THE MEDIEVAL PLEASAUNCE 85 



the Knight's Tale how the fair Emelie was wander- 

 ing about in her garden at sunrise while 



" She gadereth floures, party white and rede, 

 To make a subtil gerland for hire hede 

 And as an aungel hevenysshly she soong." 



The beauty of a jewel was never more enhanced by an 

 appropriate setting than the loveliness of gentlewomen 

 by the fanciful environment of this mediaeval pleasaunce. 

 Fresh as the " new flowers of sondry hewe," in her trail- 

 ing robes fashioned " summerwise," her head wreathed 

 with a chaplet of fragrant roses, her bright eyes sparkling 

 in the sunshine, the " fayre ladye " was indeed the crown- 

 ing joy of a very paradise. And as she was its most 

 beautiful ornament, so was it her chief delight. 



The " Roman de la Rose " gives the best possible idea information 

 of both the French and English gardens of the Middle the"Ro- 

 Ages. It was chiefly written by Guillaume de Loris, in 

 the first half of the thirteenth century, and was prob- 

 ably well known in England before it was translated 

 by Chaucer into English. There are several manu- 

 script copies of it containing descriptions in the text, 

 accompanied by illustrations giving vivid pictures of the 

 pleasaunce. Its form, the walls enclosing it, with their 

 surrounding moat; the subdivisions of latticework; the 

 " flowery mede," shaded by fruit trees, with a fountain in 

 its centre ; and the stone-coped beds, containing clipped 

 shrubs and other smaller plants, are clearly shown from 



