The poem has been relatively well-preserved and requires few if any emendations to enable an initial reading. Thematically, the poem is primarily concerned with the evocation of the grief of the female speaker and with the representation of her state of despair. The tribulations she suffers leading to her state of lamentation, however, are cryptically described and have been subject to many interpretations.

    It is based primarily on the 538-line Middle English poem Sir Landevale, which in turn was based on Marie de France's lai Lanval, written in a form of French understood in the courts of both England and France in the 12th century. Sir Launfal retains the basic story told by Marie de France and retold in Sir Landevale, augmented with material from an Old French lai Graelent and a lost romance that possibly featured a giant named Sir Valentyne. This is in line with Thomas Chestre's eclectic way of creating his poetry.In the tale, Sir Launfal is propelled from wealth and status – the steward at King Arthur's court – to being a pauper and a social outcast. He is not even invited to a feast in his home town of Caerleon in South Wales when the king visits, although Arthur knows nothing of this. Out in the forest alone, he meets with two damsels who take him to their mistress, the daughter of the King of Faerie. She gives him untold wealth and a magic bag in which money can always be found, on the condition that he becomes her lover. She will visit him whenever he wants and nobody will see her or hear her. But he must tell nobody about her, or her love will vanish at that instant.The story of a powerful (fairy) woman who takes a lover on condition that he obey a particular prohibition is common in medieval poetry: the French lais of Desiré, Graelant, and Guingamor, and Chrétien de Troyes's romance Yvain, the Knight of the Lion, all share similar plot elements. The presence of a Land of Faerie, or an Otherworld, betrays the story's Celtic roots. A final court scene may be intended by Chestre as criticism of the contemporary legal and judicial framework in late-fourteenth century England.[4] The equation of money with worth in the tale may satirize a late-fourteenth century bourgeois mentality.

    Texts are in the original Middle English, and each has an introduction, detailed notes and a glossary. Selected titles are also available as CD recordings.

    You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

    THE 'MUST-HAVE' COMPLETE COLLECTIONIn this irresistible, 'must-have' collection you get ALL the Legendary Ancient Writers, AND get ALL their plays, books and works at the same time. But that is not all..MULTIPLE TRANSLATIONSIn addition, you will also get 2 other important benefits:*Multiple translations of many of the works, covering their translation into Rhyming Verse, Blank Verse and Prose.*In-Depth Footnotes, Introductions and Explanations.INCLUDED WORKS: WORKS OF HOMER:THE ILIAD*ALEXANDER POPE TRANSLATION - Verse*SAMUEL BUTLER TRANSLATION - Prose*EARL OF DERBY TRANSLATION - Verse*LANG, LEAF, MYERS TRANSLATION - Prose*WILLIAM COWPER TRANSLATION - Blank VerseTHE ODYSSEY*ALEXANDER POPE TRANSLATION - Verse*SAMUEL BUTLER TRANSLATION - Prose*LANG, BUTCHER TRANSLATION - Prose*WILLIAM COWPER TRANSLATION - Blank VerseWORKS OF OVID:*HEORIDES *ARS AMORICA, AMORES (The Love Poems)*METAMORPHOSESWORKS OF SOPHOCLESTHE OEDIPUS TRILOGY:*ANTIGONE*KING OEDIPUS*OEDIPUS AT COLONOS*AIAS*ELECTRA*THE TRACHINIAN MAIDENS*PHILOCTETESWORKS OF VIRGIL*THE AENEID - Prose*THE AENEID - Verse*ECOLOGUES*GEORGICSWORKS OF APOLLONIUS*ARGONAUTICA (JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS,THE GOLDEN FLEECE)WORKS OF QUINTUS*POSTHOMERICAWORKS OF HESIOD*WORK AND DAYS*THEOGONY*HOMERICA AND HYMNS(including many rarities such as 'Contest between Hesiod and Homer' and 'The Small Iliad')WORKS OF EURIPIDES*ANDROMACHE*RHESUS*HECUBA*ION*HERACLES*HERACLIEDAE*HELEN*ELECTRA*CYCLOPS*ALCESTIS*ORESTES*PHOENISSAE*MEDEA*HIPPOLYTUS*BACCHAE*IPHIGENIA IN AULIDE*IPHIGENIA IN TAURIS*TROJAN WOMENWORKS OF APULEIUS*THE GOLDEN ASS*APOLOGIA (A DISCOURSE IN MAGIC)WORKS OF APOLLODORUS*LIBRARYWORKS OF AESOP*COMPLETE FABLESWORKS OF AESCHYLUS*PERSIANS*PROMETHEUS BOUND*SEVEN AGAINST THEBES*SUPPLIANTS*AGAMEMNON*LIBATION BEARERS*EUMENIDES*CHOEPORIWORKS OF ARISTOPHANES*THE ELEVEN COMEDIESYOUR ENVIABLE COLLECTIONImagine the joy of having this exclusive collection, which rivals many libraries, at your fingertips. Imagine the incredible pleasure of reading these nuggets of literature gold, discovering inspiration in the kind of fantastic, mythological tales you love.PLUS YOU GET FREE BONUSES:*Biographies of each of the Writers - Details of their colorful histories, intriguing personal lives and remarkable adventures in the ancient world.*Easy to navigate 'Table of Contents' - jump between works and between chapters in each work easily.

    It is been known for centuries as a superb story of adventure and love, honour and betrayal. Only literary critics have neglected it. It is a long and complex work, during the writing of which Malory perfected his art, and the earlier parts, excellent as they are, have not quite the dramatic power and pervasive deep tragic irony of the story of passion, war, and society the constitutes the last quarter of the book; critics have perhaps not appreciated the difference. Representing this last quarter, which has his own natural unity within the larger whole, the present edition focuses more sharply on the greatness of Malory's achievement, and allows the reader to see it and enjoy it more readily.

    Its popularity owes much to the lyricism of the prose, thepitch-perfect rendition of black vernacular English, and the memorable characters--most notably, Janie Crawford. Collecting the most widely cited and influential essays published on Hurston's classic novel over the last quarter century, this Casebook presents contesting viewpoints by Hazel Carby, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Barbara Johnson, Carla Kaplan, Daphne Lamothe, Mary Helen Washington, and Sherley Anne Williams. The volume also includes a statement Hurston submitted to a reference book on twentieth-century authors in 1942. As it records the major debates the novel has sparked on issues oflanguage and identity, feminism and racial politics, A Casebook charts new directions for future critics and affirms the classic status of the novel.

    The jubilant Kauravas insult the Pandavas in their helpless state and even try to disrobe Draupadi in front of the entire court, but her honour is saved by Krishna who miraculously creates lengths of cloth to replace the ones being removed.

    The poem was inspired by Germanic and Anglo-Saxon oral tradition recounting the exploits of Beowulf, the hero who gave his name to the poem. Here, it's transcribed as a verse epic, onto which are grafted Christian additions.

    Probably composed between 1372 and 1389, the poem survives in three distinct versions. It is known to modern readers largely through the middle of the three, the so-called B-text. Now, George Economou's verse translation of the poet's third version makes available for the first time in modern English the final revision of a work that many have regarded as the greatest Christian poem in our language.Langland's remarkable powers of invention and his passionate involvement with the spiritual, social, and political crises of his time lay claim to our attention, and demand serious comparison with Dante's Divine Comedy. Economou's translation preserves the intensity of the poet's verse and the narrative energy of his alliterative long line, the immediacy of the original's story of the quest for salvation, and the individuality of its language and wordplay.

    Table of Contents: List of Works by Collection and TitleList of Works in Alphabetical OrderRobert Frost BiographyA Boy's Will :: North of Boston :: Mountain Interval :: Miscellaneous PoemsA Boy's Will (1913)Into My OwnGhost HouseMy November GuestLove and a QuestionA Late WalkStarsStorm FearWind and Window FlowerTo the Thawing WindA Prayer in SpringFlower-gatheringRose PogoniaAsking for RosesWaiting--Afield at DuskIn a ValeA Dream PangIn NeglectThe Vantage PointMowingGoing for WaterRevelationThe Trial by ExistenceIn Equal SacrificeThe Tuft of FlowersSpoils of the DeadPan with UsThe Demiurge's LaughNow Close the WindowsA Line-storm SongOctoberMy ButterflyReluctanceNorth of Boston (1914)The Pasture Mending WallThe Death of the Hired ManThe MountainA Hundred CollarsHome BurialThe Black CottageBlueberriesA Servant to ServantsAfter Apple-pickingThe CodeThe Generations of MenThe HousekeeperThe FearThe Self-seekerThe Wood-pileGood HoursMountain Interval (1916; revised 1920)The Road Not Taken Christmas Trees An Old Man's Winter Night The Exposed Nest A Patch of Old Snow In the Home Stretch The Telephone Meeting and Passing Hyla Brook The Oven Bird Bond and Free Birches Pea BrushPutting in the Seed A Time to Talk The Cow in Apple Time An Encounter Range-finding The Hill Wife The Bonfire A Girl's Garden Locked Out The Last Word of a Bluebird "Out, Out—" Brown's Descent, or the Willy-nilly Slide The Gum-gatherer The Line-gang The Vanishing Red Snow The Sound of the Trees Miscellaneous Poems to 1920 "The Ax-Helve" "Fire and Ice" "The Flower Boat" "For Once, Then, Something" "Fragmentary Blue""Good-by and Keep Cold" "The Lockless Door""The Need of Being Versed in Country Things" "Not to Keep""Place for a Third" "Plowmen""The Runaway""To E.T.""The Valley's Singing Day""Wild Grapes"

    Included in this selection are the "heroic poems" such as Widsith, Deor, Brunanburh and Maldon, and passages from Beowulf; some of the famous 'riddles' from The Exeter Book; all the "elegies," including The Ruin, The Wanderer, The Seafarer, The Wife's Complaint and The Husband's Message, in which the virtu of Old English is found in its purest and most concentrated form; together with the great Christian poem The Dream of the Rood.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

    Tolkien assembled in this new paperback edition were with one exception delivered as general lectures on particular occasions; and while they mostly arose out of Tolkien’s work in medieval literature, they are accessible to all. Two of them are concerned with Beowulf, including the well-known lecture whose title is taken for this book, and one with Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, given in the University of Glasgow in 1953.Also included in this volume is the lecture English and Welsh; the Valedictory Address to the University of Oxford in 1959; and a paper on Invented Languages delivered in 1931, with exemplification from poems in the Elvish tongues. Most famous of all is On Fairy-Stories, a discussion of the nature of fairy-tales and fantasy, which gives insight into Tolkien’s approach to the whole genre.The pieces in this collection cover a period of nearly thirty years, beginning six years before the publication of The Hobbit, with a unique ‘academic’ lecture on his invention (calling it A Secret Vice) and concluding with his farewell to professorship, five years after the publication of The Lord of the Rings.

    The Arthurian tales of chivalry, romance, and tragedy have left a lasting impact on English literature. This collection contains Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (trans. 1898), The Lady of Shallot (1833), The Founding of the Round Table (trans. 1914), The Passing of Arthur (trans. 1914), The Morte D'arthur (1914), The Lady of the Fountain (trans. 1877), Arthurian Songs: 1. Avalon (1894), and Sir Galahad, a Christmas Mystery (1858).

    A well–received feature is the grouping by codex to emphasize the great importance of manuscript context in interpreting the poems. The full contents of the Exeter Book are represented, summarized where not translated, to facilitate appreciation of a complete Anglo-Saxon book. The introduction discusses the nature of the legacy, the poet's role, chronology, and especially of translations attempt a style acceptable to the modern ear yet close enough to aid parallel study of the old English text. A check–list of extant Anglo-Saxon poetry enhances the practical usefulness of the volume. The whole thus adds up to a substantial and now widely–cited survey of the Anglo–Saxon poetic achievement.