Anthology of Ancient and Medieval Woman's Song

by Anne L. Klinck (Editor/Translator)

This collection focuses on a woman's point of view in love poetry, and juxtaposes poems by women and poems about women to raise questions about how femininity is constructed. Although most medieval 'woman's songs' are either anonymous or male-authored lyrics in a popular style, the term can usefully be expanded to cover poetry composed by women, and poetry that is aristocratic or learned rather than popular. Poetry from ancient Greece and Rome that resonates with the medieval poems is also included here. Readers will find a range of voices, often echoing similar themes, as women rejoice or lament, praise or condemn, plead or curse, speak in jest or in earnest, to men and to each other, about love.

Genres: Poetry, Music

211 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Karen Witzler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Songs, Hymns, Poems believed to have been composed by women or for women from the Graeco-Roman world to Late Medieval England. Compositions from across Europe: Germany, Italy, France, Britain, Spain (Arabic and Spanish), and Portugal. Original text in original language is presented side by side with English translation throughout.

Library, but I would love a copy for reference.

[Kim Browers · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was no musical notation at all. This was simply poetry. There was little to no discussion of the musical performance these women would have sung this music for. And much of the poetry was incomplete, at that. The author didn't draw out a clear set of terminology before introducing ideas, assuming we would know what these ideas/terms are. Some of the subject matter was just what I had hoped for, but the rest was insufficient for my research. And the Middle English, lacking in most of a translation, was actually more difficult to digest than the foreign language counterparts that had been translated fully. If I had less interest in the subject, I probably would have quit at the Ancient Greece section.

[Rana · Rating 1 out of 5]

not a great anthology/too many pieces written by men imo