Symons, Dana M., ed., Chaucerian Dream Visions and Complaints (TEAMS Middle English Texts Series. Kalamazoo: Medieval Institute Publications.) Read this source online
Text name(s): The Boke of Cupide, God of Love, or The Cuckoo and the Nightingale; A Complaynte of a Lovers Lyfe or The Complaint of the Black Knight; The quare of jelusy; La belle dame sans mercy
Number of pages of primary source text: 293
Author(s):
Dates: 1400 - 1500
Archival Reference:
Original Language(s):
- English - Anglo-Saxon / Old English
Translation:
- Translated into English.
Translation Comments:
Geopolitical Region(s):
- England
County/Region:
Record Types:
- Translation
- Literature - Verse
Subject Headings:
- Literature - Epics, Romance
- Nobility / Gentry
- Women / Gender
Apparatus:
- Glossary
- Introduction
Comments: Four of the three poems in this volume were all once attributed to Chaucer: their style and content are very similar to his works. The poems all describe a “love vision,” depicting courtly love, and the relationships between a noble lady and her exasperated suitors. The poems included are:
- The Boke of Cupide, God of Love, or The Cuckoo and the Nightingale, by John Clanvowe
- A Complaynte of a Lovers Lyfe or The Complaint of the Black Knight, by John Lydgate
- The Quare of Jelusy, anonymous
- La Belle Dame sans Mercy, by Richard Roos (a Middle English translation of Alain Chartier’s poem of the same name)
Like all TEAMS editions of Middle English texts, the Middle English spelling is regularized and uses modern orthography. The edition contains copious notes and analytical material to make the material accessible to students with little or no experience of Middle English. The entire book is available at the TEAMS website.
Introduction Summary:
There is a general introduction and introductions to each poem. The general introduction questions the use of the label “Chaucerian,” stressing that these works are not imitations of Chaucer, but part of a larger late medieval literary canon that should not always be measured in comparison with Chaucer. The introduction then discusses the themes and conventions of love vision poetry. The introductions give a literary context to the poems and compare them to a specific “Chaucerian” literary genre.
Cataloger: cdb
