“The Owl and the Nightingale” and the English Poems of Jesus College MS 29 (II)

Edited and translated by Susanna Fein

Book cover: “The Owl and the Nightingale” and the English Poems of Jesus College MS 29 (II)

Extent: 462 pages

Publisher: Medieval Institute Publications

Subjects: Literary Studies, Medieval Studies

Series: TEAMS Middle English Texts Series

Language: English

Paperback (Published)

(May 2022)

ISBN: 9781580445207

8.27 x 10.24 inches

Price: $39.95

In stock

An edition and accompanying translation of this late C13th anthology of early Middle English verse.  In addition to the original text and Modern English translations, the edition contains a substantial scholarly introduction, notes and a substantial bibliography. The book is designed for use by teachers, scholars and students.


An edition of the early Middle English verse sequence contained in the thirteenth-century Oxford Jesus College MS 29 (II) with accompanying translations in Modern English and scholarly introduction and apparatus. The sequence is varied in subject, with poems of religious exhortation set beside others of secular pragmatism. Included are: The Owl and the Nightingale, Poema Morale, The Proverbs of Alfred, Thomas of Hales’s Love Rune, The Eleven Pains of Hell, the prose Shires and Hundreds of England, the lengthy Passion of Jesus Christ in English, and twenty-one additional lyrics, most of them uniquely preserved in this manuscript. Made in the West Midlands, the Jesus 29 manuscript is the lengthiest all-English verse collection known to exist in the period between the Exeter Book and the Harley Lyrics.

Acknowledgements
Abbreviations List
General Introduction
Oxford, Jesus College, MS 29 (II): Texts and Translations
1. The Passion of Jesus Christ in English
2. The Owl and the Nightingale
3. Poema Morale
4. The Saws of Saint Bede
5. The Woman of Samaria
6. Weal
7. Death’s Wither-Clench
8. An Orison to Our Lady
9. Will and Wit
10. The Annunciation
11. The Five Joys of Our Lady Saint Mary
12. When Holy Church Is Under Foot
13. Doomsday
14. Death
15. Ten Abuses
16. A Little Sooth Sermon
17. Antiphon of Saint Thomas the Martyr in English
18. On Serving Christ
19. Thomas of Hales, Love Rune
20. Song of the Annunciation
21. Fire and Ice
22. Signs of Death
23. Three Sorrowful Tidings
24. The Proverbs of Alfred
25. An Orison to Our Lord
26. A Homily on Sooth Love
27. The Shires and Hundreds of England
28. The Eleven Pains of Hell
Explanatory Notes
Textual Notes
Index of First Lines
Index of Proper Names
Bibliography

  • Edited and translated by Susanna Fein