The chanson d'aventure is a genre of medieval poetry

Medieval poetry

Because most of what we have was written down by clerics, much of extant medieval poetry is religious. The chief exception is the work of the troubadours and the minnesänger, whose primary innovation was the ideal of courtly love. Among the most famous of secular poetry is Carmina Burana, a...

 originating in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, but which had a substantial influence on poetry in Middle English

Middle English

Middle English is the stage in the history of the English language during the High and Late Middle Ages, or roughly during the four centuries between the late 11th and the late 15th century....

.

Structure

The chanson d'aventure (plural chansons d'aventure) is essentially a framing device, where the singer (or poet) wanders into a wild or rural setting and has a chance encounter, usually in the form of a dialogue; it originates in Old French

Old French

Old French was the Romance dialect continuum spoken in territories that span roughly the northern half of modern France and parts of modern Belgium and Switzerland from the 9th century to the 14th century...

 lyrics

Lyric poetry

Lyric poetry is a genre of poetry that expresses personal and emotional feelings. In the ancient world, lyric poems were those which were sung to the lyre. Lyric poems do not have to rhyme, and today do not need to be set to music or a beat...

 usually with an erotic or amorous theme. Sometimes, the chanson may focus on an overheard dialogue, or lover's complaint. In either way, the chief feature is that of a chance encounter. It likely evolved from two earlier chanson

Chanson

A chanson is in general any lyric-driven French song, usually polyphonic and secular. A singer specialising in chansons is known as a "chanteur" or "chanteuse" ; a collection of chansons, especially from the late Middle Ages and Renaissance, is also known as a chansonnier.-Chanson de geste:The...

subtypes, the chanson dramatique and the chanson pastourelle.

Poets in Middle English

Middle English

Middle English is the stage in the history of the English language during the High and Late Middle Ages, or roughly during the four centuries between the late 11th and the late 15th century....

 adopted the trope for themes other than love, often making the debate's focus a moral or devotional one. The genre shares many common features with the dream vision

Dream vision

A dream vision is a literary device in which a dream is recounted for a specific purpose. While dreams occur frequently throughout the history of literature, the dream vision emerged as a poetic genre in its own right, and was particularly popular in the Middle Ages. This genre typically follows a...

, although with the important distinction that the poet does not fall alseep.