HOPKINS: CHARACTER AND OPINIONS OF" WILLIAM LANGLAND. 285 



allegorical teaching. From this point on, the religious teaching 

 becomes more and more prominent, and the descriptions carry with 

 them a greater weight of meaning and become in this sense more 

 impressive. Langland is not a Milton, yet he can rise to a certain 

 simple sublimity of his own that is suggestive of Bunyan, if not of 

 Milton. There is much in the mechanism of the poem that sug- 

 gests Bunyan; as the account of the castle of Anima, and the 

 adventures on the way to Kynd Wit (A, XII., 56). The author's 

 dramatic power is shown in the account of the dinner of Conscience, 

 Clergy and the Doctor with Reason; even the Latin is not without 

 its effect here, though the appearance of Piers Plowman is forced and 

 unnecessary. Of the remaining portions, the most noteworthy from 

 our present point of view are the account of the crucifixion (C, XX), 

 the conquering of Hell (C, XXI), the building of Piers' barn (C, 

 XXII), and in fact the whole of the last passus, which shows more of 

 originality if not more of power than the account of the harrowing 

 of hell. 



In summary Langland's descriptive power is noticeable, as 

 might be expected, in those things with which he was most familiar^ — 

 scenes of common life in city or country, and the things in which he 

 was most deeply interested, — the passion and mission of Christ. Of 

 actual invention there is little; and his power, while unquestionable, 

 is not die to any attempt at art, but is incident to the directness and 

 earnestness of his purpose. As examples of his most artistic work at 

 its two extremes, I prefer the description of Glutton and that of the 

 siege of Holy Church in the last passus, because in both the author 

 himself is distinctly present, and the two most opposite sides of his 

 character are clearly revealed: his brightest humor and his deepest 

 sadness. 



Scholar.ship. Touching the question of Langland's education and 

 scholarship (See p. 234, and Ten Brink, Early Eng. Lit., p. 352) the 

 list of Langland's positive attainments includes, besides English 

 Grammar and English Law, Latin, and something of French; but 

 nothing at all of Greek. He had access to a few books only, and 

 beyond that source his knowledge was for the most part that which 

 was common property among thinking men. 



I findthe total number of distinct quotations in the poem to be 

 about 475. Of these, 368 are directly from the Vulgate, and 29 

 more are probably from the same source, but are inexactly given. 

 Of the remaining 75, 11 are from the services of the church, 5 from 

 Latin hymns, 5 from the Legenda Aurea of Jacobus de Voragine, 18 

 from the church fathers, Augustine, Jerome, and Gregory, and other 

 church writers; 9 from the Disticha de Moribus ad Filium of Dion- 



