15 William 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.”

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.”

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.”

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.”

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)

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(Poem of 1800 lines)

‘Slightly immature’

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Work of writer’s youth

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“passus” or cantos.

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2,567 lines

Text B (or Crowley)

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The best of the three

↓

Work of poets ‘maturity’.

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Contains 20 “passus” or Cantos.

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7,242 lines

Text C (or Whitaker)

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(15 thousand lines)

‘Somewhat Prolix’

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Work of writer’s Old Age

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Contains 23 “passus” or Cantos.

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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.”

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. Her crown is more precious than the king’s. ‘She is a powerful but dubious personage whose name has been perverted by the evil times to a bad sense. It once meant due retribution but now means prevarication. She has a whole retinue of courtiers and flatterers who persuade her to evil. They prepare to wed her to False, and her marriage contract has been duly drawn up, when the opposition of Theology causes the business to be carried to London, to the King’s court where the righteous, by their own courage and the advice of conscience and Reason, prevail upon the king to break off the marriage, and wreak justice upon the guilty in spite of the devices of the wicked and their bribery of royal offices.’ (Legious and Cazamian , pg-116).He also gives a vivid description of the flight of False to seek refuge with the Pardoners, the Minstrels , the Friars and the Merchants.

I looked on my left side · as the lady taught me,

And was ware of a woman · worthily clothed,

With fringes of fur · the finest on earth,

Crowned with a crown · the king hath no better

Featly her fingers were · framed with gold wire,

And thereon red rubies · as red as any coal,

And diamonds of dearest price · and two kinds of sapphires,

Orientals and beryls · poison banes to destroy.

Her robe was full rich · of red scarlet dyed,

With ribands of red gold · and of richest stones;

Her array me ravished · such riches saw I never;

I had wonder what she was · and whose wife she were.

`What is this woman,’ quoth I · `so worthily attired?’ `

That is Meed I the Maid,’ quoth she · `who hath vexed me full

oft, And lied of my lover

(http://sites.fas.harvard.edu/~chaucer/special/authors/langland/pp-pro.html)

(This text is from William Langland, The Book Concerning Piers the Plowman, tr. Donald and Rachel Attwater, ed. Rachel Attwater (Everyman, 1957))

The second vision is the “Vision of the Seven Deadly Sins and of Piers the Plowman (Pass. Vi -x);” These seven deadly sins are present abundantly in the Medieval Literature. He turns them into the living beings. He speaks with ‘peculiar gusto’ about covetousness and Gluttony. He presents the Pageant of the Seven Deadly Sins. Each sinner repents. Pride of Man says:

I, Pride, patiently,

First to father and mother

Unabashed to offend

Inobedient to the Church

I judged her for her vices;

With word and wit

Scorning them and others

That simple folk should

think me

Proud of my apparel;

Other than I was

Willing men to think me,

Rich and eloquent,

A boaster, a braggart, I,

Vaunting my vainglory

Singular, alone,

Some time in one faith,

Wishing men should think

My craft the cleverest,

My strength the stiffest,

My love the sweetest,

Proud of my fair features,

What I gave for Gods love

For them to think me holy,

ask for penance,

was I inobedient,

God and the good,

and to them that serve her,

I urged on others,

the churchmens evil works to

show,

when I saw my time

witty and wise,

appearing among men

in mind or in wealth;

for the goods I had,

righteous in my life;

full of bold oaths,

in face of all reproof;

for none was like to me;

some time in another,

my work was the best,

my riding the strongest,

my face the handsomest,

my crimes the boldest,

proud of my shrill song.

I told my gossips all about it

holy and free of alms;

He personified Envy in following words:

His clothes were of cursing

He was pale as a stone;

And like a leek that had lain

So looked he with long cheeks

His body was all swollen with

wrath;

And went wringing his fists;

With word or deed

Every word he threw

Of chiding and of challenging

Backbiting and calumny

This was his courtesy

Wrath confesses boldly that:

I grafted lies

And the lies bare leaves

And entered my ladys bower

Now comes the fruit.

To preachers and visitors

Parsons soon see

Then parsons preach

And Friars blame parsons;

I, Wrath, walk mid all,

Both vaunt their spiritual

power,

Each contemns the other,

Or else ride about rich,

I, Wrath, never rest

Then comes Avarice

The third is “ Wit, Study, Clergy and Scripture ( Pass. Xi. Xii)”
Covetousness-of-Eyes came often in my mind
Than Do-well or Do-better among my deeds all.

Covetousness-of-Eyes comforted me oft,
And said, “Have no conscience how thou come to goods.
Go confess thee to some friar and shew him thy sins.

For while Fortune is thy friend, friars will thee love,
And fetch thee to their fraternity and for thee beseech
To their Prior Provincial a pardon for to have,

And pray for thee poll by poll if thou be pecuniosus

The fourth is “ Fortune, Nature, Recklessness, and Reason ( pass. Xiii., xiv)” Speech of Recklessness is continued. Imaginatif talks to the dreamer. Imaginatif says:

“Vix iustus salvabitur,”

And when he had said so, how suddenly he passed. I lay down long in this thought, and at the last I slept;

And as Christ would, there came Conscience to comfort me that time,

And bade me come to his court — with Clergy should I dine.

And for Conscience of Clergy spake, I came well the rather; sooner And there I saw a master —what man he was I nyste— knew not That low louted and lovely to Scripture. Bowed Conscience knew him well and welcomed him fair;

They washed and wiped and went to the dinner.
As Patience in the palace stood in pilgrim’s clothes,
And prayed meat pour charité for a poor hermit.

The fifth is Vision of Imaginative (pass. Xv)

Patience begs for food and conscience welcomes him. Activa asks patience what perfect patience is.

The sixth is Consciensce, Patience and Activa ( pass. Xvi., xvii.)

Activa asks patience what is poverty. Patience answers her in Latin and after her demand tries to translate it in English. Answering to the questions of the dreamer Free will says that charity is childlike.

The seventh is “ Free – will and the Tree of Charity (pass. Xviii., xix)”

Here Free-will talks about the Tree of Charity. Here the poet weaves a dream within a dream.

The eighth is “ Faith, Hope and Charity ( pass. Xx)”
Truth, Mercy Peace and Righteousness are present in this passus.

The ninth is “The, Triumph of Piers the Plowman, i.e., the Crucifixion, Burial and
Resurrection of Jesus Christ ( pass. Xxi.)”
The tenth is “ The Vision of Grace ( pass. xxii.)”

The eleventh or the last is “ The Vision of Antichrist( pass. Xxiii)”

Language of Langland

The fact is that neither he was a ‘pure traditionalist’ nor an ‘artistic reactionary’. As per W. L. Renwick: “ He may have written in the old form because it was the one in which he was brought up, but he may have chosen it deliberately for his own purposes, and for that matter may have been more of a free agent than the court-bred Chaucer was in attempting to anglicize the fashionable French rhyme.” Piers Plowman is the most ‘notable alliterative poem of the time’. About the language of Piers Plowman Renwick writes that: “ Neither the style nor the thought of Piers Plowman can be referred to the Old English heroic poetry from which the verse is descended: they are as much of his own day as Chaucer’s.” He further writes that; “He probably wrote in this old English verse because it suited his political and moral purposes. The old verse was close to the soil of England, and a fitting vehicle for his nationalism and the preaching of the primitive virtues. But the virtues he preached were those of Feudal Europe, not of Saxon England.”

His language is easy to understand. Patterson very boldly calls Langland’s meter not only conservative but a Die-Hard. He writes that: “…his “rum, ram, ruf” alliteration is not pleasant to those who are familiar with the liquid perfection of Chaucer. “ The words of Mercury are harsh after the songs of Apollo”.” ( pg. 37) Dr. Skeat also writes that: “the Prologue to Piers Plowman and the first 420 lines of Chaucer’s Prologue alike contain 88 percent of Anglo-Saxon words. … The number of French words in our author is considerable.” The fourteenth century before its end witnessed a lot of change in English language. All big writers like Langland and Chaucer were using language packed with French words. There were nearly six hundred different tags or quotations in French and Latin in the three versions of Longman’s Piers Plowman. French is also an essential part of the meaning in this book. Here I quote some examples of Latin

sentences as published in the William’s Vision Of Piers Plowman by William Langland edited by Ben Byram-Wigfield:

“Sum Rex, sum Princeps, — neutrum fortasse deinceps O qui iura regis Christi specialia regis,

Hoc quod agas melius — iustus es, esto pius

Nudum ius a te vestiri vult pietate.

Qualia vis metere, talia grana sere:

Si ius nudatur, nudo de iure metatur;

Si seritur pietas, de pietate metas.” (Prologue)

Inebriemus eum vino dormiamusque cum eo,

ut servare possimus de patre nostro semen. (Passus 1)

Ponam pedem in aquilone, et similis ero Altissimo. ( Passus 1)

Qualis pater, talis filius. Bona arbor bonum fructum facit. ( Passus 2)

Ignis devorabit tabernacula eorum qui libenter accipiunt munera, &c. ( Passus 3)

Non eligas cui miserearis, ne forte pretereas illum qui meretur accipere;

quia incertum est pro quo Deo magis placeas. ( Passus 7)

Proditor est prelatus cum Iuda qui patrimonium Christi minus distribuit. Et alibi: perniciosus dispensator est qui res pauperum Christi inutiliter consumit. ( Passus 9)

He writes in a dialect which is a mixture of East Midland, Midland and of South. As per Skeats, “There can be little doubt that the true dialect of the author is best represented by MSS. Of the B – text, and that this dialect was mainly Midland with occassional introduction of Southern forms. The A- text was printed from the Vernon MS. , as this seemed to be the best MS.,… The MSS. Of the C- text are mostly in a Midland dialect, but it is remarkable that many of them frequently introduce Western forms…” He uses ‘eth’ which is the sign of plural in the south, whereas ‘en’ is the sign of plural in East Midland. J.M.D MiekleJohn quotes that: “Langland makes his genitive singular end in es. His plural adjectives end in e; the comparative of heigh (high) is here; the superlative hexte (heighste). Both sche and heo (Lancashire hoo) are used for the feminine pronoun. The contractions nam (=ne am), nelle(= ne will), are used, as in Chaucer.”

Piers Plowman is composed in Alliterative meter. The lines of Piers Plowman are strongly accented and are composed in alliterative lines. ‘…its immense popularity shows that the common people still cherished this easily memorized form of Saxton poetry.” (W.J.Long, pg.82). In the preface of B-text Crowley writes: “Langland wrote altogether in metre, but not after the manner of our rhymers that write nowadays (for his verses end not alike), but the nature of his metre is to have three words, at the least, in every verse which begin with some one letter. This thing being noted, the metre shall be very pleasant to read. The English is according to the time it was written in, and the sense somewhat dark, but not so hard but that it may be understood of such as will not stick to break the shell of the nut for the kernel’s sake.”

There are at least three alliterative letters in the alliterative verse. These alliterative letters are called “rime- letters”. There must be two rime – letters in the first half and one in the second half. The first two ‘rime – letters’ are called sub – letters, and the last one the chief – letter. “The accent must strike the alliterative syllable; and there must be at least three accented words.”

In a summer season, when soft was the sun,

I shaped me into shrouds as I a sheep were,

In habit as an hermit, unholy of works,

Went wide in this world wonders to hear.

As on a May morning on Malvern Hills

Me befell a ferly, of Fairy me thought.

I was weary of wandering and went me to rest

Under a broad bank by a bourne side.

And as I lay and leaned and looked on the waters,

I slumbered into a sleeping, it sweyed so merry.

In the first line ‘s’ is the rime – letter. The sub – letters start ‘summer’ and ‘season’ and chief – letter starts ‘soft’.

There are certain rules attached to it. ‘If the chief – letter be a consonant, the sub letters should be the same consonant, or a consonant expressing the same sound. If a vowel, it is sufficient that the sub – letters be also vowels; they need not be the same, and in practice are generally different. Some infinitives like –ie or –ye are common in West Midland and Southern Dialects. Ex. Tilie, stekye, and shonye. Longman often used a singular verb like is or was with a plural noun. Legouis and Cazamian call him ‘the last noteworthy writer of alliterative verse.’ (pg-118) They also commented on his art of versification in following words: “The vigorous and frank quality of his verse is striking. But partly because of his archaic versification and partly because of his real lack of art, his verses never thrill the sensibilities as poetry should.” (pg 118) This book is an allegory on life. The poet falls asleep beside a stream upon the Malvern hills, and sees “in a dream a sorry scene – a field of repentant sinners drawn from every section of society.” All these people are going on a pilgrimage to the shrine of truth. Piers, the Plowman guides these people. He symbolizes Christ. “His conception of this reformer changes from time to time, and becomes more exalted as the poem advances. At first he is a ploughman, one of the true and honest labourers who are the salt of the earth; but at least he is identified with the great reformer who has come already, the regenerator of the world in the person of Jesus Christ; in the author’s own phrase – ‘Petrus est Christus”.

B-text of the poem lacks the lively scenes which were the source of attraction in the A – text. The poem often reminds us of Mystery and Morality plays. In words of Legouis and Cazamian Passus XXI in the third text is a dramatic narrative of the mysteries of Passion and the Resurrection which gives much space to dialogue, a play with magnified stage directions.

The scene is laid, as in the mysteries, betwixt heaven, earth, and hell.” Appreciating this work W.J. Long rightly remarks that: “Its tremendous appeal to justice and common honesty, its clarion call to every man, whether ‘King, priest, noble and labourer, to do his Christian duty, takes from it any trace of prejudice or bigotry with which such works usually abound. Its loyalty to the Church, while denouncing abuses that had crept into it in that period, was one of the great influences which led to the Reformation in England.” The national influences on this book and the vivid picture of fourteenth century English society keep this book at a very high pedestal.

you can view video on William Langland

Reference

Bansal, Anupama and Kumar, Satish. A History of English Literature. Laxmi Narain Agarwal, Agra.
Hales, J.W. : ‘Willliam Langland.’ Dictionary of National Biography.Vol XI.
New York:The Macmillan Co., 1909. Pg 545-549
Karnes, Michelle. “Will’s Imagination in Piers Plowman”. JEGP, Journal of English and Germanic Philology, Volume 108, Number 1, January 2009, pp. 27-58 (Article)
Published by University of Illinois Press DOI: 10.1353/egp.0.0004New York: The Macmillan Co, 1909.545-549.
Legouis, Emile and Cazamian, Louis: A History of English Literature The Middle Ages and the Renascence. M.Dent And Sons Ltd. London. 1933
Long, William J.: English Literature Maple Press. Noida, India. 2010
MeikleJohn, J.M.D.: English Literature. A New History and Survey from Saxon Times to the Georgian Era. Meiklejohn and sons Ltd. London. 1928
Patterson, Richard Ferrar. Six Centuries of English Literature. Volume I. Pages selected from the Chief Writers and Short Biographies. The Standard Literature Company Private Limited. London. 1963.
Skeat, Rev. Walter W. The Vision of William concerning Piers The Plowman. Vol. II. Preface, Text and Glossary. Oxford at the Clarendon Press. Oxford.
The Encyclopaedia Britanica 14th Edition. A New Survey of Universal Knowledge, vol.13. London. 1957
Wigfield, Ben Byram ( ed.). William’s Vision Of Piers Plowman by William Langland. Electronic document. 2006

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