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- Admiration of his lady's perfections, joy in her smiles, grief at her frowns, and anxiety for her welfare, are expressed by the poet in a thousand accents of simplicity and truth; and if extravagance or affectation sometimes offends, it ought to be recollected that the bounds of taste were not then so accurately defined, nor the gallant spirit of chivalry so chastened as to render unncessary some allownance for the extravagance of a principle which was in the main generous, and at any rate conferred incalculable blessings on society, in advancing the interests and elevating the station of its most defenceless portion.
- Cotemporary, or nearly so, with the most celebrated Troubadours flourished the Minnesingers of Germany. Their poetry was, till of late, almost unknown out of their native land; yet it is decidedly superior to that of their more fortunate rivals. It is the primary object of the present volume to introduce these early ornaments of a kindred tongue to the English reader; on which account he will perhaps excuse rather more particularly details of their history.
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On The Age and Poetry of the Minnesingers, Troubadours, &c. FRANCE by Anonymous, from gregorclesLearned controversies have agitated the rival partisans of the Langue d'oc and Langue d'oeil, as to their comparative antiquity, their mutual relations, and the degree of influence on the literature of modern Europe which may properly be ascribed to each. The exact period to be assigned to the formation of the proper Northern Romance we can hardly expect to determine; the most probable theory may be, that one common Romance was universally diffused as the popular tongue over the Gallic provinces at a very early period, perhaps even under the Roman Government itself, but at least during that gradual dissolution of the Roman institutions, which took place on the establishment of the barbarian monarchies.
- Considering the perfection in which the earliest known specimens exhibit the language of Italy, -- the delight which it is clear its inhabitants felt in the poetry and romances of the North and South French,-- and the free intercourse with other nations which existed during their connexion with the Norman princes of Sicily and with the German Empire,
- The intimate connection between the Troubadours of Provence and those of Catalonia and Arragon leads us naturally to a few observations on the obscure memorials, which have come down to us, of the history and works of the poets who once graced this division of Spain. From the earliest days of Provençal glory its court had enjoyed the most intimate union with the Arragonese crown, in the person of Alphonso the Second, extended the empire of love and poetry over a great portion of the south-western district of Spain.
- The 11th, 12th and 13th centuries form a great period of fermentation, during which the elements of European civilization were separating and fashioning themselves for the reception of new forms. Principles were yet crude and indigested, but feeling was every where strong. The fervour of religious zeal often misled the mind and inflamed the passions; yet we should not forget that this religion was the medium of civilization, the guardian angel that watched over the walls of the sanctuaries of learning, shielding them from the devastations of ignorant and lawless power.
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An Essay On The Ancient Minstrels In England by Thomas Percy, Lord Bishop of Dromore, from gregorclesThe Minstrels were an order of men in the Middle Ages, who subsisted by the arts of poetry, and music, and sang to the harp verses composed by themselves, or others. They also appear to have accompanied their songs with mimicry and action, and to have practised such various means of diverting as were much admired in those rude times, and supplied the want of more refined entertainment.
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