The Joy of Chaucer's Lydgate Lines

Author / Editor
Brown, Emerson, Jr.

Title
The Joy of Chaucer's Lydgate Lines

Published
Alan T. Gaylord, ed. Essays on the Art of Chaucer's Verse (New York and London: Routledge, 2001), pp. 267-79.

Description
Brown discourages emendation ("dreary refinements") of Chaucer's meter, arguing that "broken-backed" or "Lydgatian" lines recorded in good manuscripts are likely to be Chaucer's own. Metrical variation within Chaucer's dominant patterns can have powerful poetic effects.

Alternative Title
Essays on the Art of Chaucer's Verse

Chaucer Subjects
Style and Versification.