The poem is, in form, an elaborate dream vision. Dream visions were popular during the later Middle Ages, especially after the success of the Roman de la rose. It is written in alliterative long lines, each of which is divided into two half lines. The opening lines of the B Text may serve as an illustration: "In a somer seson—whan soft was the sonne,/ I shope me in shroudes—as I a shepe were,/ In habite as an heremite—unholy of workes,/ Went wyde in this world—wondres to here.