The Oxford History of Poetry in English

Abstract

Abstract The second volume in The Oxford History of Poetry in English (OHOPE) occupies both a foundational and a revolutionary place. Its opening date—1100—marks the re-emergence of a vernacular poetic record in English after the political and cultural disruption of the Norman Conquest. By its end date—1400—English poetry had become an established, if still evolving, literary tradition. The period between these dates saw major innovations and developments in language, topics, poetic forms, and means of expression. Middle English poetry reflects the influence of multiple contexts—history, social institutions, manuscript production, old and new models of versification, medieval poetic theory, and the other literary languages of England. Recognising these influences, the volume nonetheless retains OHOPE’s focus on poetics and a history of poetry in English. It thus emphasises the aesthetic, imaginative treatment of new and received materials by medieval writers and the formal craft required for their verse. Individual chapters treat the representation of national history and mythology, contemporary issues, and the shared doctrine and learning provided by sacred and secular sources, including the Bible. Throughout the period, lyric and romance figure prominently as genres and poetic modes, while some works hover enticingly on the boundary of genre and discursive forms. The volume ends with chapters on the major writers of the late fourteenth century (Langland, the Gawain-poet, Chaucer, and Gower) and with a look ahead to the reception of something like a national literary tradition in fifteenth-century literary culture.