Lonesome Words: The Vocal Poetics of the Old English Lament and the African-American Blues Song (The New Middle Ages)

The tenth-century Old English lament and twentieth-century blues song each speak the language of a distinct poetic tradition, yet the voices are remarkably similar in their emotive expression of loneliness. This innovative study juxtaposes the texts of each corpus to explore the features that characterize their vocal poetics Cover 1 Title 4 Copyright 5 Dedication 6 Contents 8 Acknowledgments 9 Text Credits 10 Introduction: Don’t the World Seem Lonely. . . 11 1. Captivated Performance 18 2. Recording the Formula 35 3. Blues and Trouble. . .Sorg ond Slæp [Sorrow and Sleep] 69 4. Anthologizing Sorrow 107 Conclusion: Strange yet Familiar 124 Appendix: A Formulaic Analysis of Robert Johnson’s Recorded Blues 128 Notes 150 Bibliography 176 Index 185 Front Matter....Pages i-ix Introduction: Don’t the World Seem Lonely.......Pages 1-7 Captivated Performance....Pages 9-25 Recording the Formula....Pages 27-60 Blues and Trouble...Sorg Ond Slæp [Sorrow and Sleep]....Pages 61-98 Anthologizing Sorrow....Pages 99-115 Conclusion: Strange Yet Familiar....Pages 117-120 Back Matter....Pages 121-182