Literary critic, poet and philologist as well as medievalist, with a particular interest in the powers and effects of poetic language, Marie Borroff brings the full range of her expertise to bear on problems of central importance in the poetry of Chaucer and his nameless contemporary, the Gawain--or Pearl--poet. This collection of essays, much of it previously unpublished, represents a major contribution to the study of late Middle English literature.

These poems, written over fifty years, address such subjects as the celerity of time, old age, art, literary acquaintances, and the author’s beloved New England landscape. They delight in sound and form, even as they unsettle and disturb.

Literary critic, poet and philologist as well as medievalist, with a particular interest in the powers and effects of poetic language, Marie Borroff brings the full range of her expertise to bear on problems of central importance in the poetry of Chaucer and his nameless contemporary, the Gawain--or Pearl--poet. This collection of essays, much of it previously unpublished, represents a major contribution to the study of late Middle English literature.

These poems, written over fifty years, address such subjects as the celerity of time, old age, art, literary acquaintances, and the author’s beloved New England landscape. They delight in sound and form, even as they unsettle and disturb.