Book Description
This definitive and long-awaited edition of the C Version of Piers Plowman now joins the California editions of the A and B Versions to complete the set of Piers Plowman texts prepared under the general editorship of George Kane. Piers Plowman is the single most important Middle English poem, with the exception of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. The forty-eight extant manuscripts of the poem are classified in three main versions: A, the earliest, written about 1362; B, a longer revision, written about 1378; and C, the most finished and public form, written about 1394. The basis of this edition is the text in Huntingon Library MS 143, corrected and restored from the evidence of all known manuscripts of the C tradition to that of the first fair copy of the poet's revision materials. The correction and restoration are described in an extensive introduction, and there is a full apparatus of variant readings. Two appendices cover excluded lines and passages and the Ilchester Prologue. ... Read more

Book Description
Piers Plowman is one of the most significant works of medieval literature. Astonishing in its cultural and theological scope, William Langland's iconoclastic masterpiece is at once a historical relic and a deeply spiritual vision, probing not only the social and religious aristocracy but also the day-to-day realities of a largely voiceless proletariat class.

E. Talbot Donaldson's translation of the text has been selected for this Norton Critical Edition because of its skillful emulation of the original poem's distinct alliterative verse. Selections of the authoritative Middle English text are also included for comparative analysis.

"Sources and Backgrounds" includes a large collection of contemporary religious and historical documents pertaining to the poem, including selections from the Douai Bible, accounts of the plague, and legal statutes.

"Criticism" includes twenty interpretive essays by leading medievalists, among them E. Talbot Donaldson, George Kane, Jill Mann, Derek Pearsall, C. David Benson, and Elizabeth D. Kirk.

A Glossary and Selected Bibliography are also included.

About the Series: No other series of classic texts equals the caliber of the Norton Critical Editions. Each volume combines the most authoritative text available with the comprehensive pedagogical apparatus necessary to appreciate the work fully. Careful editing, first-rate translation, and thorough explanatory annotations allow each text to meet the highest literary standards while remaining accessible to students. Each edition is printed on acid-free paper and every text in the series remains in print. Norton Critical Editions are the choice for excellence in scholarship for students at more than 2,000 universities worldwide.Download Description
Cesseth!' seide the Kyng,I suffre yow no lenger. Ye shul saughtne, forsothe, and serve me bothe. Kis hire,' quod the Kyng, "Conscience, I hote!' "Nay, by Crist!' quod Conscience," congeye me rather! But Reson rede me therto, rather wol I deye. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A great translation and edition of an epic journey
The poem of 'Piers the Ploughman' is often considered to be anonymously composed, as the name William Langland was less an authorial designation as it was an inscription on the back of a manuscript - it would be as if I would be assigned the authorship of the O.E.D. because, in some future time, the only remaining copy was missing the title pages, but still had the hard-cover with my 'ex libris' impression on it. Be that as it may, Langland is considered at least as likely an author as any other, and becomes a sort of stand-in, an 'everyman' for his time period. A few details of this Langland are known - he was a wanderer, a constant reviser (the poem goes through several revisions that scholars have designated as texts A, B, and C (and some argue for Z). This is not a spiritual autobiography, as J.F. Goodridge states in an essay about Langland in another edition, but there are no doubt autobiographical elements in the text. That the lead character is named 'Will' helps in this identification.

This poem stands alongside Chaucer's 'Canterbury Tales' as one of the great products of Middle English; this also has the character of being a different sort of Middle English than Chaucer's more courtly, continental influenced variety. Thus, it gives breadth to the history of the English language. Langland is often ranked as a great English poet on a par with Spenser, Milton, Wordsworth and Yeats, as representative of his age both in topics as well as language facility.

This epic poem deals with themes familiar for the time - like Dante and Milton, Langland deals with the grand ideas of the meaning of life and the destiny of humankind. However, unlike Dante and Milton, Will and Piers the Ploughman do not go through a mystical, otherworldly adventure or journey, but rather stays rooted to the earth. These are dream sequences, but these too need not be otherworldly - they are things that can happen to every person. The ideas of the seven deadly sins, the virtues, the church, and the images of heaven and hell are very much rooted to regular society images of the same. The discussion of the allegorical characters, aptly named Do-Well, Do-Better, and Do-Best, does much for the moral teaching of this poem, which would have been of primary concern to the author.

Langland's text is often more Old English than Chaucerian in ways. It is far more alliterative, a strong component taken from Old English. Also, it is less metrical in rhythm than Chaucer - there is a pause in each line akin to older English poetry, but the metre is less secure.

This translation is done in alliterative verse by E. Talbot Donaldson (the 'E' stands for the very olde Englishe sounding name of Ethelbert).There are notes, essays and other helpful material provided by Elizabeth Kirk and Judith Anderson. There are over 50 non-related texts of the poem that have survived the Middle Ages, that vary from minor to major changes throughout. Reconciling these is rather like attempting to reconcile the gospels of the Bible, and then adding to that task the discovery of other non-canonical gospels. It leads to rich discussion, but less agreement.

The introductory material helps set the stage for reading, and the appendix gives a more thorough development of 'The Dreamer' from the C text.

Perhaps one of the reasons I like this text so much is that the persons involved were known to me, or friends of friends.Donaldson was the founding editor of 'The Norton Anthology of English Literature', a broad, wide-ranging text.However, it was 'Piers Plowman' that was to be a continuing favourite study for him.

This is one of the classics of English literature, perhaps the least known among them.

Enjoyable
This poem is very unique. Langland conveys many moral issues that will always be part of human existence. The poem is written in the beautiful, alliterative style. It is not quite a standard allegory and perhaps this is why I enjoyed it so much. It is masterfully composed and Piers' vision is accutely realized. Langland has an artistic touch that grabs hold of a reader and also manages to import a message. I would recommend a version that has both the original text, with all the idosyncratic spellings, and a modern English translation. Reading this is like reading Dante, Chaucer, or the Gawain Poet. A lot to chew on but well worth the trouble.

The most inspirational book besides the Bible
This poem is one of the most beautiful things I have ever read.I am not a specialist in Middle English, so I cannot say what was lost in the translation into Modern English.I have a copy of the B-Text version which is in Middle English, and if you are like me and have no background therein, this is definitely the version to possess.

It was written circa 1380 and gives an excellent account of life in Plantagenent England and the behavior of the people.The money economy was relatively new, and he saw the negative effects that it had upon both the secular authorities and the Church.The poem is written as an allegory in which the author tries to reconcile the needs of human society with satisfying our Lord our God.Similar to Pilgrim's Progress, the author has a vision, in which he is encounters different aspects of humanity (Covetousness, Sloth, Soul, Knowledge, etc.) on his attempt to find Truth (or God).It is definitely not light reading, and there is so much deep thought that one has to spend a lot of time reading it slowly, as I am sure it was done in the 'Middle Ages'.

The author thought that End Times were near after the Black Death and the utter corruption amongst secular and clerical authorities at the time.The fact that something so penetrating and inspirational was written and found such an appreciative audience that it has survived till now shows that the society then was not so bad.Highly recommended. ... Read more