Cleanness

E67102

Cleanness is a Middle English alliterative poem, often attributed to the Pearl Poet, that explores the virtue of spiritual purity through biblical narratives and moral exempla.

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Statements (47)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Middle English poem
alliterative poem
religious poem
alsoKnownAs Clannesse
Purity
attributionStatus anonymous
author The Gawain Poet
surface form: Pearl Poet
centralConcept cleanness as inner holiness
containsEpisode Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
Belshazzar’s Feast
surface form: Fall of Belshazzar

Parable of the Wedding Feast
The Flood
surface form: Story of Noah and the Flood
dateOfComposition late 14th century
didacticPurpose instruction in moral purity
form alliterative long line
foundInCodexWith Patience
Pearl
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
genre alliterative verse
didactic poetry
language Middle English
length about 1812 lines
literaryDevice alliteration
extended biblical exempla
vivid descriptive imagery
literaryMovement Alliterative Revival
manuscript Cotton Nero A.x manuscript collection
surface form: British Library Cotton Nero A.x
meter accentual alliterative verse
moralFocus avoidance of impurity
obedience to God
moralTone sermonic
narrativeMode third-person narration
placeOfOrigin Northwest Midlands of England
preservationStatus survives in a single manuscript
regionDialect Northwest Midlands dialect of Middle English
religiousTradition Christianity
rhymeScheme unrhymed
scholarlyDebate authorship and unity with Pearl and Patience
setting biblical world
sourceMaterial New Testament
Bible
surface form: Old Testament
targetAudience medieval Christian readers
theme biblical narratives
divine cleanness
moral exempla
sin and punishment
spiritual purity

Referenced by (8)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Cotton Nero A.x containsWork Cleanness
The Gawain Poet notableWork Cleanness
Patience relatedWorkByAuthor Cleanness
Pearl writtenInSameManuscriptAs Cleanness
subject surface form: Pearl (poem)