THE DUCHESS OF MALFI

THE DUCHESS OF MALFI

Synopsis

1504, Amalfi, Italy. Before a backdrop of religious and moral corruption, the widowed Duchess defies her brothers’ orders not to remarry. The subsequent atrocities inflicted on her and on those she holds dear are too much to bear but as the horrors repeat on themselves, integrity and virtue prevail.

The play is set in the court of Malfi (Amalfi), Italy in approximately 1504-1510.

The recently widowed Duchess of Malfi is forbidden by her brothers, the Cardinal and Ferdinand, to remarry. Defying them, she seeks a clandestine alliance with her steward, Antonio. He accepts her advances and they are secretly married. Meanwhile, the Duchess’ brothers enlist Bosola, a recently released convict, to monitor their sister’s actions.

Nine months later and the Duchess is pregnant with Antonio’s child. They disguise her pregnancy but Bosola discovers the ruse and informs Ferdinand, who is outraged. However, the brothers choose to refrain from revenge until they know who fathered the child.

The Duchess and Antonio have two more children before Ferdinand visits his sister. Ferdinand contrives a late visit to the Duchess’ bedchamber where he confronts her with her indiscretions. She reveals her marriage, but not who her husband is, and Ferdinand declares it unacceptable. The Duchess, to save her husband Antonio, publicly condemns and exiles him, claiming that he failed to pay certain bills, thereby removing him from harm. She plans on joining him shortly in exile.

The Duchess mistakenly takes Bosola into her confidence and, acting on his advice, she goes to the shrine of Loretto, before joining Antonio. At the same time, Bosola travels to Naples, informing Ferdinand of the Duchess’ plans and Antonio’s role. Ferdinand pursues them.

After reuniting with Antonio and revealing their marriage to her household, the Duchess’ staff desert her. Bosola, clearly in the service of Ferdinand, brings a letter subtly demanding Antonio’s death. After Bosola leaves carrying her refusal to her brother, the Duchess urges Antonio to take their eldest son and escape to Milan.

Bosola returns to take the Duchess prisoner. Once captured, Ferdinand’s revenge on the Duchess is a series of horrible indignities as he attempts to drive her mad and presents her with the hand of Antonio, declaring he and her son are dead. Finally, on her brothers’ orders, Bosola strangles the Duchess and her two youngest children. In the last moments of her life, Bosola repents his involvement, revealing that Antonio still lives. Bosola then overhears the Cardinal plotting to kill him and so visits the darkened chapel in order to kill the Cardinal at his prayers. Instead, he mistakenly kills Antonio who has just returned to Malfi to attempt a reconciliation with the Cardinal. Bosola finally manages to kill the Cardinal. In the brawl that follows, Ferdinand and Bosola stab each other to death.

Antonio’s friend Delio brings in the Duchess and Antonio’s eldest son. He is proclaimed ruler of the lands held by his mother and uncles.

Act Breakdown

Act I

The play opens in the Duchess’ audience chamber in Amalfi with Bosola returning from his sentence for murder in the galleys. He converses with the Cardinal but then speaks briefly with Antonio and seems not to trust the Cardinal. Antonio Bologna, the steward of the Duchess’ household, who has recently come from France, talks with his friend Delio about the French court and his admiration for the French king who has rewarded those who have been honest and true. Antonio and Delio berate the Duchess’ brothers, the Cardinal and Ferdinand, finding them both of an ill and devious nature. Antonio praises the Duchess for her noble virtue.

Ferdinand employs Bosola to spy upon the Duchess as he is set against her marrying again and wishes to know her private intentions. Ferdinand recommends Bosola to the Duchess as the Provisor of her horse and, unaware of her brother’s plan, she accepts Bosola into her employ. Ferdinand and the Cardinal make clear to their sister that they do not wish her to remarry.

Despite her brothers’ warnings, the Duchess summons Antonio under the pretence that she is going to dictate her will to him. She conceals her lady in waiting, Cariola, as a witness. It soon becomes apparent that the Duchess is proposing to Antonio and she bestows on him her wedding ring. Antonio is well aware that her brothers will not accept their sister’s marriage to a man born of lower status but the Duchess assures him that all will be fine. Cariola casts a shadow of doubt on the marriage by pitying the Duchess for her potential madness.

Act II

The Duchess’ palace in A malfi, nine months later. Bosola, alone, muses that the Duchess may well be pregnant. He is almost convinced of the fact but endeavours to gain proof by sparking her pregnant appetite with a gift of apricots believed, at the time, to induce labour. The Duchess does indeed go into labour and Antonio, realising he has little time to conceal this, invents a ruse that the Duchess’ jewels are missing and the palace must be shut up presently and each officer confined to his chamber. Cariola tells Antonio that he is the father of a son. Bosola thinks he has heard the Duchess in labour but is discovered lurking about the palace by Antonio who confronts him and asks why he creeps about during the curfew. Antonio drops a note on his way out which confirms that the Duchess has had a son. Bosola vows to reveal this to Ferdinand and the Cardinal.

The action then crosses to the Cardinal’s palace in Rome where it is made clear that the Cardinal and Julia are having an affair. Ferdinand bursts in with the news Bosola has sent him. Both brothers are appalled by the fact that the Duchess has given birth and Ferdinand vows to discover with whom she has had this child.

Act III

Antonio speaks with Delio who is newly returned from Rome with Ferdinand. Antonio explains that the Duchess has had two more children in his absence. The Duchess enters with Ferdinand, who suggests he has found a husband for her, Count Malateste. The Duchess spurns this idea and insists she is still not married. Bosola tells Ferdinand she now has three children and that he has acquired a skeleton key to her bedchambers so that Ferdinand may spy on her and get the truth.

The Duchess and Antonio speak within her bedchambers whilst Ferdinand enters and conceals himself. Antonio leaves the Duchess and Ferdinand reveals himself, forcing the hand of the Duchess to admit to whom she is married. The Duchess defends Antonio and her choice in marriage but Ferdinand vows never to set eyes on her again. Bosola enters with news that Ferdinand has fled to Rome. The Duchess, for the sake of Antonio’s safety concocts a story for Bosola indicating Antonio has been false with her accounts and he must be exiled to Ancona. Bosola does not believe this and speaks of Antonio as a good and honest man, thus prompting the Duchess to confide in him of their secret marriage. Bosola knows he must pass this information on to Ferdinand and is left on stage to contemplate his role as a spy.

Bosola then interrupts a meeting at the Cardinal’s palace in Rome with news of the Duchess. The Cardinal banishes the Duchess, Antonio and their family from Ancona. Later, in a palace in Loreto, the Duchess and Antonio receive word of their banishment and Bosola brings forth a letter from Ferdinand indirectly stating he wants Antonio dead. The Duchess tells Antonio to take their eldest son and flee to Milan for safety as she fears her brothers. Bosola and guards then take the Duchess and her two remaining children captive under the order of her brothers.

Act IV

The Duchess’ palace in Amalfi now serves as her prison. Ferdinand enters with Bosola and is told how bravely the Duchess is dealing with her imprisonment. This is not to Ferdinand’s satisfaction and he asks Bosola to tell the Duchess he wishes to speak with her but in the dark. Ferdinand enters the Duchess’ room which has been darkened and presents her with a dead man’s hand, making her believe it is Antonio’s. He then leaves Bosola to present her with images of a fake Antonio and her children as if they were dead. She believes them and her despair is so deep that she resolves to die. Her situation affects Bosola greatly and we begin to see signs of his guilt and remorse. The Duchess and Cariola speak of the dreadful noises they hear echoing throughout the palace. It is that of madmen which Ferdinand has placed within in order to sink the Duchess into greater despair. The Duchess insists that hearing greater grief can only serve to lessen hers. Bosola reenters disguised as a tomb-maker and tells the Duchess she is to die. Her resolve is strong and she tells Bosola and the executioners to strangle her well, which they do. Cariola re-enters and is strangled too. Ferdinand enters and, seeing the body of the Duchess and her dead children, is in despair. Bosola fears Ferdinand will turn on him and demands payment for his atrocities. Ferdinand questions why Bosola followed his orders to kill the Duchess when he was so obviously upset and says the only payment Bosola will receive will be to not be put to death for the murder. After Ferdinand leaves, the Duchess wakes briefly. Bosola, in a final act of remorse, tells the Duchess that Antonio is not really dead and that he shall pass her body on to the care of good women of the town. The Duchess dies.

Act V

Outside the Cardinal’s palace in Milan. Antonio speaks with Delio about his hopes for a reconciliation with the Cardinal, unaware that the Duchess is dead. Delio warns him against this. Later, inside the palace, a doctor has been summoned to investigate Ferdinand’s supposed lycanthropia - he now believes himself to be a wolf and digs up dead bodies at night. The Cardinal and the doctor confront Ferdinand who is seemingly mad and attacks his own shadow. The Cardinal, whilst keeping quiet about his part in the Duchess’ death, assigns Bosola with the task of finding Antonio and slaying him. When Bosola leaves, he is accosted by Julia who accuses him of having given her a love potion to make her fall in love with the Cardinal and threatens to kill Bosola to end her love. Bosola disarms Julia and asks her to gather evidence on the Cardinal for him. Julia conceals Bosola as the Cardinal enters. Julia forces information out of the Cardinal regarding his part in the Duchess’ death but makes her swear never to tell. He hands her a poisoned bible to kiss and she dies. Bosola reveals himself and confronts the Cardinal but maintains he will still kill Antonio and will also help dispose of Julia’s body. The Cardinal gives Bosola a master key to the palace but once Bosola is alone again, he swears to protect Antonio.

Later, outside the same palace, Delio and Antonio speak near the Duchess’ tomb. They are interrupted with supposed echoes of the Duchess. Delio leaves to find Antonio’s eldest son in the hope that the Cardinal may find mercy and compassion when he sees his nephew and thus pardon Antonio.

Inside the palace again, the Cardinal dissuades the courtiers from keeping watch over Ferdinand. He tells them not to come to Ferdinand’s aid if they should hear anything, as he knows that they may hear Antonio struggling with Bosola. They leave reluctantly. Bosola then enters to hear the Cardinal plotting his death. Antonio enters in the dark, unaware of Bosola’s presence, to try again with the Cardinal. Bosola stabs Antonio, believing him to be the Cardinal and is horrified by his mistake but manages to tell Antonio of the death of the Duchess and her children. Antonio is happy to die in misery since there is nothing left for him. Bosola resolves to kill the Cardinal and tells him this as he enters. Since the Cardinal has given orders for the guards not to approach if they hear screams, the Cardinal realises he is at the mercy of Bosola. Bosola stabs the Cardinal, then Ferdinand bursts in and also attacks the Cardinal, wounding Bosola accidentally. Bosola stabs Ferdinand. The guards re-enter amid the commotion. The Cardinal dies, then Bosola. Delio enters too late with Antonio’s eldest son and laments what has passed, vowing to establish the young man in his mother’s right and making him ruler of his mother and uncles’ lands.

Character Breakdown

The Duchess

Sister to Ferdinand and the Cardinal and recent widow. She is described as having a sweet countenance, noble virtue and a tenderness and warmth that her brothers lack. She is witty, clever and never outsmarted in dialogue by her brothers. She marries beneath her and has three children with Antonio. Her dignified death shows the contrast with her brothers and the corruption of the court that surrounds her.

The Cardinal

The brother to Ferdinand and the Duchess. He is a corrupt official of the Roman Catholic Church, whose intents mirror Ferdinand’s in his desire for his sister not to remarry. His knows about Bosola spying on the Duchess although others remain ignorant to his plotting.

Ferdinand

The Duke of Calabria and twin brother of the Duchess. He is an irrational and tempestuous man, often given to fits of rage disproportionate to the ‘offence’ in question. He is in vehement opposition to his sister remarrying, largely due to greed as upon her death, he will receive her assets. After seeing his dead sister, he regrets hiring Bosola to kill her and eventually loses his sanity, believing himself to be a wolf.

Cariola

The Duchess’ waiting-woman. She is privy to the Duchess’ secrets as she witnesses her marriage and helps deliver her children. She is strangled by Bosola.

Julia

Wife of Castruccio and mistress of the Cardinal. She dies at the hands of the Cardinal by kissing a poisoned bible.

Castruccio

An old lord with a much younger wife, Julia.

Doctor

Sent to cure Ferdinand of lycanthropia.

Daniel de Bosola

A former servant of the Cardinal, now returned from a sentence for murder. Bosola is sent by Ferdinand to spy on the Duchess and is eventually involved in the murder of the Duchess, her children, Cariola, Antonio, the Cardinal and Ferdinand himself. As he witnesses the grace and nobility of the Duchess facing her deaths, he has a change of heart as guilt overwhelms him and he then seeks to avenge her.

Antonio Bologna

Antonio is the steward of the Duchess of Malfi’s palace and has recently returned from France. Honest by nature and a good judge of character, he is full of scorn for the Italian courtiers whom he sees as more corrupt than the French. In accepting the Duchess’ marriage proposal, he does because of her character instead of her beauty. He takes neither her title nor her money and lets their union remain a secret, as he is aware her brothers will think ill of her marrying beneath herself. He lacks dynamism and seems unremarkable in comparison to the Duchess.

Malateste

A courtier of the Cardinal’s court. His name translates to mean ‘headache’. At one point Ferdinand refers to him as a potential suitor for the Duchess.

Delio

A courtier who is the friend and confidante of Antonio. He knows the secrets of Antonio’s marriage and of his children, and in many ways acts as the narrator of the play.

Pescara

A marquis.

Rodergio, Grisolan,

Silvio

Courtiers.

Officers & executioners

Literary Forms Study Materials

 (A) The Lyric

            The lyric is the most delightful and pleasing form of poetry. It is generally subjective. Lyric poetry, in its original meaning, was poetry composed to be sung to the accompaniment of a lyre. The lyre was a simple Greek musical instrument. The Greek idea of the lyric suggests its intimate connection with music.

            A lyric is defined as a poem that expresses a single emotion. Over-elaboration of emotion results in the loss of effectiveness. So a lyric is generally short. In a lyric the quality of emotion is important. It must embody a worthy emotion and it must impress us by the sincerity of its utterance. The language and imagery of a lyric must be characterised by beauty, propriety and harmony.

            Personal poetry touches almost all aspects of experience. As a result there are various types of lyric poetry such as the love lyric, the lyric of patriotism, the lyric of religious emotion, the lyric of joy and so on. Though the essence of a lyric is the personality of the poet, majority of world’s good lyrics express also what is typically human. The reader finds in them the expression of experiences which he is able to share with the poet. The reader finds this experience in the poetry of Keats, Shelley and the metaphysical poets like Donne and Marvell.

            In lyric poetry the poet is occupied with himself. His thoughts, feelings and emotions constitute the subject matter of his lyric. The lyric becomes a mirror to his personality. Even the titles of poems are no indication as to their themes. ‘Ode to a Nightingale’ and ‘An Ode to a Skylark’ are not about birds. In highly composite poetry it is difficult to draw the distinction between subjectivity and objectivity. So it is generally said that the epic, the ballad and dramatic poetry are objective and lyric is subjective. Some forms of lyrics lead us to meditative and philosophic moods as in them the elements of thought and reflection are dominant.

            Another trait of a lyric is its unity. A lyric is self-contained and everything in it is related to the central idea. or emotion. So there is hardly any place for descriptions or elaborations in a lyric. Since the lyric is a unified experience, generally, it is not very long. Edgar Allen Poe said, “a long poem does not exist”. This is true of a lyric.

            It is difficult to identify the ‘I’ in a lyric poem. Though the poet expresses his own emotions and feelings, they are also universal. Thus Wordsworth’s Tintern Abbey Lines and Milton’s sonnet, On His Blindness, express universal emotions. Most of the Elizabethan songs, poems of the Metaphysical like Donne and the short poems and dramatic monologues of Browning and Tennyson come under the category of lyric.

            Structurally, a lyric can be divided into three parts. The first is the motive. It states the emotion and comprises the first few lines. The motive is the sudden provocation for the poet to compose. It may be a nightingale’s song as in the case of Keats or the song of a reaper girl as in the case of Wordsworth. In fact, the motive is only an excuse for the poet to express his own emotions and feelings. The second part of the lyric consists of the poet’s thoughts, emotions and feelings. This may he termed as statement. In the Ode to the West Wind, Shelley muses over revolution. In the Ode to a Nightingale, Keats meditates over the weariness of life and the ease of death. The third part of a lyric is the Conclusion that comes when the emotion subsides. It is a conclusion, reflection or resolution. Keats reflects on beauty at the end of his famous Ode on a Grecian Urn; Herrick reflects on the fragility of beauty and power of death towards the close of ‘To Blossoms’.

            Much of the beauty ofa lyric depends on its expression. So the poet has to choose words and their arrangements with great care. The combination of lines, rhythm and rhyme scheme are important. Each stanza should correspond to the mood expressed. Smoothness or hardness of the words, slownexus or rapidity of the movements, alliteration, rhyme, rhythm, melody and even some irregularities get hold upon the reader’s imagination and intensify his enjoyment of the lyric. Every lyric poet must be conscious of this fact.

(B) The Elegy

            An elegy is a lyric of mourning or a direct utterance of personal bereavement and sorrow. Elegy comes from the word ‘elegeid’ which in Greek means a lament. The Greeks judged an elegy by its form and it included war songs, lamentations, love poems and political verses. The only restriction was that the elegy should be written in the elegiac metre.

            In modern usage the theme is more important in the elegy than the form. It should be mournful and reflective. It is usually a lamentation for the dead though it may be inspired by any other sombre theme. So its basis is absolute sincerity of emotions and expression. Any hint of artificiality destroys the essence of an elegy. Most elegies grow into memorial poems containing the poet’s tribute to the dead person and a study of his life and character. Milton’s Lycidas, Tennyson’s ‘In Memoriam’ and Arnold’s ‘Rugby Chapel’ are such elegies. ‘Lycidas’ is a pastoral elegy on the death of Milton’s university friend Edward King; ‘In Memoriam’ laments the untimely death of Tennyson’s friend Arthur Hallam and ‘Rugby Chapel’ are such elegies. ‘Lycidas’ is a pastoral elegy on the death of Milton’s university friend Edward King; ‘In Memoriam’ laments the untimely death of Tennyson’s friend Arthur Hallam and ‘Rugby Chapel’ mourns the death of Arnold’s father. Gray’s famous ‘Elegy written in a Country Churchyard’ is distinctly reflective in character with a pronounced melancholy strain. It does not mourn the death of any person but expresses sorrow at the fate of men who die in obscurity, unwept and unsung.

            An acute sense of loss, a delicacy of feeling and a melancholy strain are the outstanding features of an elegy. Ben Jonson’s Memorial verses on Shakespeare, Milton’s Lycidas, Arnold’s Rugby Chapel, Shelley’s Adonais, Auden’s ‘In Memory of W.B.Yeats’ and Tennyson’s ‘Break, Break, Break’ and ‘In Memoriam’ are some of the most well-known elegies in English. The loss of a dear person is often only an excuse for the poet to indulge in speculative and. philosophical musings as in Adonais, Lycidas and In Memoriam.

            In some elegies the poet not only laments the death of a dear person hut also includes some criticism of his literary work. Such elegies are called critical elegies. Sir William Watson’s ‘Wordsworth’s Grave’ and Arnold’s ‘Heine’s Grave’ are the best examples. Another type of elegy is the pastoral elegy in which the poet expresses his sorrow under the guise of a shepherd mourning for his companion. This form originated from the Sicilian Greeks probably with poet Theocritus. In Latin, Poet Virgil perfected this form of elegy. Later it passed on to English poetry during the Renaissance. Here the manner of speech and setting are borrowed from rustic life. Spenser’s ‘Astrophel’. Milton’s ‘Lycidas’ and Arnold’s ‘The Scholar Gipsy’ and ‘Thyrsis’ are the most well-known pastoral elegies in English.

(C) The Ode

            The ode may be defined as a ‘rhymed lyric often in the form of an address, generally dignified or exalted in subject, feeling and style’. It is also defined as any ‘strain of enthusiastic or exalted lyrical verse directed to a fixed-purpose and dealing progressively with a dignified theme’. An ode is noted for its logical evolution of thought and it has a certain amount of complexity and elaboration unlike a simple lyric.

            An ode usually begins with an address to somebody or something. Sometimes the opening line or lines may contain an apostrophe as in the case of Shelley’s ‘Ode to the West Wind’ or Tennyson’s ‘To Virgil’. An ode may be written on an important public event or on the death of a distinguished person. Marvell’s ‘Ode upon Cromwell’s Return from Ireland’ belongs to the first category and Tennyson’s ‘Ode on the Death of Duke of Wellington’ belongs to the second category.

            The ode is of Greek origin. There were two traditions of odes in Greece. The first type is the Dorian ode so called from the district and dialect in which it arose. It is also called the Pindaric ode because Pindar, the ancient Greek poet, was its greatest exponent. The second type of ode is the Lesbian ode so called because it flourished at first in the island of Lesbos. It is also called Horatian ode because the great Latin poet Horace was its best practitioner. Thomas Gray’s odes ‘The Progress of Poesy’ and ‘The Bard’ belong to the Dorian or Pindaric school. Marvell’s ‘Ode upon Cromwell’s Return from Ireland’ is the best example of a Horatian ode in English.

            A Pindaric or Dorian ode consists of three parts - the strophe, the anti-strophe and the epode. They correspond to the three stages of the recital of an ode during a dance. The Horatian ode consists of a number of short stanzas similar in length and arrangement.

            In the early stages the English ode was infinenced by the two Greek models. But gradually the English ode began to pursue a course of its own. There are two types of odes in English, the regular and the irregular. Regular odes have a series of exactly similar stanzas as in the odes of Keats. Other examples of regular odes are Collins’s ‘Ode to Evening’ and Shelley’s ‘Ode to the West Wind’. Irregular odes have stanzas of different length and arrangement. There are sudden changes of versification, metre and mood. Wordsworth’s ‘Ode on Intimations of Immortality from Recolletions of Early Childhood’ and Coleridge’s ‘Dejection: An Ode’ are good examples of irregular odes.

            In English, Ben Jonson, Milton and Gray wrote ‘Pindaric odes. Marvell wrote Horatian odes. Other important poets who wrote odes were Spenser, Collins, Keats, Shelley and Tennyson. Perhaps the ode is the most popular lyric form except the sonnet.

(D) The Sonnet

            Sonnet is a lyric in fourteen lines in iambic pentameter governed by certain prescribed rules in general and in the arrangement of the rhymes. It aims at concentrated expression, but a fairly complex development of a single theme also is possible. It derives its name from the Italian ‘sonnetto’ which means ‘a little song’ or sound sung to the strain of music. It has only one leading thought or emotion as in Milton’s ‘On His Blindness’ or Keats’s ‘On first Looking into Chapman’s Homer’.

            Sonnets were first written in Italy in the latter half of the thirteenth century. This form of composition is associated with. the name of Petrarch, though the form had been used even by Dante before him. A Petrarchan sonnet is composed of two parts, the octave comprising the first eight lines and the sestet comprising the last six lines. The octave has two rhymes ‘a’ and ‘b’ arranged in the abab, abab scheme. The sestet has three rhymes arranged in various forms as cde, cde or cde, dcd or cde, dce. The octave may be divided into two stanzas of four lines each called quatrains and the sestet into two of three lines each called tercets. At the end of the eighth line, there is a pause called cuesura followed by a turn of thought called volta. Milton wrote some of his sonnets in this manner.

            The sonnet was introduced in England by Wyatt and Surrey in the 16th century. They discarded the Italian form and adopted a new rhyme scheme. Surrey wrote his sonnets in three quatrains in alternate rhymes followed by a concluding couplet.- a b a b, c d c d, e f e f, g g. This form was later used by Shakespeare with marvellàus success in his series of sonnets dedicated to Mr. W.H, So it came to be known as the Shakespearean sonnet. Romantic poets like Wordsworth and Keats followed the Shakespearean pattern. Spenser adopted a slightly altered form of the Shakespearean sonnet. He used an intermixture of rhyme to connect each of the quatrains making it a b a b, b c b c c d c d, e e.

            The common theme of a sonnet is love as in the sonnets of Shakespeare, Philip Sidney and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. However several poets have used other themes also in their sonnets. Milton’s sonnet ‘On His Blindness’, Wordsworth’s sonnet addresed to Milton, Keats’s sonnet ‘On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer’ and Arnold’s sonnet on Shakespeare are examples.

(A) The Ballad

            The ballad is a simple narrative poem in short stanzas telling a story. It may be called a short story in verse. Originally it used to be sung to the accompaniment of a musical instrument like the harp by strolling bands of singers or minstrels. The word ‘ballad’ is derived from the Latin ‘ballare’ which means ‘to dance’. This shows its connection with tribal dance.

            A ballad deals with some episode of simple motif written in a stanza suitable for oral transmission. In ancient ballads, often, the authors were unknown. The themes were commonly furnished by the elementary aspects of life. Large space was given to tales of adventure and love, fighting and valour. Generally supernaturalism was an essential element of such ballads.

            The ballad began to appear in England even before Chaucer’s time. The earliest English ballad is the fragmentary ‘Judas’ of the 13th century. The central characteristics of the ballad are narrative presentation, simplicity and spontaneity of expression. The most popular ballad measure used to be the ‘quatrain stanza’ with rhyme at the end of the second and the fourth lines.

            There are mainly two kinds of ballads - the traditional ballad or the ballad of growth and the modern ballad or the literary ballad.

            The traditional ballads originated from the folk culture of each nation. Most of these ballads are of unknown authorship. They are the authentic ballads that have grown naturally among a primitive race and are transmitted orally from generation to generation. They are impersonal in character because they are not concerned with the subjective feelings of the narrator.

            The ballad mostly deals with love and adventure. The narrator generally begins with a climactic episode and tells the story by means of action and dialogue. There is no attempt to give the details of place and time and no introductions are given. Most traditional ballads have a sudden and abrupt beginning as in the famous ballads ‘Sir Patrick Spens’ and ‘The Wife of Usher’s Well’. These ballads use refrains and repetitions. Many of these ballads have immense dramatic power and metrical beauty. Most of the ancient English ballads are collected in Bishop Percy’s ‘Reliques of Ancient English Poetry’ published in 1765, Majority of them are of Scottish origin. There are several ballads dealing with the legend of Robin Hood. Some other important traditional ballads are ‘Chevy Chace’, ‘Edom O’ Gordon’, ‘Thomas, The Rhymer’ and ‘The Bailiff’s Daughter of lslington’.

            Modern or Literary ballad (Ballad of Art) is generally written by a learned poet in conscious and sophisticated imitation of the traditional ballad. Many of the conventional features like the stanza form are retained in the literary ballad. Bishop Percy’s collection of songs and ballads gave a powerful impetus to the writing of ballads. Some of the greatest literary ballads were written during the period of the Romantic Revival. The most well-known among them is Coleridge’s ‘Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ in which the ballad metre is used. Wordsworth wrote two ballads — ‘We are Seven’ and ‘the Tables Turned’. Keats’s famous ballad ‘La Belle Dame Sans Merci’ represents a variation on the traditional ballad stanza.IHowever, the theme strongly resembles that of the traditional ballads.

            Literary ballads show an enlargement of description, psychological interest and a more finished style. In ballads like Tennyson’‘The Revenge’, Browning’s ‘Herve Riel’ and Rossetti’s ‘The King’s Tragedy’ we see not only the sterling qualities of the old ballads but also traits of originality which make them modern and original poems.

            Some other important literary ballads in English are Scott’s ‘Eve of St. John’, Kingsley’s ‘The Sands of Dee’ and William Morris’s ‘Shameful Death’.

            A minor form of literary ballad is the mock-ballad in which a comic theme is treated with the seriousness appropriate to a regular ballad. It follows the ballad conventions in all respects except in the choice of the theme. Cowper’s ‘John Gilpin’ is a fine example of a mock-ballad. Another is William Maginn’s ‘The Rime of the Ancient Waggoner’ an excellent parody of Coleridge’s ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’.

(B) The Epic

            Impersonal poetry can be divided into two groups - the narrative and the dramatic.  In the first group the epic or the heroic poem is the most important. An epic is a long narrative in verse en a great and serious subject related in an elevated style. An epic tells a generally well-known story and is centred round a heroic or semi-divine figure on whose actionsdepends the fate of a tribe, a nation or the human race. The action in an epic is serious and there is a good deal of physical and spiritual conflict. The characters and events are portrayed in detail, elaborate descriptions of places and actions are given, figures of speech are used and usually an elevated and ornate style is adopted. Aristotle ranked the epic second only to tragedy. It was the norm of great poetry in the 16th and 17th century England. Dryden wrote, “A heroic poem, truly such, is undoubtedly the greatest work which the soul of man is capable to perform”.

            Historically, there have been two types of epics - the primitive epic or the epic of growth and the topic of art or the literary epic. The epic of growth is not entirely, the work of a single author but is evolved from pre-existing legends, folk poems and sagas. It is the final product of a long series of accretions and synthesis shaped by the conscious intervention of some great poet Well-known examples of this type of epic are Iliad and Odyssey, the English Beowulf and the Indian epics The Ramayana and The Mahabharata.  All epics of growth deal with the same subject matter - deeds of heroes. These heroes belong to the race and their exploits form the core of a mythology. As such the epics of growth contain supernatural and religious elements. The style of such epics is marked by directness and simplicity. Stylistic devices may be repeated but they are never obscure.

            The epic of art or the literary epic is the product of individual genius. Of this kind, the earliest was Virgil’s ‘Aenid’. It became a model for the later epic ports. In English, the supreme example of a literary epic is Milton’s Paradise Lost. Arnold’s Sohrab and Rustom’, the fragmentary epic Hyperion by Keats and Spenser’s ‘Faerie Queen’ also belong to this category. A literary epic is the result of the poet’s erudition and scholarly research though it shares several of its characteristic with the epic of growth. Most traits of the traditional epic are found in the literary epic also.

The main traits of an epic are the following

            1. The subject matter of an epic is heroic or mythical kind. The hero is aflgure of national or even cosmicimportance as Achilles in Homer’s Iliad, Aeneas in Virgil’s Aenid, Adam or Christ in Milton’s ParadiseLost and, Rama in the Ramayana

            2. The setting of an epic is vast and comprises several worlds In Odyssey the whole known world is the scene of action of Ulysses. In Virgil’s Aenid and Dante’s Divine Comedy, earth, heaven and hell are the scenes of action. In Paradise Lost also the scene of action has cosmic dimensions rnhracing earth, heaven and hell.

            3.The action in an epic involves superhuman deeds such as the deeds of Achilles or the journeys of Ulysses. Paradise Lost presents the war in heaven, Satan’s journey through chaos and his audacious attempts to outwit God by corrupting mankind. The Ramayana presents several wars and the prolonged wanderings of the hero.

            4. The action of an epic is often controlled by supernatural agents. Gods and goddesses mingle with the humans and fight on both sides. In Homer the Olympian gods participate in all activities and in Paradise Lost devils, angels and God himself are involved.

            5. The epic contains a number of thrilling episodes like battles, duels, wanderings, ordeals and the like.

            6. In most epics there is a moral purpose. The hero represents a cause and the victory of good over evil is ensured. Sometimes characters themselves are personifications of good or evil.

            7. In the narration of an epic certain conventions are followed. It is narrated in an ornate, ceremonial andgrand style which is deliberately distanced from ordinary speech. Epic similes, figures of speech, classical allusions and references, and repetitions are used. The characters are given set speeches. The narration usually begins with an invocation to the Muse or a guiding Spirit, Both ‘Aenid’ and Paradise Lost begin with such invocations. Usually, the narrative starts. in the middle of the story as in Paradise Lost which begins with the fallen angels gathering their forces for revenge. Only later Milton tells us what happened before the Fall.

            8. The epic is usually divided into 12 books though Iliad and Odyssey have 24 books each. Spenser’s ‘Faerie

Queen’ was planned in 12 books and Milton’s Paradise Lost also has 12 books.

(C) The Idyll

            The Idyll derives its name from a Greek word meaning ‘a little picture’. It is a description generally in verse of some scene or event which is strikingly picturesque and complete in itself. The idyll is not a distinct species of poetry; it may take the form of a short lyric, a longer poem, a passage in a play, epic, ballad or any other kind of poem.

            The idyll has its origin with classical poets like Theocritus and Virgil. They wrote pastoral idylls. A pastoral idyll avoids the mournful tone of a pastoral elegy and confines itself to description of placid and happy existence. In classical times idylls dealt with a variety of themes like mythology, country itid town life and the poet’s own experiences. But the English idyll, generally, has limited its scope to the treatment of low and simple life.

            Two important characteristics of the idyll are its relative brevity and pictorial effect. The poet presents a picture in a few worth and the pictorial effect is achieved by graphicdescription., One of the earliest idylls in English is Marlowe’s The Passionate Shepherd to his Love’. Milton’s L’Allegro can be considered a series of idylls, each one a picture of happy life.Wordsworth’s ‘Lines Written in March’ is a beautiflul idyll depicting a spring scene in England, The pastoral scenes in Shakespeare’s ‘As You Like It’ and ‘The Winter’s tale can be considered idylls of country life. However, Tennyson used the term ‘idyll’ for short and pleasing narratives in his ‘English Idyils’ and Browning wrote, a series of dramatic idylls.

            The idyll keeps relatively close to ordinary life and gives an idealised version of it. It is an imaginative rendering of a picturesque scene or experience. The language used is simple, direct and straightforward. It is free from literary ornament. For example, Longfellow’s ‘The Village Blacksmith’ is an idyll written in a simple style. Since idylls idealise ordinary existence, Tennyson was justified in using the term in the title of his ‘Idylis of the King’ because these poems give idealised pictures of medieval chivalric life.