The Alliterative Morte Arthure: The Owl and the Nightingale and Five Other Middle English Poems - Hardcover

Gardner, Mr. John

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9780809304868: The Alliterative Morte Arthure: The Owl and the Nightingale and Five Other Middle English Poems
Hardcover
ISBN 10: 0809304864 ISBN 13: 9780809304868
Publisher: Southern Illinois University Press, 1971

Synopsis


Poets of every age deal with roughly the same human emotions, and for the experienced reader poetry is interesting or not depending upon the moment-by-moment intensity of its appeal. This skillful rendering by John Gardner of seven Middle English poems into sparklingly modern verse translation—most of them for the first time—represents a selection of poems that, generally, have real artistic value but are so difficult to read in the original that they are not as well known as they deserve to be. The seven poems are: The Alliterative Morte Arthure, Winner and Waster, The Parlia­ment of the Three Ages, Summer Sunday, The Debate of Body and Soul, The Thrush and the Nightingale,and The Owl and the Nightingale.

The first four poems represent high points in the alliterative renais­sance of the fourteenth century. Morte Arthure,here translated for the first time in its entirety into modern verse, is the only heroic romance in Middle English—a work roughly in the same genre as the French Song of Roland. The other three poems have been included in the anthology as further poetic examples.

With his employment of extensive comments and notes on the poems, Gardner provides a wealth of aids to appreciation and understanding of his outstanding translations. The anthology will be of interest to general readers as well as to students.


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About the Author

John Gardner is Professor of English at Southern Illinois University. His previous books include a modernized English version of The Complete Works of the Gawain-Poet and a recently published novel, The Wreckage of Agathon.

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Publisher
Southern Illinois University Press
Publication date
1971
Language
English
ISBN 10 
0809304864
ISBN 13 
9780809304868
Binding
Hardcover
Edition number
1
Number of pages
320
Rating
  • 3.71 out of 5 stars
    34 ratings by Goodreads

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9780809306480: The Alliterative Morte Arthure: The Owl and the Nightingale and Five Other Middle English Poems in a Modernized Version, with Comments on the Poems (Arcturus Books, Ab116)

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  0809306484 ISBN 13:  9780809306480
Publisher: Southern Illinois University Press, 1973
Softcover