Thesis (Ph. D.)--Indiana University, 1989. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 252-293).

This thesis has concerned itself with two medieval poems, Frangois Villon's Testament and Jorge Manrique's Copias for la muerte de su padre. Both poems contain an ubi sunt digression which becomes the essential leitmotif in a more complete comprehension and appreciation of the two works. From the aspects of both structure and content, an understanding of the ubi sunt convention, as utilized by the poets, reveals key insights into the world-view present in the poems. Since the reader of poetry must begin with the specific in order to avoid confusion in the general, this thesis has contended that an analysis, primarily consisting of the ubi sunt series, will both stimulate the clarity of vision necessary for poetic interpretation of, and incite further research into, these often overlooked poems.