I'm certain that this has been answered someplace, but as I sit here drifting off to reading Milton's Paradise Lost, it occurs to me that there have been many passages in other books from different medieval periods - passages which are not poetry - which have a far more florid way of expression than we currently use today.
I've read passages from Ian Mortimer's books of recorded speech throughout the ages, and passages in Daniel J. Boorstin, and many others. And all of the every day "recordings" of the words people use appear to be a lot more florid and roundabout than our manner of thinking and expression in today's modern age.
Granted: Almost all of these writers were keen on embellishing many things and, I suspect, liked to throw in dramatic poetic turns of phrases whenever possible. However, I cannot conclude that every single writer who wrote things down verbatim was in the habit of embellishment. So what I am getting at is: Did people really put in a lot more care into their sentences and answers, even as far down the hierarchy as the peasantry? And, if so, would that not be evidence of a different way of thinking about things? As in: They must have had a rather different way of coming to conclusions and answers, and even questions, than in our own modern habit.
Would it be fair to say this? If not, why not?
I realize that this answer delves into many disciplines such as linguistics, psychology, and history, as well as sociology, but I am curious about it all the same. Does anyone out there know any answers to these questions?
Yes, Milton can bring this out in a person. Shakespeare as well. :D
Thank you in advance for any replies!
I'm not sure exactly what you mean by 'medieval' but Milton wrote most of PL "between about 1658 and about 1663" so I'll go with this period (Broadview Anthology of British Literature, 724).
Milton's use of "blank verse (i.e. unrhymed lines of iambic pentameter), draws heavily on classical inspiration and is highly illusive" (724). Milton was deliberately trying to 'break the mold' of his era, and used his own--rather unorthodox--form of poetics to write PL and Aeropagitica. He used the 'unflorid' writing of Homer, Virgil, Ovid, and Spencer , Ariosto, Tasso, and Du Bartas. Milton literally avoided writing like his contemporaries on purpose.
This is mostly opinion (although, I feel qualified to state such opinion) but I believe Milton's subject matter (i.e. the retelling of the bible) caused him to deliberately avoid 'flowery' language in an direct attempt to literalize the topic. Milton, rather than relying on the flowery prose of the day, spoke in an accessible prose/poetic form to ensure the impact of his words were not lost in poetic translation. He also, as the Greek writers he was emulating, felt rhyme was unnecessary 'filigree' that took away from his writing's overall effect.
As to how people spoke at the time, it is not too unlike how a Londoner speaks today (in terms of accent,) there have been some major shifts in vowel pronunciation (see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Vowel_Shift) but anyone who now speaks English would be able to understand a speaker c. 1640. It's not like Spencerian English which was wildly different from how English is spoken today, or even when Spencer was writing. (i.e. the opening line of the Fairie Queene reads: "lo I the man, whose Muse whilome did maske" is pronounced "lo eye the man, who-SUH mus-UH whi-LOE-me did mas-KUH." An modern English speaker would have difficulty understanding the intonation of this work (it sounds more Dutch than English). Seeing as the texts are only separated by 50 years, you can see how Spencer's use of 'obsolete language' was common in the poetry of the time. This use of old language is a common criticism of FQ as no one really spoke like this at the time (see also Shakespeare's works, as they also fall into the 'flowery language' I'm sure you're speaking about.)
Basically, Spencer deliberately avoided writing in the florid style of the day. He instead used the direct language of Greek and Italian epics (even using the epic catalog common to these works) to inspire his work. Using the phrasing and intonations more common to the spoken language and avoiding esoteric and/or dated linguistic tricks.