantinople.

Plays first acted in the monasteries. This

ecclasiastical origin of the drama gives

rise to the practice of performing plays

in universities, colleges, and schools. In-

fence of this practice on the vernacular

Crama On the same principle, plays

acted by singing-boys in choirs. Boy-

bishop. Fete de Foux. On the same

principle, plays acted by the company

of parish clerks. By the Law-societies

in London. Temple-Masques, 562, 589

SEC. XXXV. Causes of the increase of ver-
nacular composition in the fifteenth cen-
tury. View of the revival of classical
learning. In Italy. France. Germany.
Spain. England,
589, 607

SEC. XXXVI. The same subject continued.

Reformation of religion. Its effects on

literature in England. Application of this

digression to the main subject, 607, 627

SEC. XXXVII. Petrarch's sonnets. Lord

Surrey. His education, travels, mistress,

life, and poetry. He is the first writer of

blank-verse. Italian blank-verse. Surrey

the first English classic poet, 628, 645

SEC. XXXVIII. Sir Thomas Wyat. In-
ferior to Surrey as a writer of sonnets.
His life. His genius characterised.
Excels in moral poetry,
645, 653

SEC. XXXIX. The first printed Miscellany

of English poetry. Its contributors. Sir

Francis Bryan, Lord Rochford, and Lord

Vaulx. The first true pastoral in Eng-

lish. Sonnet-writing cultivated by the no-

bility. Sonnets by king Henry VIII. Lit-

erary character of that king, 653, 664

SFC. XL. The second writer of blank-verse

in English. Early blank verse, 664, 671

SEC. XLI. Andrew Borde. Bale. Anslay.

Chertsey. Fabyll's ghost a poem. The

Merry Devil of Edmonton. Minor poets

of the reign of Henry VIII., 671, 682

SEC. XLII. John Heywood the epigram-

matist. His works. Ancient unpublished

burlesque poem of Sir Penny 683, 689

SEC. XLIII. Sir Thomas More's English

poetry. Tournament of Tottenham.

age and scope. Laurence Minot. Al-

literation. Digression illustrating the

language of the fifteenth century, by a

specimen of the metrical Armoric romance

of Ywayn and Gawayn,

689, 711

SEC. XLIV. The Notbrowne Mayde. Not

older than the sixteenth century. Artful

contrivance of the story. Misrepresented

by Prior. Metrical romances. Guy, syr

Bevys, and Kynge Apolyn, printed in

the reign of Henry. The Scole howse, a

satire. Christmas carols. Religious libels

in rhyme. Merlin's prophesies. Lau-

rence Minot. On the late continuance

of the use of waxen tablets. Pageantries

of Henry's court. Dawn of taste, 712, 729

SEC. XLV. Effects of the Reformation on
our poetry. Clement Marot's Psalms.
Why adopted by Calvin. Version of the
Psalms by Sternhold and Hopkins. The
Defects of this version, which is patron-
ised by the puritans in opposition to the
Choral Service,
729, 741

SEC. XLVI. Metrical versions of scripture.

Archbishop Parker's Psalms in metre.

R. Crowley's puritanical poetry, 741, 748

SEC. XLVII. Tye's Acts of the Apostles in

rhyme. His merit as a musician. Early

piety of Ed. VI. Controversial ballads

and plays. Translation of the Bible.

Its

its

effects on our language. Kelton's Chro-

nicle of the Brutes. First Drinking song.

Gammar Gurton's Needle, 748, 761

SEC. XLVIII. Reign of queen Mary.

Mirrour of Magistrates. Its inventor,

Sackville lord Buckhurst. His life.

Mirrour continued by Baldwyn and

Ferrers. Its plan and stories, 761, 769

SEC. XLIX. Sackville's Induction to the

Mirrour of Magistrates. Examined. A

prelude to the Fairy Queen. Compara-

tive view of Dante's Inferno, 769, 791

SEC. L. Sackville's Legend of Buckingham

in the Mirrour of Magistrates. Additions

by Higgins. Account of him. The early

editions of this Collection. Specimen of

Higgins's Legend of Cordelia, which has

been copied by Spenser,
791, 799

SEC. LI. View of Niccols's edition of the

Mirrour of Magistrates. High estimation

of this Collection. Historical plays,

whence,
799, 809

SEC. LII. Richard Edwards. Principal

poet, player, musician, and buffoon, to the

courts of Mary and Elizabeth. Anecdotes

of his life. Cotemporary testimonies of

his merit. A contributor to the Paradise

of daintie Devises. His book of comic

histories, supposed to have suggested

Shakespeare's Induction of the Tinker.

Anecdotes of Antony Munday and Henry

Chettle. Edwards's songs,
809, 818

SEC. LIII. Tusser. Remarkable circum-

stances of his life. His Husbandrie, one

of our earliest didactic poems, 818, 866
SEC. LIV. William Forrest's poems.

Nu-

His
Queen Catharine, an elegant manuscript,
contains anecdotes of Henry's divorce.
He collects and preserves ancient music.
Puritans oppose the study of the classics.
Lucas Shepherd. John Pullayne.
merous metrical versions of Solomon's
Song. Censured by Hall the satirist. Re-
ligious rhymers. Edward More. Boy-
bishop, and miracle-plays, revived by
queen Mary. Minute particulars of an
ancient miracle-play,
826, 838

SEC. LV. English language begins to be

cultivated. Earliest book of Criticism in

English. Examined. Soon followed by

others. Early critical systems of the

French and Italians. New and superb

editions of Gower and Lydgate. Chau-

cer's monument erected in Westmin-

ster-abbey. Chaucer was esteemed by the

reformers,
839,855

SEC. LVI. Sackville's Gordobuc. Our first

regular tragedy. Its fable, conduct, cha-

racters, and style. Dumb show. Sackville

not assisted by Norton,
855, 866

SEC. LVII. Classical drama revived and

studied. The Phonissa of Euripides tran-

slated by Gascoigne. Seneca's Tragedies

translated. Account of the translators,

and of their respective versions. Queen

Elizabeth translates a part of the Her-

cules Oetæus,
$66, 880

SEC. LVIII. Most of the classic poets tran-

slated before the end of the sixteenth

century. Phaier's Eneid. Completed by

Twyne. Their other works. Phaier's Ballad

of Gad's-hill. Stanihurst's Eneid in English

hexameters. His other works. Fleming's

Virgil's Bucolics and Georgics. His other

works. Webbe and Fraunce translate

some of the Bucolics. Fraunce's other

works. Spenser's Culex. The original

not genuine. The Ceiris proved to be

genuine. Nicholas Whyte's Story of Jason

supposed to be a version of Valerius

Flaccus. Golding's Ovid's Metamor-

phoses. His other works. Ascham's

censure of rhyme. A translation of the

Fasti revives and circulates the story of

Lucrece. Euryalus and Lucretia. De-

tached fables of the Metamorphoses

translated. Moralisations in fashion.

Underdowne's Ovid's Ibis. Ovid's Ele-

gies translated by Marlowe. Remedy of

Love, by F. L. Epistles by Turberville.

Lord Essex a translator of Ovid. His

literary character. Churchyard's Ovid's

Tristia. Other detached versions from

Ovid. Ancient meaning and use of the

word Ballad. Drant's Horace. Criticism

on Tully's Oration pro Archia, 880, 905

SEC. LIX. Kendal's Martial. Marlowe's
versions of Coluthus and Museus. General
character of his Tragedies. Testimonies
of his cotemporaries. Specimens and
estimate of his poetry. His death. First
Translation of the Iliad by Arthur Hall.
Chapman's Homer. His other works.
Version of Clitophon and Leucippe.
Origin of the Greek erotic romance.
Palingenius translated by Googe. Criti-
cism on the original. Specimen and
merits of the translation. Googe's other
works. Incidental stricture on the phil-

osophy of the Greeks,
995, 924

SEC. LX. Translation of Italian novels.

Of Boccace. Paynter's Palace of Plea-

Other versions of the same sort.

Early metrical versions of Boccace's

Theodore and Honoria, and Cymon and

Iphigenia. Romeus and Juliet. Bandello

translated. Romances from Bretagne.

Plot of Shakespeare's Tempest. Miscel

laneous Collections of translated novels

before the year 1600. Pantheon. Novels

arbitrarily licenced or suppressed. Refor-

mation of the English Press, 924,943

SEC. LXI. General view and character of the

poetry of Queen Elizabeth's age, 945, 915

sure.

SEC. LXVI. Remarks on the epigrams and

satires of Bastard, Davies, Donne, Free-

man, Rowlands, Weaver, and Watkins.-

Closing abruptly,

997, 1012

On original title from 1778 to 18th century
appears.-A. M.