Description
Book SynopsisShoaf here presents a hitherto neglected Middle English text for both undergraduate and graduate classrooms: Thomas Usk's
The Testament of Love. Left unpublished since the nineteenth century, Usk's modern edition includes glosses, notes, and a contextualizing introduction to assist students of all levels in approaching Usk's Middle English poem. The fourteenth-century work describes Love descending to Usk's prison cell, and the two engaging in a long, theological conversation reminiscent of Boethius's
Consolation of Philosophy. Notable for its idiosyncratic imagery, wide variety of themes, and Christian sentimentality,
The Testament of Love is a fascinating text to be studied in any Middle English classroom.
Table of ContentsPreface
Acknowledgements
Introduction
i. Nature of the Project
ii. Usk's Biography
iii. Overview of
The Testament of Love a. Plot
b. Sources
c. Imagery
d. Themes
e. Ideology
iv. Usk and His Contemporaries
v. Importance of
The Testament of Love vi. Guide to this Edition
a. The Transcription
b. Transcription Conventions
c. How to Read this Edition
d. Glosses and Glossary
e. Annotations
f. The Problem of the Broken Sequence of Book 3
g. Hypertext Version
Select Bibliography (with Annotations)
Summary of
The Testament of Love
The Testament of Love Prologue
Book 1
Book 2
Book 3
Notes
Introduction
List of Abbreviations
Prologue
Book 1
Book 2
Book 3
Appendices
1. The Pearl (
TL 2.12 and 3.1)
2. The Appeal of Thomas Usk against John Northampton (
TL 1.6-8)
3. St. Anselm's
De Concordia (Sections Relevant to
TL)
