286 KANSAS UNlVERSirV ijl A r< ii: RI.V . 



ysius Cato, 3 from the Historia Scholastica of Peter Comestor, 2 and 

 perhaps more from the Compendium of Peter Cantor; and one each 

 from Boethius, Vincent of Beauvais, Juvenal, and others; besides 

 several which Professor Skeat has been unable to trace, three or four of 

 them in French in leonine verse, perhaps of Langland's composition. 

 In addition there are a very large number of general allusions to these 

 and other literary sources (See Piers Plowman, E. E. T. S. edition, 

 Vol. IV., Section I., p. 512). Many of Langland's direct references 

 to authorities are inexact, and he often gives the sense of authors 

 quoted rather than their exact words, showing that reference to orig- 

 inals was not always easy; while the fewness of the errors in the 

 references to the Vulgate speaks well for the power of his memory. 

 It is probable that the list given comprises more works than were 

 actually in Langland's reach, and that he knew most of the authors 

 he cites from some collection of extracts. Especially do his references 

 to the classics wear an aspect of being second hand. 



Besides the few bits of French verse which may have been com- 

 posed by Langland himself, there are several allusions and several 

 resemblances of structure or action which suggest a knowledge of 

 French works; especially Grosteste's " Chastel d'Amour," which may 

 have been read in English translation, Huon de Meri's " Tornoiment 

 de I'Antichrist," and Rutebuef's "La Voie de Paradis." Further, in 

 many instances the scene and action of the poem show conclusively 

 that Langland was familiar with the stage representations of religious 

 mysteries. 



His references to Greek authors are undoubtedly conventional or 

 second hand (Plato, C, XII., 304; Aristotle, C, XV., 184). He 

 mistranslates the name of Christ (C, XXII., 15), again misled by 

 convention: and there was noticed an instance of departure from the 

 exact meaning of a Latin original (Page 272). Occasionally he 

 seems to have turned an ordinary saying into Latin on his own 

 account, as if to give it greater weight. 



From the preceding it seems that we may dravv one new conclusion; 

 that if these references and citations indicate the full scope of Lang- 

 land's reading and literary training, his poetic faculty must certainly 

 have been an inborn one. It is of course probable that he was 

 familiar with English poetical versions of the legends and stories of 

 which he makes continual use, as well as with popular versions of 

 parts of the Scripture narrative, such as the Cursor Mundi, and the 

 Miracle Plays. But the fact that he does not quote from these would 

 indicate that he has received from them no distinct impression of 

 poetical form, while the character of his versification and imagery 

 and his return to alliteration furnish stronger evidence toward the 



