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
Carl Orff these earlier works were released (some even with Orff's approval). As an historical aside, "Carmina Burana" is probably the most famous piece of music composed and premiered in Nazi Germany. "Carmina Burana" was in fact so popular that Orff received a commission in Frankfurt to compose incidental music for "A Midsummer Night's Dream", which was supposed to replace the banned music by Mendelssohn. After several performances of this music, he claimed not to be satisfied with it, and reworked it into the final version that was first performed in 1964. Orff was reluctant to term any of his works simply