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History of English Poetry From the 12th to the Close of the 16th Century
History of English Poetry From the 12th to the Close of the 16th Century Author:Thomas Warton General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1871 Original Publisher: Reeves Subjects: English poetry History / Renaissance Literary Criticism / European / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh Literary Criticism / Medieval Literary Criticism / Poetry Poetry / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh Notes: This is a black... more » and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: D. i. Hypotheßs refpeSíing the Origin of the Britons. 101 traâion might have imbibed this notion, or at leaft have acquired a general knowledge of the Trojan ftory from their conquerors : more efpecially the Britons, who continued fo long under the yoke of Rome.1 But as to the ftory of Brutus in particular, Geoffrey's hero, it may be prefumed that his legend was not contrived, nor the hiftory of his fucceflbrs invented, till after the ninth century : for Nennius, who lived about the middle of that century, not only fpeaks of Brutus with great obfcurity and inconfiftency, but feems totally uninformed as to every circumftance of the Britiih affairs which preceded Caefar's invafion. There are other proofs that this piece could not have exifted before the ninth century. Alfred's Saxon tranflation of the Mercian law is mentioned.2 Charlemagne's Twelve Peers, by an anachronifm not uncommon in romance, are faid to be prefent at King Arthur's magnificent coronation in the city of Caerleon.3 It were eafy to produce inftances that this chronicle was undoubtedly framed after the legend of Saint Urfula, the a¿ts of Saint Lucius and the hiftorical writings of the venerable Bede had undergone fome degree of circulation in the world. At the fame time it contains many paflages which incline us to determine that fome parts of it at leaft were written after or about the eleventh ce...« less