Endings of Half-Lines in the Middle English Alliterative Joseph of Arimathea
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: The Middle English alliterative poem Joseph of Arimathea survives in a single copy, lacking verse lineation and the regular alliteration expected of this form. Several explanations have been advanced, but the poem has been treated with reserve: scholars and critics have been reluctant, perhaps, to attend closely to a text that has seemed unfinished, careless, or corrupt. The present study counters these impressions with a narrow metrical test. Joseph agrees very well with one of the ‘finer rules’ described in recent scholarship on alliterative metrics, namely the requirement that lines end with a trochaic constituent. Regular line endings support the view that the text of Joseph, as transmitted, is deliberate and mostly accurate. Supporting data are available at doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15724220.
Author: Cornelius, Ian
Language: English
Subfield: Classics
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7028377532
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