Roman poets, just like Middle English poets, were absolutely mad about alliteration. My professor described it as "Roman crack". Everyone from Catullus to Ovid used this stuff, and had a ball.
Tangentally, did you know that because there was no set spelling for English words during the Middle English period, you can see where a written text comes from? For example, Chaucer writes in a more French-like style, using French-style syntax and words, as well as considerably less slang, and so his work is much easier for us to comprehend than, say, Gawain and the Green Knight, which is a contemporary work (more or less) to when Chaucer was writing, but it looks completely different, and the Middle English is much harder to read. So, though we don't know who wrote that poem, we do know where they were writing - if I recall correctly, the dialect was somewhere in Chestershire, which is quite a ways away from London (where a more Chaucerian form of English was spoken).
-sigh-
It's kind of a bad sign when the Medieval period is somewhere you go to take refuge from your stress. I spent all of yesterday studying for my Latin midterm (the latter half of Pyramus and Thisbe, and Amores 1.1, 1.3 and 1.9) - nine hours, even with the time change and eating - and still I think I might have done less than optimally. Oh well. Walking through the Classics department on the way to my Historical Linguistics class, all I could think was that maybe I should just be a Medievalist.
What with all this stress and stuff, all I want is comforting food. Nothing outlandish. We're talking eggs, potatoes, and bacon kind of comfort. Fortunately, the French are experts at making such things. Not with those ingredients specifically, but French food is probably the most comforting food I can think of - in a lot of cases - and Italian food is a short second, though it's more a happiness food than otherwise. Something about oregano is just so sprightly. Anyway. I'm currently looking at recipes - what to do for dinner?
-several hours elapse-
Yeah. So dinner was easy - while I was writing, Ian invited me to have quiche chez il, so. Hooray!
Kate
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