CItansuii dc Roland. 119 



although in the course of the two encounters a score of combats 

 are fought, no two are ahke. Sameness, monoton}-, have no place 

 in the Oxford manuscript. 



Up to this point we have been discussing the composition of 

 the Oxford manviscript in its entiret}- : let us now turn to the com- 

 position of its parts ; and, first, of the chapters into which it naturall}- 

 separates. 1 These are, most of them, perfect as units, and also as 

 component units, for each one leads naturally and inevitably to the 

 next. Let us analyse, as illustrative of our contentions, the first 

 and second chapters. The first, The Council of Marsila, is short, 

 but intense — the reader is caught up in a whii'lwind at the ver}- 

 outset. The initial strophe describes the Paynim camp, picturing 

 vividly its desperation. The next two are a pair of perfectly exe- 

 cuted '■ laisses similaires,' 2 setting forth Blancandrin's plan, a plan 

 to be carried through even though the dearest lives be sacrificed. 

 The next two, containing Marsila's instructions to the messengers, 

 form another pair of ' laisses similaires.' The double use of this 

 device at the very beginning of the poem — be it noted there is 

 not another instance of it for almost five hundred lines ^ — seems 

 intentional ; the poet was doubtless making ever}- effort to gain 

 immediate attention. The next strophe, a very short one, brings 

 the messengers to the camp of Charles, and ends with the line of 

 foreboding : 



Nes poet guarder que alques ne Tengignent.* 



Thus ends the chapter. 



The next chapter. The Quarrel of Roland and Ganelon, grows 

 out of that which we have just summarised. Its first line, 



Li empereres se fait et balz et liez, 



recalls the line of foreboding just quoted. Anxiety is immediately en- 

 gendered in the reader's mind — Charles needs cunning, not confidence 

 —and this anxiety becomes more and more intense throughout the 

 chapter. Through a succession of nineteen strophes the action steadil}- 

 increases in rapidit}' : the first strophe presents the picture of Charles' 

 confident and joyful camp, a clever contrast with the court of Mar- 



1 Cf. supra, p. 116, Note ± 



2 Cf. infra, pp. 122-123. 



3 The next instance is 520—562. 



* For the convenience of readers of this article, I have suppUed niv 

 quotations from O witli punctuation, and made several obvious ortlio- 

 gi'apliic corrections. 



