Syntax and Style in Chaucer’s Poetry by Gregory H. Roscow

Abstract

STUDIES IN THE AGE OF CHAUCER The few times that Rollinson comes close to going beyond a general statement and making a direct application ofhis work to the interpretation ofspecific medieval or renaissance poems, he stops shon. In light ofhis purpose and plan this restraint is quite appropriate. It is also appropriate, as he suggests, to strive for an understanding and appreciation ofEuropean allegorical literature on the basis ofhis work, for until that is done, the story is not complete. As for the first pan ofthe story, it has been well wonh the telling. GEORGE D. ECONOMOU Long Island University GREGORY H. Roscow, Syntax and Style in Chaucer's Poetry. Chaucer Studies, vol. 6. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 1981; Totowa, N.J.: Rowman and Littlefield. Pp. x, 158. $40.00. . A title such as "Notes on Syntax and Style in Chaucer's Poetry" would better prepare the reader for what is to be found in the sixth ofthe Chaucer Studies series issued by D. S. Brewer in Cambridge. In his introductory chapter Gregory Roscow sets up a nice middle ground between "two rather different approaches to loose syntax," one, which he erroneously assigns to Margaret Schlauch, "assuming a close correspondence between medieval and modern usage," the other, represented by Norman Blake, "emphasiz­ ing their remoteness." He plans to show in subsequent chapters the ways in which "Chaucer's syntax gains an effect ofimmediacy," emphasizing such features ofMiddle English usage as a "fondness for discontinuous patterns ofword-order and for negative forms ofemphatic expression." He prom­ ises to set Chaucer's usage in its linguistic and literary context, giving special attention to the popular romances, the models in Roscow's view for important elements ofChaucer's vigorous poetic syntax. The second chapter, on word order, starts effectively with a discussion of the famous description oftournament combat from The Knight's Tale, in which Roscow quotes, and then deferentially corrects and extends a com­ ment on the passage by A. C. Spearing. The front shifting oflexical verbs, taken up next, yields two apparently interesting patterns in the scene of 200 REVIEWS Arcite's death in The Knight's Tale and Deiphebus's dinner party in book 2 of Troilus and Criseyde. Reference to the text, however, shows how inadequate Roscow's description of the passages is.The two close lines in The Knight's Tale that supposedly contribute to the emotional impact of the scene surround the discussion of where Arcite's soul went; the second one follows "Now wol I speken forth ofEmilye."And the point about the dinner patty in Troilus and Criseyde is not that "the pace of the narrative quickens"but quite the reverse.What happens is that the narrative stands still while we experience the social amenities, the partial awareness ofmost ofthe panicipants, Pandarus's skill, and the delight he takes in orchestrat­ ing the occasion.The pattern pointed out by Roscow is in any event only one of a multiplicity that contributes to the richness of Chaucer's style in that scene. The comment on the line from The Nun's Priest's Tale, "Ran Colle our dogge..."(line 3383) is similarly inadequate for this liveliest of Chaucer's crowd scenes; it unaccountably fails to take note of line 3385, "Ran cow and calfe and ek the verray hogges." The rest ofthe chapter on word order continues to list out ofcontext the examples for each variation from normal word order to be found in Middle English usage, usually coming to the conclusion that the lines contribute variety and emphasis to Chaucer's style.Subsequent chapters on idiomatic usage, pleonasm, ellipsis, relative clauses, and coordination and parataxis employ the same technique and suggest the absence ofsystem throughout this disappointing book.The examples from popular romance and from Chaucer's contemporaries imply two things: that Chaucer drew from the same native speech as his fellow poets and that the language for poetry in the fourteenth century was closer to colloquial English than it had been in Anglo-Saxon times. Whether they also show the influence of popular romances on Chaucer's style remains a moot question. A total absence offootnotes matches the absence ofexplanation ofwhat the examples reflect...