约翰·利德盖特传记

诗人的传记

约翰·利德盖特是乔叟最多产的崇拜者，他于1370年出生在萨福克郡的利德盖特村，靠近伯里圣埃德蒙修道院。他15岁时进入伯里的本笃会修道院，可能在那里的本笃会修士学校接受过更早的教育，后来又在牛津的本笃会学院学习。他有可能在牛津和剑桥都读过书，而且相当肯定的是，他去过法国，也许去过意大利。他于1397年被任命为牧师。他为贵族子弟开办了一所学校可能是在伯里修道院。他的诗作似乎经常受到贵族贵族和女士们的需要，作为宫廷诗人，他为亨利六世的加冕典礼写了一首歌谣。在11年(1423-1434)的时间里，他担任哈特菲尔德·布罗德多克的院长，但据说他并没有在那里忙太多的工作。然后他回到了伯里。他曾多次因写诗而得到一些土地和抚恤金。他职业生涯的许多细节只能模糊地断言，但他的诗歌作品并不模糊。可以肯定的是，他是一位博学而勤奋的诗人，写了许多不同主题的诗。 His poetry, however, though interesting from other points of view than the poetical, never rises much above mediocrity. A blight seemed at that period to have fallen upon poetry in England, though in Scotland the Chaucerian tradition was followed still with dignity and force. The writings of Lydgate are very numerous. Itis said his works numbered 251 poems, some of them of enormous length, such as the Troy Book of 30,000 lines. It is fairly certain, too, that much of what he wrote has been lost. A good deal of his existing work is still in MS ( MS Trinity College Cambridge ). He is said to have written one piece of prose — an account of Caesar's wars and death. Most modern critics agree as to the general mediocrity of his work, but Lydgate has not wanted admirers in the past such as 'Chatterton', who imitated him, and 'Gray', who was impressed by the carefulness of his phraseology and the smoothness of his verse. Among his poetical compositions may be mentioned:— "Falls of Princes," "Troy Book", "Story of Thebes", narrative poems; "The Life of Our Lady" and "The Dance of Death", devotional poems; "The Temple of Glass", and imitations of Chaucer. The well-known poem of "London Lackpenny", which has been for long reckoned as Lydgate's, is now almost certainly proved not to be by him.