Early Middle English literature showcases a rich tapestry of poetic devices and prose techniques. From alliteration to kennings, these works employ sound and meaning to create vivid imagery and rhythmic patterns that captivate readers.

Rhetorical modes like homiletic tradition and exemplum were used to instruct and persuade audiences. The period's linguistic diversity and manuscript culture led to textual variations, reflecting the evolving nature of Middle English literature and its transmission.

Poetic Devices

Sound and Meaning

• Alliteration repeats initial consonant sounds in words placed close together (merry maiden, fearful foe) to create rhythmic patterns and emphasize key words
• Kenning substitutes a descriptive phrase for a noun (whale-road for sea, battle-sweat for blood) as a form of poetic circumlocution
  • Kennings often use hyphenated compounds to create vivid imagery (spear-din, word-hoard)
  • Common in Old English and Old Norse poetry to demonstrate poetic skill

Ornamentation and Figures of Speech

• Aureation is the extensive use of Latin-derived words and rhetorical devices to elevate the style
  • Includes amplificatio (elaborating on topics at length) and traductio (artfully repeating words in different grammatical forms)
  • Lends an ornate, high-flown quality to the poetry intended to impress the audience
• Figurative language uses non-literal comparisons and associations to evoke meanings
  • Metaphor directly equates two unlike things (the ship plowed the sea)
  • Personification ascribes human qualities to animals, objects, or abstractions (the mournful wind, blind justice)
  • Hyperbole uses intentional exaggeration for emphasis or effect (a thousand times no!)

Prose Techniques

Rhetorical Modes and Devices

• Homiletic tradition draws upon the rhetorical techniques of religious sermons to instruct and persuade
  • Uses scriptural exegesis (interpretation), exempla (illustrative stories), and exhortation (urgent advice or warnings)
  • Aims to clearly explain Christian doctrine and inspire virtuous behavior in the audience
• Exemplum is a short narrative used to illustrate a moral point, often deployed in a sermon or didactic work
  • Usually features ordinary people facing temptation or tribulation to teach a lesson
  • Hugely popular in medieval preaching and works like Handlyng Synne and Gesta Romanorum

Stylistic Features

• Rhythmic prose uses regular stress patterns, alliteration, and balance of clauses to create a cadenced flow
  • Juxtaposes two-stress phrases against longer ones: "Wordes swete as hony and reste at thyn owne wille"
  • Arranges clauses and phrases in parallel structures joined by and: "clennesse in body and in soule, and meeknesse of herte and of body, and fulfillynge..."
  • Approximates poetic techniques in prose to craft musical, memorable passages as in Ancrene Wisse

Language and Transmission

Linguistic Diversity and Change

• Dialectal variation in Middle English was significant due to the lack of a national standard
  • Five major dialect groups: Northern, West Midlands, East Midlands, Southern, and Kentish
  • Differences in pronunciation (kirk vs. church), verb forms (is vs. bēn), and vocabulary (from ON skali vs. OE scield)
  • The London dialect, an East Midlands variety, gradually became the prestige form by the late 14th century
• Anglo-Norman influence profoundly affected Middle English, especially its vocabulary
  • Loanwords related to government (crown, court), religion (clergy, saint), fashion (gown, lace), and cuisine (veal, mutton)
  • Culinary and sartorial terms connote a certain elegance and refinement

Textual Transmission

• Manuscript culture prior to print led to textual instability and variation
  • Texts were copied by hand and subject to scribal errors, emendations, and dialectal alterations
  • A single work could exist in divergent manuscript versions (The Canterbury Tales, Piers Plowman)
  • Authors had little control over the dissemination and reception of their works
  • Manuscript production was a collaborative effort among authors, scribes, illuminators, and patrons