Уильям Ленгленд — книжные серии

This is a new translation into contemporary English of one of the greatest poems of the English Middle Ages. Piers Plowman remains of enduring interest for its vivid picture of the whole life of medieval society, for its deeply imaginative religious vision, and for its passionate concern to see justice and truth prevail in our world. A. V. C. Schmidt's translation of the B-text is provided with an Introduction and extensive Notes which place the work in its contemporary setting and offer a full interpretative commentary on the poem.

From the magnificent heritage of English poetry before Chaucer, this volume reprints the most powerful and delightful examples. The longest work in the collection is Piers Plowman, an allegory which combines scathing satire of the contemporary church with a passionate and tender account of the true spiritual life. Filled, like the Canterbury Tales, with the bustle of fourteenth-century England, it is populated by scores of richly drawn characters and peppered with pithy sayings. A more lyrical account of spirituality appears in Pearl. But perhaps the greatest and most magical masterpiece of Middle English verse is the strange tale of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, a virtuoso performance which tells a chivalric story of mystery and suspense in verse of dazzling sensuous beauty.