Stevick's classic work remains the only text of its kind aimed at fostering the linguistic competence necessary to understand its poems in Middle English. The wide range of lyric poems in the book are normalized to a Chaucerian dialect. The introduction has been revised to take into account the scholarship and criticism published since the first edition appeared in 1964. It gives the background for the poetry, explains how and why the texts are normalized, and reviews significant critical scholarly studies of the works. Included is a section on morphology and grammar that introduces students to the language of the lyrics, and a section on the evolving meter of Middle English. "A fine piece of work. . . . Learned, wide-ranging, and judicious." -- John B. Friedman, author of The Monstrous Races in Medieval Art and Thought "An impressive collection. Stevick's decision to normalize the texts makes it highly accessible." -- Ralph Hanna III, University of California, Riverside

Contains over 180 poems, songs, and carols of medieval England in Middle English with extensive linguistic and critical notes.

This is a new edition and selection of the corpus of anonymous medieval English lyrics, drawing on love lyrics, devotional and moral lyrics and miscellaneous secular lyrics. All the texts are presented in their original forms (rather than translated into modern English, as has previously been the case with Penguin publication of these works), freshly edited from the original and normalized to accord with late 14th century London dialect.

Building on recent critical work, this volume offers a comprehensive consideration of the nature and forms of medieval and early modern childhoods, viewed through literary cultures. Its five groups of thematic essays range across a spectrum of disciplines, periods, and locations, from cultural anthropology and folklore to performance studies and the history of science, and from Anglo-Saxon burial sites to colonial America. Contributors include several renowned writers for children. The opening group of essays, Educating Children, explores what is perhaps the most powerful social engine for the shaping of a child. Performing Childhood addresses children at work and the role of play in the development of social imitation and learning. Literatures of Childhood examines texts written for children that reveal alternative conceptions of parent/child relations. In Legacies of Childhood, expressions of grief at the loss of a child offer a window into the family’s conceptions and values. Finally, Fictionalizing Literary Cultures for Children considers the real, material child versus the fantasy of the child as a subject.