Endings of Half-Lines in the Middle English Alliterative Joseph of Arimathea

The Middle English alliterative poem Joseph of Arimathea survives in a single copy, lacking verse lineation and the regular alliteration expected of this form. Several explanations have been advanced, but the poem has been treated with reserve: scholars and critics have been reluctant, perhaps, to attend closely to a text that has seemed unfinished, careless, or corrupt. The present study counters these impressions with a narrow metrical test. Joseph agrees very well with one of the ‘finer rules’ described in recent scholarship on alliterative metrics, namely the requirement that lines end with a trochaic constituent. Regular line endings support the view that the text of Joseph, as transmitted, is deliberate and mostly accurate. Supporting data are available at doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15724220.