Medieval poetry Medieval poetry Poetry took numerous forms in medieval Europe, for example, lyric and epic poetry. The troubadours and the minnesänger are known for their lyric poetry about courtly love. Among the most famous of secular poetry is "Carmina Burana", a manuscript collection of 254 poems. Twenty-four poems of "Carmina Burana" were later set to music by German composer Carl Orff in 1936. Old English religious poetry includes the poem "Christ" by Cynewulf and the poem "The Dream of the Rood", preserved in both manuscript form and on the Ruthwell Cross. We do have some secular poetry; in fact a great
Catulli Carmina last forever. However, in the postlude, the young people have clearly decided to ignore the message and the cantata ends with their continued exclamations of "eis aiona", to the exasperation of the old men. The orchestra only plays in the prelude and postlude, whereas in the Catullus play itself, the soloists are only accompanied by the chorus, who takes the part of a Greek "choros". The piece experiments with repeated phrases and syncopated rhythms even more so than "Carmina Burana". Scholars have debated the reason why this is such a lesser-known work compared to its predecessor for many years. Most