Courtly And Uncourtly Views Of

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alone other relationships as one would find in the Middle English courtly lyric. An example of such a reference can be found in the refrain: “An handy hap ich habbe ihent! / Ichot from hevene it is me sent; / From alle wimmen my love is lent, / And light on Alisoun”(Luria, 27). This poet tells his lady that his heart is set on her and no other woman can pull him away. To a troubadour saying that there was anything but his lady would be abominable.
There is little of the intensity of devotion and the analysis of love that is characteristic of the Troubadours. Nor are these personal lyrics of private, intimate love. On the contrary, they are public poems operating through well-recognized conventions.
These conventions are a little different from those of the troubadours as well. The lady has hair of gold, a long neck, a slender waist and is often described as being prudent and wise. But these poems focus not on the lady but on the lover and his suffering for derne love or secret ...

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the conventions, every poem seems new and fresh. An example of variation on the common conventions can be found in the fourth lyric in Luria and Hoffman’s compilation, “Wormes woweth under cloude, / Wimmen waxeth wounder proude”. This poet is expressing the irony in nature. He marvels at the fact that even worms are wooing but women make life so difficult for men that they are not.
The uncourtly poetry follows many of the same structural rules as the courtly but portrays women in a very different manner. The women of these poems can be divided into two groups, the married nag and the naïve, unmarried maiden.
The latter are often the speakers of their poems. Usually they are ...

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