Henryson, Robert

Henryson, Robert

▪ Scottish author
Henryson also spelled  Henderson  
born 1420/30?
died c. 1506

      Scottish poet, the finest of early fabulists in Britain. He is described on some early title pages as schoolmaster of Dunfermline—probably at the Benedictine abbey school—and he appears among the dead poets in William Dunbar's Lament for the Makaris, which was printed about 1508.

      Henryson's longest work is The Morall Fabillis of Esope the Phrygian, Compylit in Eloquent & Ornate Scottis, a version of 13 fables based mainly on John Lydgate and William Caxton and running to more than 400 seven-line stanzas. The collection has a prologue, and each tale is adorned with a moralitas. Its virtue lies in the freshness of the narrative, in the sly humour and sympathy of Henryson's animal characterization, and in his miniatures of the Scottish countryside.

      In The Testament of Cresseid, a narrative and “complaint” in 86 stanzas, Henryson completes the story of Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde, giving a grim and tragic account of the faithless heroine's rejection by her lover Diomede and her decline into prostitution. The Testament is more than a splendid piece of rhetorical craftsmanship; blended with Henryson's unwavering concern for justice are an aesthetic attraction to the repulsive and grotesque and a refined sense of the variance of human love.

      Among the shorter poems ascribed to Henryson are the lovely Orpheus and Eurydice, based on Boethius and akin to the Testament in mood and style; a pastourelle, Robene and Makyne, in which a traditional French genre assimilates the speech and humour of the Scottish peasantry; and a number of fine moral narratives and meditations.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Henryson, Robert — • Scottish poet, born probably 1420 1430; died about 1500 Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006 …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Henryson, Robert — (ca. 1425–ca. 1505)    Robert Henryson was the outstanding Scottish poet of the 15th century, and author of one of the finest late medieval narrative tragedies, The Testament of Cresseid. For centuries Henryson was classified among a group of… …   Encyclopedia of medieval literature

  • HENRYSON, ROBERT —    an early Scottish poet, flourished in the 15th century; most of his life was spent as a schoolmaster in Dunfermline; his chief works, which are full of pathos, humour, and a fine descriptive power, include Testament of Cresseid, a continuation …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia

  • Henryson, Robert — (1430? 1506?)    Scottish poet. Few details of his life are known, even the dates of his birth and death being uncertain. He appears to have been a schoolmaster, perhaps in the Benedictine Convent, at Dunfermline, and was a member of the Univ. of …   Short biographical dictionary of English literature

  • Robert Henryson —     Robert Henryson     † Catholic Encyclopedia ► Robert Henryson     Scottish poet, born probably 1420 1430; died about 1500.     His birthplace, parentage, and place of education are unknown, but it is conjectured that he may have been at some… …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • HENRYSON (R.) — HENRYSON ROBERT (1429 env. env. 1508) L’œuvre la plus importante d’Henryson est le recueil intitulé Les Fables morales choisies d’Ésope le Phrygien, en noble et riche langage écossais (The Morall Fabillis of Esope the Phrygian, Compylit in… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Robert Henryson — was a poet who flourished in Scotland in the period c.1460 – 1500. Counted among the Scots Makars, he lived in the historic city of Dunfermline and is a distinctive voice in the northern renaissance at a time when Scotland was on a cusp between… …   Wikipedia

  • Henryson —   [ henrɪsn], Robert, schottischer Dichter * 1430 (?), ✝ 1506 (?); neben W. Dunbar der prominenteste Vertreter der schottischen Chaucer Nachfolge. Sein bekanntestes Werk ist »The testament of Cresseid«, eine bittere und tragische Fortsetzung von… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Robert Henderson — may refer to:*Robert Henryson, a Scottish poet *Robert Henderson (cricketer), an English cricketer *Robert Henderson (writer), an English political writer *Rob Henderson, an English and Irish rugby union footballer *Robert Henderson (prospector) …   Wikipedia

  • Henryson (Henderson), Robert — (?1430 ?1506)    The details of his birth are sketchy, but it can be judged from his writings that he was a schoolmaster of Dunfermline, Fifeshire, possibly at the Benedictine school at Dunfermline Abbey. He appears among the dead poets in… …   British and Irish poets

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”