Raymo, R. R.
Modern Language Notes 71.3 (1956): 159-60.
Identifies lines 1-4 of the "Speculum Stultorum" of Nigel de Longchamps as a source for the bird cacophony in PF 309-15, observing that Chaucer's "personal familiarity" with the "Speculum" is evident in the reference to "Daun Burnel the Asse" at NPT…
Renoir, Alain.
Modern Language Notes 71.4 (1956): 249-56.
Charts the charactonyms of Lydgate's "Seige of Thebes" with those used in two analogues, possibly sources--the "Roman de Edipus" and the "Ystoire de Thèbes--comparing them with names and spellings used by Chaucer. When Lydgate departs from Chaucer's…
Ruggiers, Paul G.
College English 17.8 (1956): 439-44.
Seeks to illuminate "the kind of order that Chaucer was in the process of imposing" on the CT, focusing on the "definite beginning" and "definite end" rather than the "great middle." Treats GP, where Chaucer sets his topic ("variety of the created…
Argues that complex acrostic anagrams in PF reveal that it was written on the occasion of negotiations for a marriage between Lionel of Clarence and Violanta Visconti; identifies French analogues to this intricate practice, and helping to date…
Scott, Forrest S.
Modern Language Review 51 (1956): 2-5.
Offers a "third suggestion" to the discussions of what "seventhe spere" refers to in TC 5.1809, suggesting that Chaucer altered Boccaccio's eighth sphere (also a variant in TC manuscripts) and, counting inwards from the sphere of the fixed stars,…
Spector, R. D.
Notes and Queries 201 (1956): 23-24.
Compares and contrasts examples of diction in Dryden's translations of CT to explain why Dryden did not translate the low-style fabliaux and to show that Dryden's translations of Chaucer's humorous passages evince metaphysical wit rather than the…
Steadman, John M.
Notes and Queries 201 (1956): 374-75.
Offers support for the notion that the whelp episode in BD (387-96)--likely derived from Machaut's "Dit dou Lyon"--serves as a "symbol of fidelity," adducing instances of Renaissance "canine symbolism" and the appearance of dogs "on medieval tombs."…
Steadman, John M.
Modern Philology 54 (1956): 1-6.
Clarifies the implications of the Prioress keeping dogs as pets and feeding them meat (GP 1.146ff.), explaining that such behavior bends or breaks at least four "Benedictine strictures"--ones that restrict pet owning (especially dogs) and eating…
Compares Mars with the "Ovide moralisé" and examines its adaptations of the "aubade, the complaint, the Valentine-tradition (Gower and Graunson), and the conventions of courtly love"--as inflected by Chaucer's own concerns and "personality," and…
Untermeyer, Louis, ed.
Garden City, NY: Hanover House, 1956.
Anthologizes (with commentary) a wide variety of ribald texts and excerpts from the "Ancients" to the "Moderns," including among "Renaissance" works MilT, RvT, and WBP in Theodore Morrison's translations.
Waggoner, George R.
Notes and Queries 201 (1956): 462.
Locates three references to Chaucer in Stow's 1570 "Summarye," not found in the 1565 edition and not included in Caroline Spurgeon compendium of Chaucer's allusions. Points out that death dates given for Chaucer vary in two of the reference (1400 and…
Whitesell, J. Edwin.
Modern Language Notes 71.3 (1956): 160-61.
Links the use of "ferthyng" and the lisping of the Friar in GP 1.255 and 1.264 with the friar of SumT and his use of "ferthyng" (3.1967), suggesting that if that latter had a lisp like the former, his pronunciation may have inspired the "crude…
Williams, Arnold.
Modern Philology 54.2 (1956): 117-20.
Provides context for the references to a cope in the GP description of the Friar (1.259-63) and to Elijah and Elisha in SumT 3.2117-7, connecting both with Richard Maidstone's polemical responses to John Ashwardby's attacks on mendicant friars.
Beichner, Paul E.
Mediaeval Studies 18 (1956): 135-44.
Includes examination of the verbal play on praying and belching in SumT 3.1934, arguing that the pun is effective satire even when manuscripts (including the Ellesmere) substitute "but" for the onomatopoetic "buf." Considers other puns…
Describes grammatical and metrical conditions that restrict or encourage pronunciation of final -e at the end of lines in Chaucer's verse. Introduces double-consonant rhymes as a previously unnoticed factor in these concerns, explores their…
Stillwell, Gardiner.
English Studies 37 (1956): 149-57.
Maintains that Chaucer indicates that there is a "single theme" in HF, arguing that "Distrust of worldly felicity . . . is Chaucer's 'o sentence'," and hypothesizing that the poem "was written for a New Year's entertainment." Cites several…
Trimble, Lester., composer.
No publisher indicated, 1956.
Item not seen. WorldCat record indicates this is a printed reproduction for rehearsal, for four male voices. Evidently a musical setting for KnT 1.2775ff.
Hazelton, Richard Marquard.
Dissertation Abstracts 16 (1956)
Edits "two glossed texts" of the "Disticha Catonis," constructed for use by students of Chaucer, Langland, and Gower. The Introduction juxtaposes passages from their poetry with "Catonian materials" to indicate the "poets' indebtedness" to the text…
Kleinstück, Johannes Walter.
Hamburg: Cram, de Gruyter & Co., 1956.
Surveys courtly virtues in Chaucer ("courtoisie," "franchise," "gentillesse," "honour," "joie," "pitie," etc.) and the vices which are grounded in pride and the pursuits of fortune. Focuses on KnT when examining the virtues and on the fabliaux for…
Schless, Howard H.
Dissertation Abstracts 16.09 (1956): 1675.
Comments on Chaucer's possible access to Dante's works before traveling to Italy in 1372, and explores the "literary relationship of the two writers," arguing that "Chaucer drew on Dante not heavily but over many years," principally for the Ugolino…
