The Art of Bardic Poetry

Description

Bardic poetry dominated the Irish literary landscape for at least four centuries, from 1200 to 1600. The standardised language and metres developed for versification in this period and the poets’ sophisticated analysis of them are among the outstanding achievements of Irish learning. The clearest record of this achievement is found in an immensely valuable series of treatises on these matters by master poets. A new edition of one of the most accessible and wide-ranging of these is presented here, accompanied by a comprehensive introduction, a line-by-line commentary, indexes and a translation into English.