New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-05-06
WILLIAM LANGLAND.
A POET OF THE PEOPLE IN ANCIENT
ENGLAND.

1t is not so much the poem on Piers Plowmah
as the author. william Langland. that NJ Jusse-
rand aims to restore TO popular knowledge. ne
sees in Langland typical Engishman OF MS
time and one who may be compared with those
of other times to show how little change there
mas been In the type In this light even Chaucer
does not seem to NJ. Jusserand so exclusively Oh
native genius as his shadowy contemporary.
shadow indeed IS the form Of Langland II
Is a laborious task OF the historical Inauguration
70 shane a sembance Of MIN out Of the environ
ment in which he must have lived, out OF the
conscious or unconscious illusions of his poem
on, Of the events Of the time There are many
questions about Chaucer'1 life and works never
ukeIv IN be settled. But with Langland every
thing NAV be put in dOub even the authors
name and his very existence. y skiful cfluc
could easily make out a plausible case Tor the
anonymity Of the Vision concerning PIERS 'he
Plowman. But one perverse enough TO attempt
this feat would still have 10 acknowledge wha'
NJ Jusserand calls the insularty of his unknown
poet Chaucer cosmopolitan. lie hau inc
friendship Of Petrarch and Des Champs Cover
Too though he travelled little or not at all, yet
saturated himself with the French spirit HIS
social pos,tion made this possible for him Thus
there is an alien note at times even in Cover
conservatism which is never heard amid the
Saxor ALTERATIONS attributed to Langland TO
tho latter other countries as nothing. ne
thinks only of England. The claims OF the kings
~ the nossesson of France are to him. as 10 all
the common people for whom he speaks aos"'u'
II IS peace the people want. not huhureu Se".'
of war; They want nation OF their own "i'''''
their own natural boundaries Ihey see 'iie ei'''-
ness of their task which is nothing less IMAM '"e
creation of the England of later times ana 'neS
know that it is enough for the strongest race
So Langland wants the nation to spend us eie'
It.. 81 homo and not to be disturbed from the
work of improving the machinery oi 'ie "'"'
ara tho establishment of a more perfect balance
NJ mower between King and Parliament All
the ideas OF constitutional reform that were III
49, r,,ds ~ the people find expression some
80 IN tho story of which the plowman is the
hare ..There is almost no remOnstrance III tue
-, =, pa rliement" remarks NJ Jusserand, that
d. No, n no found also in the Visions. The same
raforms are advocated. the same ABUSES "e
rounced" The curious fact is that the commons
ara hardly less visionary In plain prose-r
English or broken Latin-than their poet 10 III
his verse Thus has worked FOR centuries "
the great profit of the nation, the qua ee"'''
Inherited from remote ancestors Inc
dreams his dream and sings his song the MI
man listens and says. Why not? lie II So
mon If this mixed race have the bouhuiesS "u-
dacities OF mystic dreamers' WHoi'' i9
because they build in the air
Here again the poet of Piers PIoWinah Is a"O'O
all English in a restricted sense. II there Is III
h,r, blending Of the Celtic. the Latin ana 'he
c-arranic races the last had most claim upon
hin, He shares their vague longings, their sea-
sons of profound depression and OF strange "a
a,tation With such temper as MS he H"e"'
have turned to dreams and visions III any 'a'0'
hut the age In which he lived was highiy iaNoi
atSe TO such literature. All the poets u ''9
medieval period were more or less suoJeo' y"
this device which was not mere ulch vi '"'
imagination Most OF them dreamed out OF uooia
In the spring when the grass was TIC" anu
the leaves were fresh and the no"er' n'''
INST opened Even Dante dreamed IN splihs
and Langlands first vision came 10 M
on May morning. 1t Is nor VI .'
o,bar world that ne speaks. but OF lhe
,'sa ,,hich no saw about him in his waking
moments The small group Of persons whoi"
rh.ucer collected at the Tabard Inn are types
80 tho multitude which Langland saw In MS
,,s,on IA he dealt with a mob, so MS poem
WAS irregular In It's purport but expressing al
tho while the thoughts Of the class which passes
rou IN England under the generic name Vi
uodge But while Piers Powman Is the honest
and guileess aborer. he stands also lor re"e-
ions ideal The men Of the fourteenth century
well understood that they had in him the out
r,,ora and inward representative Of themselves.
The name became a sign and SYMBOL d sorI Vi
noseword q personifcation Of the laboring
classes Perhaps they misunderstood the mean
ing of the poet He might not have counseheu
such an uprising of the peasantry as that WHICH
occurred in his lifetime, for to his mind the COM
mons could no more do without the KING IMAM
ROYALTY could do without subjects On this
point Cover and Langland were agreed 'nousP
one wrote in Latin for those who were educated.
and the other in mixture Of English dlaiec'S
which must have seemed quaint to polished ears
even in that age. when the language OF England
had not yet taken literary form Cover de-
nounced the corruptions of the times. both IN
Church and State but he had the prejudice or
the gentry against making phrases in the vulgar
tongue for the mob to use as war cries Lang
land had no such prejudice. 1t may be inferred
then that he was not Of the gentry.
The origin and social POSITION Of Langland are
the most interesting themes dealt with by Nj.
Jussers.ad. For in his view the poets case Is
one Of mental disease. due to his circumstances.
a mental disease which the critic can use and
does use for Interpreting the peculiariues OF GER
tain renowned Englishmen of later times The
trouble is not one that affects the poets judg-
ment He is as good and as wise conservative
as even a moral gentleman like Cover In
Church and State he attacks abuses not institu-
tons He is no reformer who desires to over
turn the hierarchy of the Church. but he wishes
that the Pope may not lay hand on overmuch
power IN England Either he has not
thought a. deeply as Wiclife. for ex-
ample. on these matters. or his turn of
thought Is wholly different. The fact is plain
that he had pride of learning like the great
English Reformer any pride OF class like
that apparent in Cover. He is far simpler
minded than these men. because, says NJ. Jusse-
rand. he is OF ruder origin. He was not even
the son OF a freeman. though there be tradi-
ton which seems to say 80. When Holy Church
IN the form OF a woman--one should remember