Notes
675] The Parlement of Foules is an allegorical love-vision poem in 699 lines, written probably in 1382 in honour of the marriage of Richard II and Anne of Bohemia. It is extant in fourteen mss., most of them in the libraries of Oxford and Cambridge, and was first printed by Caxton in 1477-78. The poem describes a contention between three male eagles for the love of a female, the favourite of the goddess Nature. The other birds are called on by Nature to judge the dispute, which is left unsettled. The other birds choose their mates (it is St. Valentine's day); and certain of them sing a roundel in honour of Nature. A roundel or triolet is a short poem in which the first line or lines recur as a refrain in the middle and at the end.
676] wedres: storms.
overshake: shaken off.
678] on-lofte: aloft, above.
679] foules: birds.
682] han: have.
683] make: mate.
Online text copyright © 2009, Ian Lancashire (the Department of English) and the University of Toronto.
Published by the Web Development Group, Information Technology Services, University of Toronto Libraries.
Original text: unspecified.
First publication date:
1382
RPO poem editor: N. J. Endicott
RP edition: 2RP.1.39; RPO 1996-2000.
Recent editing: 2:2002/6/7
Composition date:
1382
Form: roundel