1 Notes on Social, Cultural & Literary History

Q: Write a note the Middle English Alliterative Poetry.

OR> Write a note on the Alliterative Revival of the Middle Age.
Ans: A revival of the Old English alliterative verse occurred about the middle of the 14 th
century. Rickett is of the view that — “The victories of Edward-III in France resulted in
reawakening of the national self-consciousness which found vent in a new enthusiasm for the English
tongue. English displaced French in the schools and law courts and in 1362 parliament was opened in
the English language.”

Thus, the term ‘alliterative revival’ is commonly used to denote a body of unrhymed
alliterative verse surviving from the period beginning about 1350 and ending in the earlier
part of the 15th century. There appeared a number of poems in a metre which had clearly
evolved in an unbroken development from the old alliterative measures of “Beowulf” and
“Cynewulf”. Among them “Pearl”, “Patience”, “Purity” and “Sir Gawain and the Green
Knight” come at once to the mind. These works breathed new life into the traditional native
English form inherited from the Anglo-Saxons.

“Pearl” is an alliterative cum dream poem of the Middle English Period. The poem
consists of 12000 lines. According to the story, the poet has lost his two years old daughter.
He imagines to have lost his pearl in a garden. In course of his search, he falls asleep, and
has a glorious vision of his little daughter’s paradisal bliss. “pearl” is a successful allegory
and may well be claimed as a just pioneer of Spenser’s “Faerie Queene”.

In “Purity”, we have discourse on purity. This poem is technically accomplished, but

lacks the special kinds of sensibility which makes the “Pearl” so impressive. “Patience”
consists of 531 lines and contains some fine descriptive passages, i.e. the storm at the sea.

“Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” is, in fact, the richest of all the alliterative poems. The
poems by introducing Arthur as the greatest of the line of British kings descended from
Brutus. In this Arthurian romance, knightly courage is exposed to something like the full
strength of those forces which turn most people into cowards. There is no doubt about its
enduring popularity. This poem is marvellous for its scenic beauty of nature in Middle Age.

Beside the Gawain-poet’s work, the alliterative revival includes such works as William
Langland’s “Piers the Ploughman”, John Clerk Whaley’s “Destruction of Troy”, the
anonymous political satire “Winner and Wester” etc. The poems of the alliterative revival
were all written by well-educated and possibly clerical poets, share themes of high moral
seriousness and use Northern and Western English Dialect.
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