Performing Lydgate's Broken-Backed Meter

Author / Editor
Nolan, Maura.

Title
Performing Lydgate's Broken-Backed Meter

Published
Susan Yager and Elise E. Morse-Gagné, eds. Interpretation and Performance: Essays for Alan Gaylord (Provo, UT: Chaucer Studio Press, 2013), pp. 97-114.

Description
Lydgate's meter differs from Chaucer's for several reasons, but their differences have been exaggerated by editorial practices. When performed, the "Lydgate" or "broken-backed" line emerges as an aesthetic choice. The broken-backed line characterizes Lydgate's Host as an authoritative figure in the Prologue to the "Siege of Thebes." The "Siege" is a literary experiment in imitation of Chaucer.

Alternative Title
Interpretation and Performance: Essays for Alan Gaylord.

Chaucer Subjects
Style and Versification
Chaucer's Influence and Later Allusion