The Use of Latin Quotations in Piers Plowman with Special Reference to Passus XVIII of the ‘B’ Text.

Until B. 18 Latin quotations generally have a didactic function and stand apart from the text of the poem. But as the disparity of words and works is exposed, and Piers as a figure of Christ illustrates the need of mankind to act in order to be saved, Latin quotations are here more than elsewhere incorporated into the verse-form as part of the narrative action, with their various citations enacted and fulfilled.