Much confusion and much controversy3 exist regarding this matter of ballads and popular poetry. To understand the subject it is necessary to be acquainted with the results of research in the orally transmitted verse of peoples in every stage of culture; for till elementary instruction in reading and writing become universal, the untaught rural classes retain, in their songs, the literary methods of the quite uncivilized races of Australia, North America, Africa, and so on.
Taking the, peoples lowest in civilization, we find that the Australian blacks and the American Red Indians have several kinds of songs, usually sung in dances, whether festive4 or religious or magical. They have magic chants, and even hymns5, often unintelligible6 to those who sing them in the dance, either because the language is obsolete7, or because the songs have been borrowed from tribes of alien speech. It is clear that in Europe, too, the ballad was originally a dancing song ("ballad" is from ballare, to dance), and where a story was told, that was given in recitative, while the dancers followed each line of narrative8 with a chorus or refrain, such as
There were three ladies lived in a bower9,
Oh wow! bonnie.
And they went out to pu' a flower
On the bonnie banks o' Fordie.
The story told in the recitative, in surviving examples, was probably, at first, composed by one author, versifying a popular tale, of unknown antiquity10, or narrating11 some recent event. Even now in the remoter isles12 of the Hebrides, various singers, each in turn, improvise13 and chant verses, and thus a kind of ballad is made collectively. But it is plain that for each of our oldest surviving narrative ballads there must have been one original author, whether his theme was an old story or a recent occurrence,—on the Borders usually a cattle raid, the escape of a prisoner, or a battle. There would be no professional poet, as[Pg 148] Queen Mary's ally, Bishop14 Leslie of Ross tells us, in his "History of Scotland," "the Borderers themselves make their own ballads, about the deeds of their ancestors, or crafty15 raids or forays". Such unwritten songs would be altered by every singer, as time went by, so that these ballads as they stand are thoroughly16 popular and "masterless," many hands have combined to bring them into their present state.
The Robin17 Hood18 ballads, or songs about Robin Hood, are mentioned by Piers19 Plowman as popular among the peasants at the end of the fourteenth century. They would be sung in connexion with the very ancient festivities of May Day, held in England and Scotland, when money was collected, rather roughly, from spectators and passers-by. Now Wynkyn de Worde, the successor of Caxton as a printer, published a "Lytil Geste" of Robin Hood (about 1490). But we are not obliged to suppose that the songs known to Piers Plowman were borrowed from the "long Geste" of Robin Hood; more probably the "Geste" was derived20 from the popular traditions and rhymes of the May Day show of Robin Hood. How far these ballads as they now exist have been organized and improved upon by a professional minstrel it is hard to say. In any case the older ballads are worthy21 of merry England.
The ballads of King Arthur are manifestly popularized and reduced to the simple ballad form from the long literary romances, and are probably the work of lowly professional minstrels.
The long ballad of "Flodden Field" is the work of a partisan22 of the Stanley family, it is far too long (over 500 lines), and too full of historical detail, for a ballad made by the Borderers themselves. "Scottish Field" (Flodden) is another piece of the same sort, in alliterative measure.
The class of ballad which was made as a narrative of current events, or a satire23 on contemporaries (of such ballad-satires24 Henry VIII complained to James V) was usually, in England, the work of a versifying journalist of the humblest sort, and was printed. John Knox tells us that ballads were made on Queen Mary's Four Maries (Mary Livingstone, Mary Fleming, Mary Beaton and Mary Seaton), and these, it is plain, were satirical. But the only survivor25 of these ballads, "Mary Hamilton," is romantic, and in all its many various forms transfers, to a non-existent Mary, the misfortunes of a French waiting-maid of the Queen, who, with her lover, an apothecary26, was hanged for the murder of their child. In only one text is the lover an apothecary: the lady is sometimes not an apocryphal27 Hamilton, but a Campbell, daughter of the Duke of Argyll; or a daughter of the Duke of York, or even "Mary Mild" (or Mile) which is the name of our Lady in old carols. For the lover, the poet chooses Henry Darnley, husband of Queen Mary, or that old offender28, "Sweet Willie," or any one; and this is a good example of the changes which popular ballads underwent in recitation. As they stand, the multitude has collaborated29 in them, reciters have altered the original in many ways.
Such ballads differ much from "Lady Bessy," with its 1080 lines, probably written by Humphrey Brereton in honour of the House of[Pg 149] Stanley and of Lady Bessie's revenge on Richard III. Some verses are as spirited as those of "Kinmont Willie," a Border ballad to which Scott lent the vigour30 of the last and greatest of the Border makers32, for probably the finest verses in the song are by Sir Walter himself: at all events he improved what old verses he found.
At Bosworth Field, when all is lost, Sir William Harrington says to Richard III:—
"There may no man their strokes abide33,
The Stanleys' dints they be so strong,
Ye may come in another time;
Therefore methink ye tarry too long."
As lion-hearted as his namesake Richard I, Richard III replies:—
"Give me my battle-axe in my hand,
And set my crown on my head so high,
For by Him that made both sea and land,
King of England will I this day die.
"One foot of ground I will not flee
While the strength abides34 my breast within,"
As he said so did it be,
If he lost his life he died a king.
The early history of our purely35 romantic ballads, such as "Clerk Sanders," "The Douglas Tragedy," "The Dowie Dens36 o' Yarrow," "Young Beichan," "The Wife of Usher's Well," "Fair Annie," "Tamlane," and many more, is obscure. They have analogues37 in all European countries, from Greece to Scandinavia, and in popular tales, the oldest things in literature. Their extraordinary charm, their touch of supernatural terror, their simplicity38, their recurring39 formul? of words, their brevity and pathos40, make them things apart. The heart of humanity is their maker31, though in each country where they exist local allusions41 and local colour have been given to them by the singers. When such ballads have been worked over by some hack42 of the early Press they are often worthless; the best have been collected from oral recitation, or old written copies.
There can be no universal theory of the origin of ballads; each ballad must be examined by itself before we can say whether it is a popularized shape of a literary romance, or a versified "M?rchen" worked over by many hands in many ages, or a mere43 mythical44 news-letter, like "King James and Brown"; or the work, like "Otterburne," of a humbler poet than the minstrels of the Stanleys, but a better poet; or one whose work has been improved by the modifications45 of later singers; or whether the thing is a dance song, contributed to by each dancer in turn; or a brief and beautiful lament46 like "The Bonny Earl o' Murray". The best traditional ballads have the colour and fragrance47 of wild flowers.
Curious and very ancient traits of popular usages may be gathered from the songs of merrymaking, for example in the songs of Ivy48, the badge of the[Pg 150] women, and of Holly49, the badge of the men. Girls and lads bring ivy and holly into halls and a fight ensues, the girls are thrust out into the cold.
"Nay50, nay Ivy it may not be, I wis,
For Holly must have mastery, as the manner is."
The girls burned the "Holly boy" of the men, the men burned the "Ivy maid" of the girls. This ancient feud51 of the sexes, and of their patron birds, exists among the tribes of South-Eastern Australia, the men killing52 the bird of the women, the women the bird of the men, and an amorous53 kind of combat follows.
The old ballad of "Chevy Chace," a form of the older ballad on the battle of Otterburn (1388) was warmly praised by Sir Philip Sidney. Later Addison took delight in ballads: they began to be collected and printed in volumes towards the end of the seventeenth and early in the eighteenth century. In 1765 Bishop Percy printed many ballads and other early poems from a manuscript, the "Folio" which he found, tattered54 and mutilated, in the house of a friend. Percy, in his "Reliques," omitted, altered and modernized55 the contents of the Folio, but it was very popular. In 1803 and later Sir Walter Scott published "The Border Minstrelsy," containing many excellent old ballads, in places modified by himself, from manuscripts, recitations, and printed copies. It is in "The Minstrelsy" that we find the "classical" versions of the ballads; there are many other collections.
We have put into smaller type a short account of the probable origins and development of the ballad, because a study of these subjects is mainly based on folk-lore and on research into the unwritten poetry of backward races. The reader of poetry who is not concerned about an obscure and difficult subject, is best advised if he takes up Scott's "Border Minstrelsy" and reads it "for human pleasure". He will find endless variety of strong, simple, passionate56 poetry, seldom made difficult by obsolete words, for the ballads are, however old, far less Scots in language than the poems of Burns. Another good collection is the abridgement by Professor Kittredge, of the late Professor Child's vast collection of ballads in five volumes, a work indispensable to the special student.
Though it is not a ballad, the most beautiful and loyal piece of masterless poetry of this age is "The Nut Brown Maid," already old when it was published in 1502. This is a defence of woman's faithfulness in love, the maid will follow her outlawed57 lover to the greenwood, ay, even if he have another lady there. Her lover replies:—
[Pg 151]
Lo yet, before, ye must do more,
Yf ye wyll go with me:
As cut your here up by your ere,
Your kyrtel by the kne;
With bowe in hande, for to withstande
Your enemyes, yf nede be.
Scott's song, "Greta Banks," in "Rokeby," repeats the sentiment and metre of this beautiful poem, with its music and mastery of changing refrains and various measures. Some of the carols too, such as "I sing of a Maid," are the earliest notes in the bird-like music of the lyrists under Elizabeth and Charles I.
PROFESSIONAL POETRY.
Skelton. Barclay.
Meanwhile professional poetry of society and the Court was sinking to the lowest depth. The verse of the prolific58 priest and scholar, John Skelton (born 1460? died 1529?), leads nowhere, and though it is full of historical and personal interest, must not detain us. Skelton had honours of a sort, as Laureate, from Oxford59, Cambridge, and Louvain. He translated parts of Cicero and other classics, and, in 1500, was highly praised by the famous Erasmus, who later brought the study of the New Testament60 in Greek to England, and was the wittiest61 of scholars in the Revival62 of Learning and of Greek literature. Skelton had Latin enough, of Greek not much, and about 1500 was tutor of the future Henry VIII. His profuse63 poetry is mainly in long but lively stretches of doggerel64; very short rhyming verses, generally satirical, poured from him ceaselessly. He had a "flyting" or scolding match like that of Dunbar and Kennedy, with Sir Christopher Garnesche; he lamented65 at terrible length the death of "Philip Sparrow," slain66 by "our Cat Gib"—nothing can be less like Catullus's dirge67 for Lesbia's sparrow, but some graceful68 compliments to young ladies are intermixed with the doggerel. He owed the Rectory of Diss, Norfolk, probably to his patron, Wolsey, but for some unknown reason he later pursued Wolsey with libellous satires.
In "The Bowge of Court," when he relapses into stanzas69 and the outworn allegorical verbiage70, he satirizes71 Court life. In "Colyn Clout72," his hero is a tramp, as vehement73 in attack on all sorts and conditions of men as Piers Plowman. Wolsey was attacked as a despot in "Colyn Clout," and much more bitterly assailed74 in "Why come ye not to Court": after writing this piece Skelton fled from his foes75 and creditors76 to sanctuary77 in Westminster. He wrote a long "Morality," "Magnificence," with the usual personified vices78 and virtues79. In very bad taste he hurled80 doggerel at "King Jimmy," James IV, after his glorious death at Flodden, and, more deservedly, attacked the Scots who deserted81 the Duke of Albany and the French when the Duke wished to lead them across the Tweed.
[Pg 152]
A brief sample of Skelton when most Skeltonical is his reply to the alleged82 boast of the Scots that they won the battle of Flodden.
That is as true
As black is blue
And green is grey
Whatever they say
Jemmy is dead
And closed in lead,
That was their own king:
Fie on that winning!
Even in his own country, as he admits, the execrable taste of Skelton was reproved. He had a rude kind of vigour, but his verses make it manifest that a new strain of blood, as it were, was needed in English poetry: old forms, such as the allegorical form, were outworn quite, and verse resembling the poem of Aramis, in lines of one syllable83, could not endure, while Skelton's "Crown of Laurel" mixes his own blusterous humour with the stale learning, and pompous84 allegory of the fifteenth century; and "The Tunning of Eleanor Rummyng" (an ale-wife), in doggerel, is as offensive as the Scottish song, "There was a haggis in Dunbar," and extends to 620 lines. Very truly quoth Skelton:—
I have written too mytche
Of this mad mummynge
Of Elynour Rummynge.
Barclay.
Alexander Barclay (died 1552) was probably not a Scot, though his name is spelt in the Scots not the English way (Berkeley). His high praises of James IV of Scotland, however, scarcely indicate an English author, and he was very early regarded as a Scot. He was a priest, a monk85 of Ely; he dwelt long at St. Mary Ottery in Devon, and was a copious86 translator. His "Ship of Fools" (1508-1509) is from the German "Narrenschiff" of Sebastian Brandt: his "Castle of Labour," from the French of Gringore was an earlier work. His "Eclogues," in part translated, are very unlike those of Virgil, and their contents are growls87 in the style of "Colyn Clout".
Barclay used French and Latin versions of the "Narrenschiff," as well as the original "Dutch". He altered and added to his original as he pleased, and he prolongs the cry against abuses raised by Piers Plowman. A writer who takes all follies88 and vices for his theme, from the frauds of friars, the wickedness of heretics, the oppressions of knights89, to the peevishness90 of the patient who kicks over the table on which the physic bottles stand, can never want matter, and Barclay's matter is exceeding abundant.
But the clever contemporary woodcuts that illustrate91 his satire are better than his two thousand irregular stanzas in rhyme royal, and if Barclay quarrelled with Skelton the affair is like a feud between Bavius and Maevius. The two writers are characteristic of their rude and chaotic92 age, which, as regards all but popular poetry, was the dark hour before the dawn.
点击收听单词发音
1 ballad | |
n.歌谣,民谣,流行爱情歌曲 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
2 ballads | |
民歌,民谣,特别指叙述故事的歌( ballad的名词复数 ); 讴 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
3 controversy | |
n.争论,辩论,争吵 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
4 festive | |
adj.欢宴的,节日的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
5 hymns | |
n.赞美诗,圣歌,颂歌( hymn的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
6 unintelligible | |
adj.无法了解的,难解的,莫明其妙的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
7 obsolete | |
adj.已废弃的,过时的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
8 narrative | |
n.叙述,故事;adj.叙事的,故事体的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
9 bower | |
n.凉亭,树荫下凉快之处;闺房;v.荫蔽 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
10 antiquity | |
n.古老;高龄;古物,古迹 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
11 narrating | |
v.故事( narrate的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
12 isles | |
岛( isle的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
13 improvise | |
v.即兴创作;临时准备,临时凑成 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
14 bishop | |
n.主教,(国际象棋)象 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
15 crafty | |
adj.狡猾的,诡诈的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
16 thoroughly | |
adv.完全地,彻底地,十足地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
17 robin | |
n.知更鸟,红襟鸟 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
18 hood | |
n.头巾,兜帽,覆盖;v.罩上,以头巾覆盖 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
19 piers | |
n.水上平台( pier的名词复数 );(常设有娱乐场所的)突堤;柱子;墙墩 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
20 derived | |
vi.起源;由来;衍生;导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 );(从…中)得到获得;源于;(从…中)提取 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
21 worthy | |
adj.(of)值得的,配得上的;有价值的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
22 partisan | |
adj.党派性的;游击队的;n.游击队员;党徒 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
23 satire | |
n.讽刺,讽刺文学,讽刺作品 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
24 satires | |
讽刺,讥讽( satire的名词复数 ); 讽刺作品 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
25 survivor | |
n.生存者,残存者,幸存者 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
26 apothecary | |
n.药剂师 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
27 apocryphal | |
adj.假冒的,虚假的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
28 offender | |
n.冒犯者,违反者,犯罪者 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
29 collaborated | |
合作( collaborate的过去式和过去分词 ); 勾结叛国 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
30 vigour | |
(=vigor)n.智力,体力,精力 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
31 maker | |
n.制造者,制造商 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
32 makers | |
n.制造者,制造商(maker的复数形式) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
33 abide | |
vi.遵守;坚持;vt.忍受 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
34 abides | |
容忍( abide的第三人称单数 ); 等候; 逗留; 停留 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
35 purely | |
adv.纯粹地,完全地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
36 dens | |
n.牙齿,齿状部分;兽窝( den的名词复数 );窝点;休息室;书斋 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
37 analogues | |
相似物( analogue的名词复数 ); 类似物; 类比; 同源词 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
38 simplicity | |
n.简单,简易;朴素;直率,单纯 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
39 recurring | |
adj.往复的,再次发生的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
40 pathos | |
n.哀婉,悲怆 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
41 allusions | |
暗指,间接提到( allusion的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
42 hack | |
n.劈,砍,出租马车;v.劈,砍,干咳 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
43 mere | |
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
44 mythical | |
adj.神话的;虚构的;想像的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
45 modifications | |
n.缓和( modification的名词复数 );限制;更改;改变 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
46 lament | |
n.悲叹,悔恨,恸哭;v.哀悼,悔恨,悲叹 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
47 fragrance | |
n.芬芳,香味,香气 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
48 ivy | |
n.常青藤,常春藤 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
49 holly | |
n.[植]冬青属灌木 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
50 nay | |
adv.不;n.反对票,投反对票者 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
51 feud | |
n.长期不和;世仇;v.长期争斗;世代结仇 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
52 killing | |
n.巨额利润;突然赚大钱,发大财 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
53 amorous | |
adj.多情的;有关爱情的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
54 tattered | |
adj.破旧的,衣衫破的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
55 modernized | |
使现代化,使适应现代需要( modernize的过去式和过去分词 ); 现代化,使用现代方法 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
56 passionate | |
adj.热情的,热烈的,激昂的,易动情的,易怒的,性情暴躁的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
57 outlawed | |
宣布…为不合法(outlaw的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
58 prolific | |
adj.丰富的,大量的;多产的,富有创造力的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
59 Oxford | |
n.牛津(英国城市) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
60 testament | |
n.遗嘱;证明 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
61 wittiest | |
机智的,言辞巧妙的,情趣横生的( witty的最高级 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
62 revival | |
n.复兴,复苏,(精力、活力等的)重振 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
63 profuse | |
adj.很多的,大量的,极其丰富的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
64 doggerel | |
n.拙劣的诗,打油诗 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
65 lamented | |
adj.被哀悼的,令人遗憾的v.(为…)哀悼,痛哭,悲伤( lament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
66 slain | |
杀死,宰杀,杀戮( slay的过去分词 ); (slay的过去分词) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
67 dirge | |
n.哀乐,挽歌,庄重悲哀的乐曲 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
68 graceful | |
adj.优美的,优雅的;得体的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
69 stanzas | |
节,段( stanza的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
70 verbiage | |
n.冗词;冗长 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
71 satirizes | |
v.讽刺,讥讽( satirize的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
72 clout | |
n.用手猛击;权力,影响力 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
73 vehement | |
adj.感情强烈的;热烈的;(人)有强烈感情的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
74 assailed | |
v.攻击( assail的过去式和过去分词 );困扰;质问;毅然应对 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
75 foes | |
敌人,仇敌( foe的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
76 creditors | |
n.债权人,债主( creditor的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
77 sanctuary | |
n.圣所,圣堂,寺庙;禁猎区,保护区 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
78 vices | |
缺陷( vice的名词复数 ); 恶习; 不道德行为; 台钳 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
79 virtues | |
美德( virtue的名词复数 ); 德行; 优点; 长处 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
80 hurled | |
v.猛投,用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 );大声叫骂 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
81 deserted | |
adj.荒芜的,荒废的,无人的,被遗弃的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
82 alleged | |
a.被指控的,嫌疑的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
83 syllable | |
n.音节;vt.分音节 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
84 pompous | |
adj.傲慢的,自大的;夸大的;豪华的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
85 monk | |
n.和尚,僧侣,修道士 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
86 copious | |
adj.丰富的,大量的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
87 growls | |
v.(动物)发狺狺声, (雷)作隆隆声( growl的第三人称单数 );低声咆哮着说 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
88 follies | |
罪恶,时事讽刺剧; 愚蠢,蠢笨,愚蠢的行为、思想或做法( folly的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
89 knights | |
骑士; (中古时代的)武士( knight的名词复数 ); 骑士; 爵士; (国际象棋中)马 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
90 peevishness | |
脾气不好;爱发牢骚 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
91 illustrate | |
v.举例说明,阐明;图解,加插图 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
92 chaotic | |
adj.混沌的,一片混乱的,一团糟的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
欢迎访问英文小说网 |