Reliques of Ancient English Poetry
Quick Summary
Reliques of Ancient English Poetry is a collection of ballads compiled by Thomas Percy and published in 1765. This work is significant because it sparked a widespread interest in traditional English and Scottish songs, initiating the "ballad revival".12
Percy's collection was primarily based on a 15th-century manuscript of ballads, known as the Percy folio, which he discovered was about to be discarded. He supplemented this with other ballads and songs gathered by friends from various sources. The publication of the Reliques provided Romantic poets with an alternative to existing literary models and inspired numerous subsequent collections of ancient songs.12
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- ballad revival
…the publication of Thomas Percy’s Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, a collection of English and Scottish traditional ballads. The Reliques and a flood of subsequent collections, including Sir Walter Scott’s Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border (1802), had great impact and provided the English Romantic poets with an alternative to outworn…
Read More…the publication of Thomas Percy’s Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, a collection of English and Scottish traditional ballads. The Reliques and a flood of subsequent collections, including Sir Walter Scott’s Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border (1802), had great impact and provided the English Romantic poets with an alternative to outworn…
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balladLiterary ballads…of Thomas Percy’s ballad compilation Reliques of Ancient English Poetry in 1765, ballad imitation enjoyed a considerable vogue, which properly belongs in the history of poetry rather than balladry.
Read More…of Thomas Percy’s ballad compilation Reliques of Ancient English Poetry in 1765, ballad imitation enjoyed a considerable vogue, which properly belongs in the history of poetry rather than balladry.
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