As an amatory poem, it is edifying in these days of coarser
thinking, to notice the nature, refinement, and exquisite delicacy
which pervade it; banishing every gross thought or immodest
expression, and presenting female loveliness, clothed in all its
chivalrous attributes of almost supernatural purity and grace.
James flourished nearly about the time of Chaucer and Gower, and was
evidently an admirer and studier of their writings. Indeed, in one
of his stanzas he acknowledges them as his masters; and, in some parts
of his poem, we find traces of similarity to their productions, more
especially to those of Chaucer. There are always, however, general
features of resemblance in the works of contemporary authors, which
are not so much borrowed from each other as from the times. Writers,
like bees, toll their sweets in the wide world; they incorporate
with their own conceptions the anecdotes and thoughts current in
society; and thus each generation has some features in common,
characteristic of the age in which it lived.
James belongs to one of the most brilliant eras of our literary
history, and establishes the claims of his country to a
participation in its primitive honors.
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