vi introDuCtion
work. Scholars continue to debate the correctness of
each term, and both are commonly employed. in order
to clarify some of the issues, i have included an entry
on the idea of “early modern v. renaissance.”
poEms anD poEts inCLuDED
in choosing works and writers to include in this book, i
consulted with all the major anthologies of literature of
the period, including the Norton, longman, Broadview,
and Blackwell. i also consulted several high school texts.
Space constraints prevented the inclusion of everything
one would wish; nonetheless, all the works and poets
that students are likely to encounter are included here.
The inclusion of irish, Scottish, and Welsh literature
has become standard classroom practice, and most
anthologies today include so-called companion pieces
or celtic contexts, which are also often available as
supplemental reading in electronic form, on sites dedi-
cated to a specific classroom anthology.
it was particularly difficult to decide which Tudor
works to include, as the sheer volume of poetry of that
period is staggering. medieval choices proved only
slightly less tricky, and these were further complicated
by the availability of translations. most instructors teach
chaucer in the original middle english, as well as some
of the later authors, such as lydgate and hoccleve,
the Scottish chaucerian works, and medieval lyrics.
however, earlier works—especially the anglo-Saxon,
Welsh, and irish texts—are almost wholly dependent
on modern english versions being available for student
consumption, and, therefore, some readily available
texts displaced others that are less accessible. at the
same time, however, some early middle english pieces
that were crucial to the development of the vernacular
tradition (such as Handlyng Synne) warranted inclu-
sion. Overall, i believe all of the included texts provide
essential insight into this period of literature.
Finally, personal inclination and modern politics
dictate that women poets and woman-centered texts
be fairly represented. i have striven, therefore, to rep-
resent women authors fairly. among the complications
of studying the medieval period is the lack of identifi-
able authors. as a medievalist, i have long lamented
the tendency for anthologies to prioritize those works
that can be attributed to a named author, thus poten-
tially excluding a great deal of female-oriented texts.
moreover, many named female medieval authors wrote
in prose, not poetry, and thus lie beyond the boundar-
ies of this volume.Pre-1600 Poetry of tHe
BritisH and CeltiC
world: a Brief overview
This book covers the medieval and early renaissance
periods of British and celtic poetry. For purposes of
this volume, the celtic texts are grouped within the
appropriate “medieval” or “renaissance” category, with-
out further division. in english literature, however, the
medieval time period can be further broken down into
the Old english period and the middle english period,
with some scholars suggesting a third distinct division,
the anglo-Norman period. The Old english period
runs roughly from 700 c.e. to 1066 c.e., the date of the
Norman conquest. The anglo-Norman period, then,
covers the immediate post-conquest time, or 1066–
11 54, when english went “underground,” ending
with King Stephen’s death. The middle english period
traditionally ends with the death of King richard iii at
Bosworth Field in 1485.
The early renaissance is technically the Tudor era,
named after the period’s ruling dynasty. after richard
iii ’s death, henry Tudor ascended the throne as King
henry Vii. he was followed by his second son, who
became King henry Viii (1509–1547), who in turn
was followed by each of his three children: edward
Vi (1547–1553), mary i (1553–1558), and elizabeth
i (1558–1603). When elizabeth died, the son of her
cousin mary, Queen of Scots, James Stuart, ascended the
throne as the first monarch of the new Stuart dynasty.oLD EngLish poEtry at a gLanCE
The 30,000 lines of surviving Old english poetry
are collected, for the most part, in four manuscripts:
The exeter Book, the Vercelli manuscript, the Junius
manuscript, and the Nowell codex (also known as
cotton Vittelius a.xv). These are all anthologies of
texts collected after they were written, not assembled
for a specific purpose. No texts describing the art of
poetry survive from the Old english period. Scholars,