Langlande

LANGLANDE, langTand, LA NGE LANDE, or LONGLAND, William, Eng lish poet: b. Cleobury Mortimer, about 1332; d. about 1400. Little is known of him except from tradition, according to which he was edu cated at Oxford, and became a monk of Mal vern. The familiarity of the author with the Scriptures and the Church fathers indicates that he was an ecclesiastic; several local allu sions in the poem, and the fact that its scene is the "Malverne Hilles,° prove that it was composed on the borders of Wales; and inter nal evidence fixes its date at about 1362. It narrates the dreams of Piers Ploughman, who, weary of the world, falls asleep beside a stream in a vale among the Malvern hills; and while satirizing in vigorous allegorical descriptions the corruptions in church and state, and the vices incident to the various professions of life, and painting the obstacles which resist the amelioration of mankind, presents the simple plowman as the embodiment of virtue and truth, and the representative of the Saviour. Its ancient popularity appears from the large number of MS. copies still extant, most of

them belonging to the latter part of the 14th century. It was a favorite of religious and po litical reformers, and several imitations of it appeared, the most important of which was written about 1393 by some Wycliffite, assailing the clergy, and es pecially the monks. In 1550 the 'Vision of Piers Ploughman) was printed by the reformers, and so favorably received that three editions were sold within a year. This poem is a re markable example of a system of verse, derived from the Anglo-Saxons, and marked by a regu lar alliteration instead of rhyme. There are two classes of manuscripts, which give the text with considerable variations. The best edition both of the