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

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 c. 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 …

Please log in to consult the article in its entirety. If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing institution (see List), you should be able to access the LE on campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a personal user account with your institutional email address. If you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under Individual Subcriptions.

2027 words

Citation: Greene, Darragh. "The Floure and the Leaf". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 25 May 2021 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=39350, accessed 22 November 2024.]

Save this article