The Narrative Art in the Fables of Robert Henryson
Abstract
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Few details of the life of Robert Henryson are known. It is believed that he lived between 1425 and 1506, and it is traditionally assumed that he was a schoolmaster in Dunfermline in Scotland. This assumption is based on the edition of his Fables published in 1570 and 1571 as well as the edition of his "Cresseid", published in 1593, wherein he is so designated. Whatever the dearth of biographical data, there is no lack of critical acclaim for this poet among students of medieval Scottish literature. Henryson has been called "most exquisite of Scottish Chaucerians”, and William Ernest Henley is quoted as having said: Henryson was an accomplished man and a good and genuine poet. He had studied Chaucer with the ardour and insight of an original mind, and while he has much in common with his master, he has much that is his own... He narrates with a gaiety, an ease, a rapidity, not to be surpassed in English literature between Chaucer and Burns.
Subject Area
British and Irish literature|Folklore
Recommended Citation
Stauffer, Mary Regina, "The Narrative Art in the Fables of Robert Henryson" (1960). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI28673377.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI28673377
