They Tell of Birds: Chaucer, Spenser, Milton, Drayton.

Author / Editor
Harrison, Thomas P

Title
They Tell of Birds: Chaucer, Spenser, Milton, Drayton.

Published
Austin: University of Texas, 1956.

Physical Description
xviii, 159 pp.; 12 b&w and 1 color illus.

Description
Describes birds mentioned by four English poets, one chapter apiece. An opening chapter surveys classical backgrounds for zoological and interpretive ornithology, along with the uses of birds in medieval encyclopedias. The Chaucer chapter addresses bird-lists and birds in Rom, PF, and NPT, with attention to sources, moral implications of bird imagery, and Chaucer’s development as an artist. Includes an Index to Birds Named by Chaucer, Spenser, Milton, and Drayton.

Chaucer Subjects
Style and Versification
Sources, Analogues, and Literary Relations
Romaunt of the Rose
Parliament of Fowls
Nun's Priest and His Tale