illustrious name must be added that of his friend and pupil Gower, who is
curious because he is representative of the three literatures still in
use in his day, having written his _Speculum Meditatus_ in French,
his _Vox Clamantis_ in Latin, and his _Confessio Amantis_ in
English. So far as I am aware this phenomenon was never repeated.




CHAPTER VII


THE MIDDLE AGES: GERMANY

Epic Poems: _Nibelungen_. Popular Poems. Very numerous Lyric Poems.
Drama.


FIRST LITERARY WORK.--The most ancient monument of German literature is
the _Song of Hildebrand_, which goes back to an unknown antiquity,
perhaps to the ninth century, and a very beautiful fragment of which has
been preserved by a happy chance. We are entirely ignorant of works
written in German between the _Song of Hildebrand_ and the
_Nibelungen_, except for some religious poems such as the
_Heliand_ in low German and the _Book of the Gospels_ in high
German.

THE NIBELUNGEN,--The _Nibelungen_ form a vast poem, written probably
in the thirteenth century (or, at that epoch, formed by juxtaposition of
more ancient popular songs). It is a great national monument wherein are