Alain de Lille, The Plaint of Nature, Translation and Commentary

The Plaint of Nature (De planctu Naturae) is, perhaps, the most influential work of Alan of Lille. References to it are to be found in later writers down to and including Chaucer. Natura, which fascinated so many writers in the Middle Ages, reaches full stat ure when she is given a moral dimension here in the work of Alan of Lille. The present work consists of an introduction, a translation, a bibliography and an index. The introduction contains a short life of Alan with abundant notes, and a list of his works with a short summary of the contents of each. This is followed by a discussion of the date of composition of the Plaint, its background, philosophical and literary, its contents and the various possible interpretations of the text. Further, in the translation itself, an attempt is made to provide a faithful rendering of Alan in readable English, and to this end some 600 explanatory notes have been added to support the rendering. The bibliography lists some 250 items and attempts to include all available literature bearing on the interpretation of the author. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.