STRING GAMES AND MIDDLE ENGLISH LYRICS: TOWARDS A BAROQUE SENSIBILITY

Many Middle English short lyrics appear in manuscript collections associated with popular sermons. Among the techniques used by Franciscan friars to catch, keep and guide the attention of their audience were string games (“cat’s cradle”), that is, the making of complex and changing symbolic figures. A few examples of such highly condensed image poems are here read as though illustrated by such manipulated illustrations. The figures are drawn from well-known and traditional medieval Catholic iconography. However, their use in this dynamic setting suggests a witty and inspired extension of conventional interpretations, so that these poems probably were transformed from popular to more sophisticated settings.