434 NATIONAL POETRF. 



England, where the Anglo-Saxon tongue had in the end become merged in 

 the Franco-Norman dialect, an attempt was made to revive the national 

 songs, and all that can be cited in the way of English poetry is a translation 

 of the " Brut," by Wace, an imitation in verse of the Chronicle of Geoffroy 

 of Monmouth by Eobert of Gloucester. Spain, where the Romanic language 

 had become naturalised since the eleventh century, at least in the provinces 

 not invaded by the Moors, did not even know the name of the author who 

 wrote that poem of the " Cid " which she pointed to with pride as the first 

 poetical record of her legendary history (Fig. 338). Spanish poets, amongst 

 whom appear Alfonso II., King of Arragon, and Alfonso XI., King of Castile, 

 had already celebrated in a language which, though somewhat rough and 

 coarse, was energetic and noble, the loftiest sentiments of the human heart, 

 especially warlike courage and love of country. The union of these popular 

 ballads and romances formed in part the celebrated collection of "Romancero." 



The Minnesingers did not survive the extinction of the house of Swabia, 

 which had always accorded them the highest favours. When the house of 

 Hapsburg succeeded the Hohenstauffens the German nobility ceased to take 

 any interest in arts and poetry, and Germany failed for a time to produce any 

 poets. But towards the end of the reign of Rudolph I. (1291) the middle 

 classes created a demand for singers, and the Meistersingers (masters of song), 

 whose compositions answered the requirements of a public little versed in 

 literature, extended their jurisdiction to poetry which, from sprightly and 

 high-spirited as it was in the time of the Minnesingers, became staid and 

 measured, not to say tame and tedious. The poets of this epoch are not 

 worth mentioning by name, and it was not until the sixteenth century that 

 the Meistersingers emerged from their obscurity. 



Dante gave the signal for the literary renaissance in Italy, to which 

 Francis Petrarch, his contemporary, devoted his whole life. The latter was born 

 at Arezzo in 1304, and died at Arqua, near Padua, in 1374. Thanks to the 

 example which he set, classical study began to flourish anew, and Virgil 

 and Horace were read as eagerly as they had been during the reign of 

 Augustus. Petrarch, who had been immersed in study of the ancient poets, 

 attempted at first to imitate them in Latin, but after he had met Laura cle 

 Noves at Avignon his thoughts were solely concentrated upon pleasing her, 

 and he wrote his "Rhymes" and his " Canzoni " in honour of her who had 

 inspired him with a passion as delicate and pure as that of Dante for Beatrix. 



