Medieval Lyrics

Due to budgeting reasons, I did not purchase the Norton Anthology of Western Literature. I reviewed the assigned readings and thought I could gather the majority of the work from the library; however, I hadn't looked at week 2 which had the assigned readings listed in the SAP. I am now trying to locate the medieval lyrics for week 2. I have googled the authors and titles, but I haven't found any of them. I have also searched our local library on-line, but I was unable to locate. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I really cannot afford to buy the text.

Blessings,
Pam

[cjsomerville]

Hi Pam. :-) I did my own search on the web to try to locate some of these authors, and I agree that there doesn't seem to be much. My recommendation for you is that you choose another set of about ten poems---any set that you may happen to know of and like. I suggest that you choose one non-narrative poem out of such a set and have your student(s) perform a poetic analysis on it according to the "Poetry Analysis" outline. Here is a miniature outline of terms that I would have your student look for in any poem (though they may not all be present):

Topic:
Theme:
Structure: (is it structured dramatically, or repetitively, or around a metaphor, etc.? The list is in the Poetry Analysis Outline)
Metaphor:
Simile:
Apostrophe:
Personification:
Artistry: (how is the poet getting his theme across through artistic selection and arrangement?)

If your student is a Beginner and has not already practiced poetry analysis on the Psalms, that would be a FANTASTIC place to go. In fact, as an alternative to the above that would be highly suitable for students who haven't already done Year 1 Redesign, I would suggest just reading and discussing Ryken's chapters 7 and 9.

I hope some of this helps! If worst comes to worst, you can just skip the week altogether and have your student read Poetry Analysis for the first time in Unit 3, where we will be discussing poems that should be much easier to get hold of online (Donne, Herbert, etc.) and (or) are in the English Literature Anthology, if you were able to purchase that.

God bless you!
c.j.somerville

CJ said, "If your student is a Beginner and has not already practiced poetry analysis on the Psalms, that would be a FANTASTIC place to go. In fact, as an alternative to the above that would be highly suitable for students who haven't already done Year 1 Redesign, I would suggest just reading and discussing Ryken's chapters 7 and 9."

I totally agree with this statement. We found the Words of Delight assigments using the Psalms to be a very enjoyable way to learn to analyze poetry. In fact today, we are beginning Week 2 of Year 2. I was going over the Poetry Handout and how we would apply it to the Norton poetry reading when my son interrupted and said, "Oh, this is just like what we did with Psalms in Year One only with different poems."

Another possibility is asking your local librarian for a way to locate selected poems. They may have reference books that contain some of the poems. Even if they can't be checked out you could have your child read them at the library or ask if they can be copied for personal use.

Thank you so much for this information. It will be very helpful as we begin Week 2. Sorry, I didn't respond sooner. This was our first week of school and I have been very busy trying to incorporate everything for Week 1.