Anonymous, The Floure and the Leaf

Darragh Greene (University College Dublin)

Ed. by Sebastian Sobecki, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.02: English Writing and Culture: High and Late Medieval, 1066-1485.
Vol. editors: Kate Ash-Irisarri (University of Edinburgh), Rory Critten (Université de Lausanne), David Fuller (University of Durham), Natalie Hanna (University of Liverpool), Hugh Magennis (Queen's University Belfast), Jamie McKinstry (University of Durham), Sarah Peverley (University of Liverpool), Sebastian Sobecki (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1470

Places

England (Country of Origin; Publication/ performance)

Genres and Modes

Poetry (any)

Resources

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The Floure and the Leafe

is a fifteenth-century, anonymously-authored, allegorical poem in the French courtly-love debate tradition that goes back to

Le Roman de la Rose

. The poem’s language, which locates it in the general London area, has been used to date the text to

. 1460-80 (Pearsall, 1962, 19-20; Pearsall, 1990). Written in rhyme royal stanzas, the 595-line text is notable for its female narrator – rare in Middle English poetry – and that it was for almost three centuries thought to have been authored by Geoffrey Chaucer. The poem presents a literary twist on a French courtly game, whereby in Maytime knights and ladies would follow the order of the Flower if seeking out new love or the Leaf if remaining constant to a current beloved.

There is no extant manuscript witness to

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2027 words

Citation: Greene, Darragh. "The Floure and the Leaf". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 25 May 2021 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=39350, accessed 20 April 2024.]

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