At first sight, Piers Plowman might seem to be a poem of interest only to medievalists, but Professor Coghill shows that far from being an obscure curiosity of literature, it is the greatest Christian poem in our language. It is an allegory as deeply concerned with the wilderness of the world and the quest for truth, as immediate in its impact and as relevant to the present age, as Waiting For Godot. Coghill discusses its authorship and then analyses this truly remarkable poem with its 'sublimity of vision and colloquialism of language'. Finally, he relates Langland to his great contemporary, Chaucer: 'these great poets meet in their knowledge of the world and of the soul's need in the struggle of light and darkness.'

Nevill Coghill, formerly Merton Professor of English Literature at the University of Oxford, is author of The Pardon of Piers Plowman (1946), The Masque of Hope (1948), Visions of Piers Plowman (1949), The Poet Chaucer (1950), and is widely known for his translation of The Canterbury Tales (1951). He is also the author of Geoffrey Chaucer in this series.