![Carl Wilhelm de Hamilton - The Parliament of Birds](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Carl_Wilhelm_de_Hamilton_-_The_Parliament_of_Birds.jpg)
The ''Parlement of Foules'' (modernized: ''Parliament of Fowls''), also called the ''Parlement of Briddes'' (''Parliament of Birds'') or the ''Assemble of Foules'' (''Assembly of Fowls''), is a
poem
Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in ...
by
Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for ''The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He wa ...
(1343?–1400) made up of approximately 700 lines. The poem, which is in the form of a
dream vision
A dream vision or ''visio'' is a literary device in which a dream or vision is recounted as having revealed knowledge or a truth that is not available to the dreamer or visionary in a normal waking state. While dreams occur frequently throughout ...
in
rhyme royal
Rhyme royal (or rime royal) is a rhyming stanza form that was introduced to English poetry by Geoffrey Chaucer. The form enjoyed significant success in the fifteenth century and into the sixteenth century. It has had a more subdued but continuing ...
stanza, contains one of the earliest references to the idea that
St. Valentine's Day is a special day for lovers.
Oruch's survey of the literature finds no association between Valentine and romance prior to Chaucer. He concludes that Chaucer is likely to be "the original mythmaker in this instance."
Summary
The poem begins with the narrator reading
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the estab ...
’s ''
Somnium Scipionis
The ''Dream of Scipio'' (Latin: ''Somnium Scipionis''), written by Cicero, is the sixth book of ''De re publica'', and describes a (postulated fictional or real) dream vision of the Roman general Scipio Aemilianus, set two years before he oversa ...
'' in the hope of learning some "certeyn thing". When he falls asleep,
Scipio Africanus the Elder appears and guides him up through the celestial spheres to a gate promising both a "welle of grace" and a stream that "ledeth to the sorweful were/ Ther as a fissh in prison is al drye" (reminiscent of the famous grimly inscribed gates in Dante's ''
Inferno
Inferno may refer to:
* Hell, an afterlife place of suffering
* Conflagration, a large uncontrolled fire
Film
* ''L'Inferno'', a 1911 Italian film
* Inferno (1953 film), ''Inferno'' (1953 film), a film noir by Roy Ward Baker
* Inferno (1973 fi ...
''). After some deliberation at the gate, the narrator enters and passes through
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never fa ...
’s dark temple with its friezes of doomed lovers and out into the bright sunlight. Here Nature is convening a parliament at which the birds will all choose their mates. The three tercel (male) eagles make their case for the hand of a formel (female) eagle until the birds of the lower estates begin to protest and launch into a comic parliamentary debate, which Nature herself finally ends. None of the tercels wins the formel, for at her request Nature allows her to put off her decision for another year (indeed, female birds of prey often become sexually mature at one year of age, males only at two years). Nature, as the ruling figure, in allowing the formel the right to choose not to choose, is acknowledging the importance of free will, which is ultimately the foundation of a key theme in the poem, that of common profit. Nature allows the other birds, however, to pair off. The dream ends with a song welcoming the new spring. The dreamer awakes, still unsatisfied, and returns to his books, hoping still to learn the thing for which he seeks.
Manuscripts
![Parliament of Fowls Manuscripts](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/Parliament_of_Fowls_Manuscripts.svg)
There are fifteen manuscript sources for the poem:
* British Library, Harley 7333
* Cambridge University Library Gg. IV.27
* Cambridge University Library Ff. I.6 (Findern)
* Cambridge University Library Hh.IV.12 (incomplete)
* Pepys 2006, Magdalene College, Cambridge
* Trinity College, Cambridge R.3.19
* Bodleian Library, Arch. Selden B.24
* Bodleian Library, Laud Misc. 416
* Bodleian Library, Fairfax 16
* Bodleian Library, Bodley 638
* Bodleian Library, Tanner 346
* Bodleian Library, Digby 181
* St. John's College, Oxford, J LVII
* Longleat 258, Longleat House, Warminster, Wi
William Caxton
William Caxton ( – ) was an English merchant, diplomat and writer. He is thought to be the first person to introduce a printing press into England, in 1476, and as a printer (publisher), printer to be the first English retailer of printed boo ...
's early print of 1478 is also considered authoritative, for it reproduces the text of a manuscript now considered lost. The stemma and genealogy of these authorities was studied by John Koch in 1881, and later established by
Eleanor Prescott Hammond
Eleanor Prescott Hammond (1866–1933) was an American scholar of English literature, particularly Chaucer studies. She studied at Oxford under Arthur Sampson Napier, earning her B.A. in 1894. She obtained a Ph.D. at the University of Chicago in 18 ...
(1866–1933) in 1902, dividing them into two main groups, A and B (last five MSS), although the stemma is by no means definitive.
Concerning the author of the poem, there is no doubt that it was written by
Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for ''The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He wa ...
, for so he tells us twice in his works.
* The first time is in the Introduction (Prologue) to ''
The Legend of Good Women
''The Legend of Good Women'' is a poem in the form of a dream vision by Geoffrey Chaucer during the fourteenth century.
The poem is the third longest of Chaucer's works, after ''The Canterbury Tales'' and ''Troilus and Criseyde'', and is possib ...
'': "He made the book that hight the Hous of Fame, / And eke the Deeth of Blaunche the Duchesse, / And the Parlement of Foules, as I gesse".
* The second allusion is found in the Retraction to ''
The Canterbury Tales
''The Canterbury Tales'' ( enm, Tales of Caunterbury) is a collection of twenty-four stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. It is widely regarded as Chaucer's ''Masterpiece, ...
'': "the book of the Duchesse; the book of Seint Valentynes day of the Parlement of Briddes".
[
A more difficult question is that of date. Early criticism of the poem, as far as the first decades of the 20th century, relied mainly on the different interpretations of the text—comparing the fight for the female eagle with royal betrothals of the age—to produce a date of composition for the poem. Fred N. Robinson (''Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer'', 1957: 791) mentioned that "if the theories of allegory in the Parliament are rejected, the principal evidence usually relied on for dating the poem about 1381-2 disappears". Later criticism, however, is much more objective on the reasons why the poem has been dated in 1382, the main reason given in lines 117–118 of the poem itself: "As wisly as I sawe the ]enus Enus is a given name and surname. Notable people with the name include:
*Anton Enus
Anton Albert Enus is a South African-born Australian news presenter. He is currently co-host of '' SBS World News'' on Special Broadcasting Service (SBS).
Car ...
northe northe west / When I begane my sweuene for to write" for according to John M. Manly (1913: 279–90) Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never fa ...
is never strictly in the position "north-north-west...but it can be easily thought to be so when it reaches its extreme northern point". Manly adds that this condition was met in May 1374, 1382, and 1390.
The third date is easily discarded since we know that the poem is already mentioned as composed in the ''Prologue to The Legend of Good Women''. Derek Brewer
Derek Stanley Brewer (13 July 1923 – 23 October 2008) was a Welsh medieval scholar, author and publisher.
Life
Born in Cardiff, Wales, the son of a clerk with General Electric, Brewer read English at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he was ta ...
(1960: 104) then argues that the date of 1382, as opposed to that of 1374, is much more likely for the composition of the poem since, during the same period (1373–85), Chaucer wrote many other works including ''The House of Fame
''The House of Fame'' (''Hous of Fame'' in the original spelling) is a Middle English poem by Geoffrey Chaucer, probably written between 1374 and 1385, making it one of his earlier works. It was most likely written after ''The Book of the Duchess ...
'' which, in all respects, seems to have been composed earlier than ''The Parliament of Fowls'', thus: "a very reasonable, if not certain, date for the Parlement is that it was begun in May 1382, and was ready for St. Valentine's Day, 14th February 1383" (Brewer, 1960: 104). Although much of the criticism on the interpretation of ''The Parliament of Foules''— which would render clues for its date of composition—is contradictory, and criticism about the importance of line 117 does not agree on whether it can be taken as serious evidence for the dating of the poem, there is nowadays a general agreement among scholars as to 1381–1382 being the date of composition for ''The Parliament of Foules''.
Artistic representations
* ''The Parliament of Fowls'' (2008) is a one-act comic opera by American composer John Craton
John Douglas Craton (born August 6, 1953) is an American classical composer. His works have been performed throughout the United States, Europe, and Japan. While his compositions cover a diverse range, he is best known for his operas, ballets, and ...
Translations and Editions
* Parlement of foules (1914). Translation, with an introduction, notes and glossary, by Charles Maxwell Drennan (1870–1935).
*Parlement of foules. In ''The complete works of Geoffrey Chaucer'' (1937),[Chaucer, G. (1937)]
The complete works of Geoffrey Chaucer
London: Oxford University Press, Humphrey Milford. pp. 101–110. Edited from numerous manuscripts by the Rev. Walter William Skeat
Walter William Skeat, (21 November 18356 October 1912) was a British philologist and Anglican deacon. The pre-eminent British philologist of his time, he was instrumental in developing the English language as a higher education subject in th ...
(1835–1912).[Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). " Skeat, Walter William". ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. 25 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 168-169.]
References
External links
"The Dream Poems – modernised versions"
a line-by-line translation in modern English, by A. S. Kline
''Parlement of Foules''
a free translation and retelling in modern English prose of Chaucer's narrative poem, by Richard Scott-Robinson
{{Authority control
Middle English poems
Medieval literature
Poems about birds
Poetry by Geoffrey Chaucer
Visionary poems