Patience is currently the only one of the four poems in British Library MS Cotton Nero A.x that has not been translated into modern idiomatic poetry. The poem uses the biblical story of Jonah as an exemplum but expands on its Old Testament sources with startling poetic effects, vivid descriptions of the natural world, and probing theological questions. This new edition, with a lively, alliterative facing-page translation, will enable students and general readers, as well as scholars, to study and enjoy this poem.
A critical introduction explores the poem’s themes, poetics, and social and political contexts, and a rich selection of historical appendices includes biblical sources, contemporary analogues, visual material from the Cotton Nero A.x manuscript and other illuminated manuscripts, and maps of the world of the poem.
Comments
“The fourteenth-century alliterative poem Patience is a striking, urgent, and enigmatic retelling of the biblical story of Jonah and the whale. Helen Barr’s crackling, acoustic translation and facing-page edition will be invaluable to students as they grapple with the rich and often surprising ways in which medieval writers interpret and re-imagine biblical material. Her translation, a tour de force in its own right, retains the alliterative form of the original but also captures its poetic immediacy and vibrancy by taking advantage of contemporary regional varieties of English as well as modern idiom. Barr’s introductory and supplementary materials are voluminous without being overwhelming, providing a crash course in the poetic, theological, and social contexts in which the poem is written. This student-friendly edition of Patience will be an excellent resource for the study of Middle English literature.” — Richard H. Godden, Louisiana State University
“Often overshadowed by its more famous manuscript cousins Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Pearl, the fourteenth-century poem Patience—an evocative and often playful rendering of the biblical Book of Jonah—has long deserved more attention from students and professional scholars alike. Helen Barr’s zesty translation, which works to retain Patience’s brisk alliterative poetics while also highlighting the poem’s wry wit and delicate pathos, should encourage precisely that. Barr’s introduction and generous contextualizing materials, including reproductions of relevant images, place the poem firmly in its cultural milieu, and the crucial facing-page format will foment sustained engagement with the original Middle English. This volume is an important addition to Broadview’s collection of Middle English texts, and it will find a welcome home in many university courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.” — David K. Coley, Simon Fraser University
