Middle English Verse Romances

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From the Preface: Encompassed here are twelve Middle English metrical romances, all of them, in their own way, very genuine and delightful. In recent years they have suffered neglect. To be sure, all have at one time or another been given individual editions, but these have usually been diplomatic editions intended to establish texts and provide material for philological investigation; few have attempted to present the romances as examples of imaginative literature. The result has generally been that they hindered Middle English metrical romances from being read as literature. For the most part, indeed, the metrical romances seem to be read very little, if at all. They are overshadowed by Chaucer, Langland, and the Pearl Poet and are perhaps penalized because they are not the supreme products of an age. But the neglect to which they have been subjected is unjust. They are first attempts at secular fiction and hence deserve a place in literary history. They were intended originally to entertain and they can entertain today.