Richard Rolle's "Melody of Love"

"Richard Rolle's Melos amoris has been considered overwrought and juvenile, and has been largely ignored. Yet it playfully employs scriptural exegesis, passionate utterance, and an alliterative and rhythmic prose style that marks it as Rolle's crowning literary achievement. The English translation of the Melos amoris presented in this volume prioritizes style over fidelity in order to give readers a sense of the rhythmic play so important to the work. The translation is accompanied by an extensive study, as well as by appendices containing a critical edition and translation of a spurious chapter, transcription and translation of narrative glosses, and scores of polyphonic music associated with one manuscript of the Melos."--