ABSTRACT
Poema Morale provides a fine example of the homiletic tradition of the twelfth century. Like the last Peterborough chronicler (pp. 38–39), the preacher is concerned with the collective sins of the people, but he is also aware of personal sin. He begins his poem dramatically by confessing his own frailty and then goes on to lecture his listeners on how to behave toward God and their fellow man. The Last Judgment, he warns them, will condemn the unrighteous to hell and will admit to heaven only those who have loved both God and man.
