Abbot Ælfric's Rhythmic Prose

Review of Tajima (1988): Old and Middle English Language Studies: A classified bibliography, 1923-1985

“…In some instances works have been included which do not seem to me to constitute linguistic rather than literary stylistics; for example, Gradon (1971), item 3818, is chiefly a discussion of such topics as allegory, realism, and the mode of romance in medieval literature, and its analyses of language are literary in direction; and Robinson (1985), item 3850, though a brilliant work of close analysis, is principally concerned with the literary interpretation of Beowulf, In other cases works that may reasonably be regarded as exemplifying 'linguistic stylistics' are absent, e.g., Campbell (1970) and Tandy (1978). The inconsistent procedure adopted in this section is made particularly apparent by the omission of certain works closely related in their material and approach to items that have been included: Lipp (1969), for instance, is not present, although it concerns the same issues as Gerould (1925) and Bethurum (1932), included as items 3833 and 3821, respectively; and Metcalf (1973) has been omitted, though Metcalf (1966) is present as item 3841. Altogether the section on stylistics seems to me much the least successful part of the bibliography; but I expect that it will also be the part consulted least often by the majority of users of the bibliography, and its deficiencies detract little from the value of the work as a whole.…”