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Cleanness’s Fecund and Barren Speech Acts

Although the alliterative poem known ru; C/eanm.,, evidently concerns its titular virtue, readers frequently point out that the work never explicitly defines what it means by the term "clannesse." Rather, the poem illustrates this concept with a seemingly heterogeneous series of biblical exempla. What concept of cleanness do these exempla point to? What exactly is cleanness? While the poem's definition of cleanness embraces many aspects, surely one of the most important of these is introduced in the poem's opening lines: Clannesse, wher-so kyndly cowpe comende, And rekken vp alle pe resoun3 pat ho by ri3t aske3, Fayre forme3 my3t he fynde in forpering his speche, And in pe contrare kark and combraunce huge. 1 These lines are notoriously difficult to translate, yet it is clear that they draw a connection between the quality of "clannesse" and beautiful lan­ guage. They tell us that whoever commends "clannesse" properly, as that quality deserves, will be able to do so through the "fayre formes"-exem­ pla or perhaps rhetorical tropes-he might discover, and which will "forper" or advance his speech. 2 Establishing a connection between clean­ ness and eloquence, these lines imply that proper use of language is an important component of moral purity. That there is a linguistic facet to the