14th-century allegory american anthologies book britain british british-literature christian-fiction christianity church-history classic classics dreams england english english-literature epic europe fiction folklore fourteenth-century history jesus-christ langland lit-crit literature medieval medieval-history medieval-literature medieval-studies middle-ages middle-english middle-english-liter mythology old-english philosophy poetry religion religious theology united-kingdom verse weird world-literature

Piers the Ploughman, a blending of prophecy and satirical comedy, is the great representative English poem of the late Middle Ages.

The work of an obscure fourteenth-century cleric, Piers the Ploughman is concerned with the largest of all poetic themes, the meaning of man's life in relation to his ultimate destiny. This spiritual allegory is set against a colorful background of teeming medieval life between the 'Tower of Truth' and the 'Dungeon of Falsehood'. With an Introduction, Notes and a book-by-book Commentary on the allegory, J.F. Goodridge's modern translation of the poem captures the flavour of Langland's vivid pictures and vernacular expressions.