Opening with extracts from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and closing with Spenser's Shepherd's Calendar, this concise collection introduces readers to some of the most influential poetry produced between the mid-fourteenth and late sixteenth centuries.

• Provides a concise selection of the most important late medieval poetry.
• Ideal for general readers, or for students needing a digest of the poetry of the period.
• Introduces readers to the lives of the poets, their major works, and the historical context in which they were written.

Derek Pearsall is the Gurney Professor of English at Harvard University and was Professor and Co-Director of the Centre for Medieval Studies at the University of York, 1965-85.

Duncan Wu is a Fellow of St Catherine's College, Oxford, and University Lecturer in English Literature.