Edited by Walter Sauer (1977). Edited from MS BM Add. 39996
Walter Sauer (ed.) The Metrical Life of Christ (mid fifteenth century) is a unique text of 5519 lines in short rhymed couplets. Its anonymous author has combined the main Gospel episodes with traditional, apocryphal and legendary material to form a continuous narrative which, however, still betrays its composite character. The only previous edition of the poem is an unpublished dissertation (S. P. Stine, University of Pennsylvania, 1962). Beside making available a reliable text, this new edition supplies answers to the complex questions begged by the composite structure of the poem, investigates the treatment of the sources, and establishes its position within the various vernacular Lives of Christ. A description of the manuscript, concise dialect analysis, textual notes and a glossary are also provided.