The realism of the early literature of
the Middle Ages is perhaps best seen in old Irish. The monk bewails the
lawlessness of his wandering thoughts, which run after dreams of beauty
and pleasure during the hour of divine service. The hermit in the wood
describes, with loving minuteness, the contents of his larder. Never was
there a fresher or more spontaneous poetry than the poetry of this early
Christian people. But it is not in the direct line of descent, for it
was written in the Celtic speech of a people who did not achieve the
government of Europe. The French romances inherited the throne, and
passed through all the stages of elaboration and decadence. They too, in
their turn, became a professional rhetoric, false and tedious. When they
ceased to be a true picture of life, they continued in esteem as a school
of manners and deportment for the fantastic gallantry of a court. Yet
through them all their Christian origin shines. Their very themes bear
witness to the teaching of Christian asceticism and Christian idealism.
The quest of a lady never seen; the temptations that present themselves
to a wandering knight under the disguise of beauty and ease;--these, and
many other familiar romantic plots borrow their inspiration from the same
source. Not a few of the old fairy stories, preserved in folk-lore, are
full of religious meaning--they are the Christian literature of the Dark
Ages.
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