Description

Understanding a medieval poetry genre through modern
translations, commentary, and the role of performance

Middle English
lyrics are anonymous short poems that were composed between the twelfth and
sixteenth centuries. They address a range of themes, both secular and
religious, and usually emphasize the author's personal relationship to the
subject matter. In this introduction to the genre, William Quinn offers an
overview of the large body of work, identifying common features and trends over
time and discussing select examples in detail.
Quinn argues that
Middle English lyrics are best understood when read as emotional performances and
guides readers through the poems' expressions of joy, sorrow, anger, fear,
compassion, spiritual devotion, romantic attraction, erotic frustration, and
gender-targeted contempt. For the poems he considers in detail, Quinn provides line-for-line
modern renditions of the Middle English texts. The book also includes commentaries
keyed to the original texts, intended to prompt interpretations and enrich
understandings of the lyrics. Quinn concludes by tracing the later development
of versification from medieval to Renaissance lyrics, looking at work by Chaucer,
Hoccleve, Petrarch, Wyatt, Surrey, and Shakespeare.
An Introduction to
Middle English Lyrics
encourages readers to appreciate this literary genre on its own terms and to
reconsider modern ideas of what makes a "good" poem. With a deeper knowledge of
how lyrics functioned in their historical settings, this book fosters a
reassessment of their significance to the broader history of English poetry.

A volume in the
series New Perspectives on Medieval Literature: Authors and Traditions, edited
by R. Barton Palmer and Tison Pugh