Information AboutCleanness |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT CLEANNESS | |
| british poems | |
| middle english poems | |
| 14th century | |
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The poem is found solely in the Pearl manuscript, '' Cotton Nero A X ''. That manuscript also contains ''Pearl'', ''Patience'', and ''Sir Gawain and the Green Knight''. None of the poems has a title or divisions of chapters, but the breaks are marked by large initial letters of blue, and each poem has a single, full page illustration. Each of these poems is entirely unique to this one manuscript. ''Cleanness'' (which is an editorial title) is also known by the editorial title ''Purity''. The manuscript, Cotton Nero A.x is in the British Museum . The first published edition was in ''Early English Alliterative Poems in the West Midland Dialect of the fourteenth century'', printed by the Early English Text Society . The first modern edition was initiated by J.R.R. Tolkien and E.V. Gordon in the 1920s, but remained unpublished until 1953. ''Cleanness'' is a description of the virtues of cleanliness of body and the delights of married love. It takes three subjects from the , the destruction of Sodom And Gomorrah , and the fall of Belshazzar . Each of these is described powerfully, and the poetry is among the finest in Middle English. In each case, the poet warns his readers about the dangers of defilement and, at the same time, the joys of purity. GENRE AND POETICS A Didactic , Homiletic poem, ''Cleanness'' consists of 1812 lines. Alliteration is used consistently throughout the poem, usually with three alliterating words per line. The unidentified narrator or preacher speaks in the first person throughout the work. NARRATIVE The opening lines of the poem (ll. 1-50) function as a peroration in which the narrator states his theme by contrasting cleanness or purity with filth. He also points out that God hates filth and banishes those who are not properly dressed. A paraphrase of the parable of the Wedding Guest follows in lines 51- 171. This of the poem) to demonstrate these divine attributes. A transition (ll. 557 - 599), including a comment on how God reacts to sin (esp. lechery), follows. In a second exemplum the poet retells the stories of as the poet understood it. In another transition (ll. 1050 - 1148), the narrator explains the symbolism of the second exemplum, ending with a description of God as strongly vengeful. The third, and by far the longest, Exemplum (ll. 1149 - 1796) recounts the conquest of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar and the transfer of the Temple treasures to Babylon where they were treated with reverence by the king. But after Nebuchadnezzar died, Belshazzar, a man given to the indulgence of his lusts, succeeded him. During an enormous drunken feast, he ordered that the Temple vessels be brought in and that everyone be served in them. God then determines to punish him. A huge hand appears, writes a message on the wall, and vanishes. No one can interpret this message. At the Queen’s suggestion, Daniel is called, and he interprets the three words and predicts Belshazzar’s downfall. In his conclusion (ll. 1797 - 1812), the narrator summarizes by asserting that uncleanness angers God, but cleanness comforts Him. TECHNIQUE It uses the homiletic principles of education with entertainment ( Horace 's ''utile et dulce'') and is primarily rooted in Biblical stories. Only the reference to the Fall of the Angles is drawn from Christian legend and pseudopigrapha. The technique of presenting exempla and then explicating them as demonstrations of moral principles is characteristic of many sermons of the medieval period. Here the poet uses three exempla with explication in the transitions between them. REFERENCES Editions
Translations
Commentary and criticism
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