406 CYCLOPÆDIA OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. [TO 1625.

GEORGE PUTTENHAM

In 1589 appeared anonymously The Art of English Poesie,' written, as its author states, for the queen, the court, and the educated classes' desirous to become skilful in their mother tongue, and for their private recreation to make now and then ditties of pleasure.' The author is understood to be GEORGE PUTTENHAM (circa 15301590), who had been a scholar at Oxford, had travelled abroad, and become one of the gentleman pensioners to Queen Elizabeth. Puttenham's work is a treatise of some length, divided into three books -the first of poets and poesy, the second of proportion, and third of ornament. The style of the work is clear and regular.

Of Language.

This part in our maker or poet, must be heedily looked unto, that it be natural, pure, and the most usual of all his country. And for the same purpose, rather that which is spoken in the king's court or in the good towns and cities within the land, than in the marches and frontiers, or in port towns, where strangers haunt for traffie sake; or yet in universities, where scholars use much peevish affectation of words out of the primitive languages; or, finally, in any uplandish village or corner of a realm, where is no resort but of poor rustical or uncivil people; neither shall he follow the speech of a craftsman or carter, or other of the inferior sort, though he be inhabitant or bred in the best town and city in this realm; for such persons do abuse good speeches by strange accents, or ill-shapen sounds, and false orthography. But he shall follow generally the better brought-up sort, men civil and graciously behavoured and bred. Our maker, therefore, at these days, shall not follow Piers Plowman, nor Gower, nor Lydgate, nor yet Chaucer, for their language is now out of use with us. Neither shall he take the terms of northern men such as they use in daily talk, whether they be noblemen or gentlemen, or of their best clerks, all is a matter; nor in effect any speech used beyond the river of Trent, though no man can deny but theirs is the purer English Saxon at this day, yet it is not so courtly nor so current as our southern English is; no more is the far western man's speech. Ye shall therefore take the usual speech of the court, and that of London, and the shires lying about London within sixty miles, and not much above. I say not this but that in every shire of England there be gentlemen and others that speak, but specially write, as good southern as we of Middlesex or Surrey do, but not the common people of every shire, to whom the gentlemen, and also their learned clerks, do for the most part condescend; but herein we are already ruled by the English dictionaries, and other books written by learned men. and therefore it needeth none other direction in that behalf.

END OF VOLUME I.

CYCLOPÆDIA

OF

ENGLISH LITERATURE

A HISTORY, CRITICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL, OF BRITISH
AND AMERICAN AUTHORS, WITH SPECIMENS

OF THEIR WRITINGS,

ORIGINALLY EDITED BY ROBERT CHAMBERS, LL.D.

THIRD EDITION,

REVISED BY ROBERT CARRUTHERS, LL.D. ·

IN EIGHT VOLUMES.

VOL. II.

NEW YORK:

AMERICAN BOOK EXCHANGE,

TRIBUNE BUILDING.

1880.