SOURCE: Kindrick, Robert L. “Henryson and Later Poetry.” In Robert Henryson, pp 181-85. Boston: Twayne, 1979.

In the essay below, Kindrick comments on the influence of Henryson's poetry on literary tradition and subsequent British authors.

Henryson's accomplishment and his importance for Middle Scots verse can hardly be overestimated. He forged a group of exceptional poems that has become an inspiration to later poets, and, by his eclecticism, he infused Scottish verse with some of the best elements of other cultures and literatures. Perhaps most important of all, he brought to Scottish poetry the broad sympathetic understanding which is a mark of all great writing.

Through the Fabillis he explored a wide variety of social classes and types of individuals. Perhaps no other single work in all of Scottish literature contains a greater range of characters. Orpheus and Eurydice provided Scottish poetry with a model blend of intellectual and emotional...