Representations of the Human Life Course and Nature Cycle in Late Medieval English Poetry

Abstract

The paper concentrates on representations of the human life course and nature cycle in late medieval English lyrical poetry. The time of individual human experience is seen both from pagan and Christian perspectives; Christian and pagan traditions clash dramatically and compete mostly in these topics: (i) youth – spring – love; (ii) old age – winter – death. The nexus between human ontogenesis and the course of the year was very important and is widely mirrored in late medieval poetry. There are many reasons why late medieval English poetry is a fascinating body of English literature.