Joseph Ritson stated that the poem was “a dull performance and scarcely merits the care of a modern impression.”
Visions of “Piers Plowman” in the 18th Century
The Last Dying Speech and Confession of Jack Straw
“We would have killed the king and driven out of the land all possessioners, bishops, monks, canons, and rectors of churches. We would have created kings, Walter Tyler in Kent and one each in other counties, and appointed them and we would have set fire to four parts of the city and burnt it down and divided all the precious goods found there amongst ourselves.”