The Poems of William Dunbar

by William Dunbar, James Kinsley (Editor)

William Dunbar (c.1460 - 1520) bridges the divide between medieval bard and Renaissance poet. From the sonorous beat of the Lament for the Makaris to the subtle satire of The Tretis of the Tua Mariit Wemen and the Wedo, his self-knowledge and mocking wit points to the development of a modern artistic consciousness while his skill, craftsmanship and sense of language still have the power to inspire today.

This book is a must-have for any serious scholar of European Medieval and Renaissance literature. The first volume gives the text of every Dunbar poem while the second provides a wealth of explanatory notes and reference material, allowing each poem to be easily studied in-depth. As well as freshly established texts of all Dunbar's works, these two volumes contain a full introduction; a complete listing of textual variants in all the early manuscripts and printings; extensive notes on every poem; a glossary; and lists of sources and secondary material.

One of the editor's chief concerns has been to elucidate not just the literal sense but also the connotations of Dunbar's words: the figurative and metaphoric uses, the legalisms, poetic archaisms, puns and other wordplay, as well as the use of proverbs, scriptural allusions and debts or affinity to earlier poets. This has taken her into many varied and unexpected areas of medieval life and thought in assembling her line-by-line commentary on every poem in the edition. Readers will find new information about obscure words and phrases and no difficult passage is passed over silently.

These volumes are a tribute not only to the wonderful poet whose works they contain but also to the industry, erudition and acumen of his latest editor.

Genres: Poetry, Literature, Medieval, Classics

528 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1534

About the author

William Dunbar (born 1459 or 1460 - died by 1530) was a Scottish Makar poet active in the late fifteenth century and the early sixteenth century. He was closely associated with the court of King James IV and produced a large body of work in Scots distinguished by its great variation in themes and literary styles. He was probably a native of East Lothian.

From 1500, Dunbar was employed at the court of James IV in a role for which he received an annual pension. His duties are not recorded; but it is to this period that the bulk of his poetry can be dated. Several of Dunbar's poems were included in the Chepman and Myllar prints of 1508, the first books to be printed in Scotland.

Reviews

[Illiterate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dunbar’s diverse poems give a nice sense of medieval life. Hidden gems: Sweet Rose of Virtue, In Secret Place, Into this World may non Assure.

[Jen Well-Steered · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the editors of this collection point out, many scholars publish early modern English poems in the original and seem to assume the present-day reader will just say it out loud and understand it. Which is too bad, because when you translate a lot of poetry from the era, it turns out to be a weird combination of fart jokes and praise for the king. That was the job of a court poet: you had to be entertaining. Sometimes that meant a bawdy tale about 2 portly women getting drunk on the first day of Lent and complaining about abstemiousness. Other days, they wanted a praise song for the queen.

[Jared · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Yit quhone the nycht begynnis to schort,
It dois my spreit sum pairt confort,
Of thocht oppressit with the schowris,
Cum, lustie Symmer with thi flowris,
That I may leif in sum disport."