Themes and Images in the Medieval English Religious Lyric

by Douglas Gray

Originally published in 1972, Themes and Images in the Medieval English Religious Lyric discusses themes and images in religious lyric poetry in Medieval English poetry. The book looks at the affect that tradition and convention had on the religious poetry of the medieval period. It examines the background of the lyrics, including the Latin tradition which was inherited by medieval vernacular and shows how religious lyric poetry presents, through a rich variety of images, the significant incidents in the scheme of Christ's redemption, such as the Annunciation, the Nativity, the Passion and the Resurrection. It also considers the lyrics which were designed to assist humanity in the task of living in a Christian life, as well as those which prepared them for death.

320 pages, ebook

Published July 5, 2019

About the author

Prof Douglas Gray, FBA, was JRR Tolkien Professor of English Literature and Language and Professorial Fellow at LMH from 1980 to 1997. Previously he was a Fellow at Pembroke College, Oxford.

Prof Grey won the English Association's 2010 Beatrice White Prize. The prize is awarded for outstanding scholarly work in the field of English Literature before 1590, and Prof Gray was awarded his prize for his book Later Medieval English Literature.

Prof Gray was elected to an Honorary Fellowship in 1997.