Using the literary and linguistic concepts and approaches of I Syng Ess

Using the literary and linguistic concepts and approaches of I Syng of a Mayden, this essay will be focusing on how the anonymous poet conveys religious ideas throughout the poem. The poem was written by an anonymous poet in the 15th Centaury How does the poet convey religious ideas in the poem 'I Syng of a Mayden'? Using the literary and linguistic concepts and approaches of 'I Syng of a Mayden', this essay will be focusing on how the anonymous poet conveys religious ideas throughout the poem. The poem was written by an anonymous poet in the 15th Centaury. As it was by an anonymous poet the poem was probably passed round by mouth and song meaning that it could be a ballad or hymn. As well as that, I also feel that due to the fact that the three middle verses all have 'That fallyt on the...' and 'As due in Aprylle' repeated it suggests that it could very well be a ballad or hymn as most are structured like that. The title 'I Syng of a Mayden' is Middle English text and the word 'Mayden' especially, as it's very medieval language dating back to The Madonna and Child where all paintings were focused on Bible stories, and a lot of poems at the time were transcribed in Monasteries indicating religious themes. 'Mayden' also means Virgin, relating back to the religious side of the poem, which could suggested that 'I Syng of a Mayden' was about the religious symbol, the Virgin Mary. Throughout the poem it shows references to Mary and baby Jesus, such as 'Kyng of alle Kynges' which has been mentioned in the Bible referring to Christ being more powerful than any King, 'He cam al so stylle' meaning he appeared in her womb as if like magic or 'As dew in Aprylle' as the poem suggests. The key themes in this po... ...es a simile 'as dew' to emphasis the importance of water in everyone’s live, in this case he uses it to compare importance to Christ in saying that, like water, you can't live without it. The poet uses hushed lullaby tones throughout the poem such as 'ches' and 'gras' which both end with a 'shhing' sound such as a lullaby making it a very peaceful, quiet atmosphere. He uses Bilabial nasals such as 'moder and mayden' to give a kind of softer sound, we produce these nasal phonemes by lowering the velum to allow air to flow through the nasal cavity giving an 'ng' or in this case an 'mm' sound. He also uses fricatives such as 'fallyt on the flour' which is the use of alliteration of the sound 'ff'. It gives it a harder sound. Lastly it uses sibilance in 'so stylle' which shows more alliteration and emphasises the words to make them seem even softer/quieter.