Individual characteristics had not much chance of development, and there is accordingly a great scarcity of subjectíve lyric poetry. Every man, whether knight, priest, or artisan, was a member of a community. It is the normal which thrives best in such associations, and distinctively individual features are little cultivated. Whenever we find feelings other than those of religion, in the poetry or art of the Middle Ages, we are struck by their nebulous, indistinct character. The human soul seems to have been hidden from men by a veil, as Nature was, and consequently psychological observation did not exist; people examined neither their own souls nor the souls of others. In the poetry of that period action was everything, and the inner, psychological process which precedes action and leads to it was nothing.
If we may be permitted to use the language of geology, the soul of the Hungarian people during the Middle Ages might be said to show in section three different strata. At the bottom is the primitive pagan nature, brought from their Asiatic home. The next shows a more cultured mental condition, the result largely of intercourse with Turkish, Slavish, German, and Italian neighbours. Last comes Christianity, introducing a multitude of new features into the life of the people. In the absence of sufficient literary remains we can only gather as best we may, by the aid of analogy, what are the thoughts and feelings which belong to each stratum.
