Langland Piers Plowman

Langland's Piers Plowman is one of the strangest and one of the greatest poems of the Middle Ages. As spiritual allegory and social satire, it is not comparable with any other poem. Its chain of dream visions relates not only to the practical problems of medieval life, but also to the whole gamut of Christian attitudes towards God. Langland is sometimes plain and forthright, sometimes clumsy and obscure, but these limitations are utterly outweighed by his gifts for both comedy and lyricism and by moments of real sublimity.
　　The poem survives in at least three versions. Terence Tiller's verse translation of the B-text is based on his abridgement of the poem for radio in 1980. Himself a poet, Tiller vividly conveys the colloquial immediacy and spiritual intensity of Langland's alliterative verse. Priscilla Martin has added the translation of the 'autobiographical episode' from the C-text.

Book Description
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An allegorical satire on alliterative verse, describing the vision of the 14th-century poet who falls asleep in the Malvern Hills. Langland covers all aspects of political and theological debate, and echoing common sentiments in its satire of the corrupt church, especially the Friars.

The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature
Middle English alliterative poem presumed to have been written by William Langland. Three versions of Piers Plowman are extant: A, the poem's short, early form, dating from the 1360s; B, a major revision and extension of A made in the late 1370s; and C, a less "literary" version of B dating from the 1380s and apparently intended to focus the work's doctrinal issues. Version C may not be entirely attributable to Langland. The poem takes the form of a series of dream visions dealing with the social and spiritual predicament of late 14th-century England. In general, the language is simple and colloquial, but some of the imagery is powerful and direct. Realistic and allegorical elements are mingled in a phantasmagoric way, and the writer frequently displays spiritual and didactic impulses. His bitter attacks on political and ecclesiastical corruption (especially among the friars) quickly struck chords with his contemporaries. In the 16th century Piers Plowman was issued as a printed book and was used for apologetic purposes by the early Protestants.

Book Dimension :
length: (cm)19.8 　　　 　　　　　 　　　　　 width:(cm)12.6

INTRODUCTION
FURTHER READING
NOTE ON THE TEXT
TRANSLATOR'S NOTE
Prologue
Passus 1
Passus 2
Passus 3
Passus 4
Passus 5
Passus 6
Passus 7
Passus 8
Passus 9
Passus 10
Passus 11
Passus 12
Passus 13
Passus 14
Passus 15
Passus 16
Passus 17
Passus 18
Passus 19
Passus 20
APPENDIX-The Autobiographical Episode
NOTES TO THE TEXT