How to Read Middle English Poetry

A textbook that introduces students to Middle English poetry and offers advice about the understanding and interpretation of the genre, covering verse in English and Scots from c.1150 to c.1500.

List of contents

• Introduction


• 1: Why Old Poetry?


• 2: Wording


• 3: Phrasing


• 4: Metre (I): Alternating Metres


• 5: Metre (II): Alliterative Verse


• 6: Rhyme


• 7: Stanzas


• 8: Grander Designs


• 9: Manuscripts, Texts, Editions


• 10: Poetry of Many Tongues


• 11: Verse Takes Breath


• Epilogue: Craft in an Unfixed Time


• Appendix

About the author

Daniel Sawyer is Departmental Lecturer in English Literature and Manuscript Studies at the University of Oxford. He read English at Queen Mary, University of London, and studied for his MSt and DPhil in English at St Hilda's College, Oxford. He has held fellowships at the Huntington Library in California, and at Corpus Christi College, Merton College, and St Hilda's College, Oxford. He has spent more than a decade teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in Old and Middle English literature; his research interests range across early manuscripts, editing, and the history of poetry seen in long perspective.

Summary

A textbook that introduces students to Middle English poetry and offers advice about the understanding and interpretation of the genre, covering verse in English and Scots from c.1150 to c.1500.

Product details

• Authors: Sawyer , Daniel Sawyer, Daniel (Departmental Lecturer in English L Sawyer, Daniel (Departmental Lecturer in English Literature and Manuscript Studies Sawyer
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 01.04.2024
• EAN: 9780198895244
• ISBN: 978-0-19-889524-4
• No. of pages: 240
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > English linguistics / literary studies; LITERARY CRITICISM / Poetry, LITERARY CRITICISM / Ancient & Classical, Literary studies: classical, early & medieval, Literary studies: poetry & poets, Literary studies: ancient, classical and medieval, Literary studies: poetry and poets