IMC 2009: Sessions
Session 1104: The Metre of Alliterative Verse
Wednesday 15 July 2009, 11.15-12.45
| Organiser: | Noriko Inoue, University of Bristol |
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| Moderator/Chair: | Paul R. Dryburgh, Henry III Fine Rolls Project, Department of History, King's College London |
| Paper 1104-a | A-Verses in the Destruction of Troy: A Historical Perspective (Language: English) Index terms: Language and Literature - Old English, Language and Literature - Middle English |
| Paper 1104-b | Crowded A-Verses in Langland (Language: English) Index terms: Language and Literature - Old English, Language and Literature - Middle English |
| Paper 1104-c | The Caesura in Middle English Alliterative Poetry (Language: English) Index terms: Language and Literature - Old English, Language and Literature - Middle English |
| Abstract | The metre of Middle English alliterative verse is a subject which remained relatively neglected for much of the last century until a new impetus was given to it by the work of, most notably, Hoyt Duggan, whose findings regarding the rules governing the b-verse (the second half of the alliterative line) have provided a focus for renewed interest in the subject. Since the structure of the a-verse - where, by contrast, no metrical regularity has yet been established - is now attracting attention, the present seems a timely moment in which to have a session dedicated to this subject. Accordingly, Nicolay Yakovlev first examines the metrical structure of the a-verse in the Destruction of Troy. Macklin Smith then focus on the crowded a-verses of Piers Plowman, which is followed by Noriko Inoue who speaks about the medial caesura as a marker of the conclusion of the a-verse. |