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A HISTORY OF
ENGLISH LITERATURE
_Let us now praise famous men, ...
Such as found out musical tunes,
And recited verses in writing....
Their bodies are buried in peace;
But their name liveth for evermore._
The Wisdom of Jesus the Son of
Sirach, or Ecclesiasticus
A HISTORY OF
ENGLISH LITERATURE
A PRACTICAL TEXT-BOOK
BY
EDWARD ALBERT, M.A.
GEORGE WATSON’S COLLEGE, EDINBURGH, AUTHOR OF
“A PRACTICAL COURSE IN ENGLISH”
NEW YORK
THOMAS Y. CROWELL COMPANY
PUBLISHERS
Copyright, 1923
By THOMAS Y. CROWELL COMPANY
_Third Printing_
_Printed in the United States of America_
PREFACE
It may be of use to explain briefly the principles underlying the
construction of this book.
In the first place the aim has been to make the book comprehensive.
All first-class and nearly all second-class authors (so far as
such classification is generally accepted) have been included. Due
proportion between the two groups has been attempted by giving the more
important authors greater space. The complete index should assist in
making the book a handy volume of reference as well as a historical
sketch.
In accordance with the plan of making the volume as comprehensive as
possible, a chapter has been added dealing with modern writers. An
attempt of this kind has certain obvious drawbacks; but it has at
least the double advantage of demonstrating the living nature of our
literature, and of setting modern authors to scale against the larger
historical background.
Secondly, the endeavor has been to make the book practical. Discussion
has been avoided; facts, so far as they are known and verifiable, are
simply stated; dates are quoted whenever it is possible to do so, and
where any doubt exists as to these the general opinion of the best
authorities has been taken; there are frequent tabulated summaries to
assist the mind and eye; and, lastly, there are the exercises.
It would be as easy to overpraise as it is to underestimate the value
of the exercises. But in their favor one can at least point out that
they enable the student to work out for himself some simple literary
and historical problems; that they supply a collection of _obiter
dicta_ by famous critics; and that they are a storehouse of many
additional extracts. The index to all the extracts in the book should
assist the student in locating every quotation from any writer he may
have in view.
While he has never neglected the practical aspect of his task, the
writer of the present work has never been content with a bleak summary
of our literary history. It has been his ambition to set out the facts
with clearness, vivacity, and some kind of literary elegance. How far
he has succeeded the reader must judge.
The use of the Bibliography (Appendix II) is strongly urged upon all
readers. Such a book as the present cannot avoid being fragmentary and
incomplete. The student should therefore pursue his inquiries into the
volumes mentioned in the Appendix. Owing to the restrictions of space,
the Bibliography is small. But all the books given are of moderate
price or easily accessible. Moreover, they have been tested by repeated
personal use, and can be recommended with some confidence.
There remains to set on record the author’s gratitude to his colleagues
and good friends, for their skill and good-nature in revising the
manuscript and in making many excellent suggestions.
E. A.
EDINBURGH
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. THE OLD ENGLISH PERIOD 1
II. THE MIDDLE ENGLISH PERIOD 15
III. THE AGE OF CHAUCER 32
IV. FROM CHAUCER TO SPENSER 57
V. THE AGE OF ELIZABETH 87
VI. THE AGE OF MILTON 159
VII. THE AGE OF DRYDEN 190
VIII. THE AGE OF POPE 231
IX. THE AGE OF TRANSITION 281
X. THE RETURN TO NATURE 362
XI. THE VICTORIAN AGE 451
XII. THE POST-VICTORIAN AGE 518
GENERAL QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES 562
APPENDIX I: GENERAL TABLES 581
APPENDIX II: BIBLIOGRAPHY 591
INDEX TO EXTRACTS 601
GENERAL INDEX 607
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Permissions to use copyrighted material have been courteously granted
by the following American publishers:
_Brentano’s, Inc._ for the right to print extracts from the works of
Bernard Shaw; _E. P. Dutton & Company_ for Siegfried Sassoon; _Duffield
& Company_ for H. G. Wells; _Dodd Mead & Company_ for Rupert Brooke;
_Harper & Brothers_ for Thomas Hardy; _John W. Luce & Company_ for J.
M. Synge; and _Charles Scribner’s Sons_ for John Galsworthy, and R. L.
Stevenson.
We have also obtained from the literary agents of Rudyard Kipling,
Joseph Conrad, and J. E. Flecker, permission to use the selections
included from these authors. To all the above we wish to express our
acknowledgment and thanks.
A HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE
CHAPTER I
THE OLD ENGLISH PERIOD
THE BEGINNINGS
Of the actual facts concerning the origin of English literature we
know little indeed. Nearly all the literary history of the period,
as far as it concerns the lives of actual writers, is a series of
skillful reconstructions based on the texts, fortified by some scanty
contemporary references (such as those of Bede), and topped with a mass
of conjecture. The results, however, are astonishing and fruitful, as
will be seen even in the meager summary that appears in the following
pages.
THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The period is a long one, for it starts with the fifth century and
concludes with the Norman Conquest of 1066. The events, however, must
be dismissed very quickly. We may begin in 410 with the departure of
the Romans, who left behind them a race of semi-civilized Celts. The
latter, harassed by the inroads of the savage Caledonians, appealed
for help to the adventurous English. The English, coming at first as
saviors, remained as conquerors (450–600). In the course of time they
gained possession of nearly all the land from the English Channel to
the Firth of Forth. Then followed the Christianizing of the pagan
English, beginning in Kent (597), a movement that affected very deeply
all phases of English life. In succession followed the inroads of the
Danes in the ninth century; the rise of Wessex among the early English
kingdoms, due in great measure to the personality of King Alfred, who
compromised with the Danes by sharing England with them (878); the
accession of a Danish dynasty in England (1017); and the Gallicizing
of the English Court, a process that was begun before the Conquest of
1066. All these events had their effect on the literature of the period.
LITERARY FEATURES OF THE PERIOD
=1. Pagan Origins.= The earliest poems, such as _Widsith_
and _Beowulf_, present few Christian features, and those that
do appear are clearly clumsy additions by later hands. It is fairly
certain, therefore, that the earliest poems came over with the pagan
conquerors. They were probably the common property of the bards or
gleemen, who sang them at the feasts of the warriors. As time went on
Christian ideas were imposed upon the heathen poetry, which retained
much of its primitive phraseology.
=2. Anonymous Origins.= Of all the Old English poets, we have
direct mention of only one, Cædmon. The name of another poet, Cynewulf,
obscurely hinted at in three separate runic or riddling verses. Of the
other Old English poets we do not know even the names. Prose came much
later, and, as it was used for practical purposes, its authorship is in
each case established.
=3. The Imitative Quality.= Nearly all the prose, and the larger
part of the poetry, consists of translations and adaptations from the
Latin. The favorite works for translation were the lives of saints,
the books of the Bible, and various works of a practical nature. The
clergy, who were almost the sole authors, had such text-books at hand,
and were rarely capable of reaching beyond them. This secondhand nature
of Old English is certainly its most disappointing feature. In most
cases the translations are feebly imitative; in a few cases the poets
(such as Cynewulf) or the prose-writers (such as Alfred) alter, expand,
or comment upon their Latin originals, and then the material is of
much greater literary importance.
=4. The Manuscripts.= It is very likely that only a portion of
Old English poetry has survived, though the surviving material is
quite representative. The manuscripts that preserve the poetical texts
are comparatively late in their discovery, are unique of their kind,
and are only four in number. They are (_a_) the _Beowulf_
manuscript (containing also a portion of a poem _Judith_),
discovered in 1705, and said to have been written about the year 1000;
(_b_) the Junian manuscript, discovered in 1681 by the famous
scholar Junius, and now in the Bodleian Library, containing the Cædmon
poems; (_c_) the Exeter Book, in the Exeter Cathedral library (to
which it was given by Leofric about 1050, being brought to light again
in 1705), which preserves most of the Cynewulf poems; and (_d_)
the Vercelli Book, discovered at Vercelli, near Milan, in 1832, which
contains, along with some prose homilies, six Old English poems,
including _Andreas_ and _Elene_.
THE LANGUAGE
The Old English language was that of a simple and semi-barbarous
people: limited in vocabulary, concrete in ideas, and rude and forcible
in expression. In the later stages of their literature we see the
crudeness being softened into something more cultured. In grammar the
language was fairly complicated, possessing declinable nouns, pronouns,
and adjectives, and a rather elaborate verb-system. There were three
chief dialects: the Northern or Northumbrian, which was the first to
produce a literature, and which was overwhelmed by the Danes; the West
Saxon, a form of the Mercian or Midland, which grew to be the standard,
as nearly all the texts are preserved in it; and the Kentish or Jutish,
which is of little literary importance.
BEOWULF
=1. Origin of the Poem.= It is almost certain that the poem
originated before the English invasions. There is no mention of
England; Beowulf himself is the king of the “Geatas.” The poem,
moreover, is pagan in conception, and so antedates the Christian
conversion. With regard to the actual authorship of the work there is
no evidence. It is very likely that it is a collection of the tales
sung by the bards, strung together by one hand, and written in the West
Saxon dialect.
=2. The Story.= There are so many episodes, digressions, and
reversions in the story of _Beowulf_ that it is almost impossible
to set it down as a detailed consecutive narrative. Putting it in its
very briefest form, we may say that Beowulf, son of Ecgtheow, and
king of the Geatas, sails to Denmark with a band of heroes, and rids
the Danish King Hrothgar of a horrible mere-monster called Grendel.
The mother of Grendel meets with the same fate, and Beowulf, having
been duly feasted and rewarded, returns to his native land. After a
prosperous reign of forty years Beowulf slays the dragon that ravishes
his land, but himself receives a mortal wound. The poem concludes with
the funeral of the old hero.
=3. The Style.= We give a short extract, along with a literal
translation, to illustrate the style. The short lines of the poem are
really half-lines, and in most editions they are printed in pairs
across the page. The extract deals with Beowulf’s funeral rites:
Him ðá ge-giredan For him then did the people of the
Geáta leóde Geáts prepare
Âd on eorðan Upon the earth
Un-wác-lícne A funeral pile, strong,
Helm-be-hongen Hung round with helmets,
Hilde-bordū With war-boards and
Beorhtū byrnū Bright byrnies[1]
Swá he béna wæs As he had requested.
Ā-legdon ðá to-middes Weeping the heroes
Máerne þeóden Then laid down
Hæleð hiófende In the midst
Hláf-ord leófne Their dear lord;
On-gunnon ðá on beorge Then began the warriors
Bæl-fýra mæst To wake upon the hill
Wigend weccan The mightiest of bale-fires;
Wu [du-r] êc á-stáh The wood smoke rose aloft,
Sweart of swicðole Dark from the wood-devourer;[2]
Swógende let Noisily it went, mingled
[Wópe] be-wunden With weeping; the mixture
Wind-blond ğ-læg Of the wind lay on it
Oð that he tha bàn-hús Till it the bone-house
Ge-brocen hæfd[e] Had broken,
Hat on hreðre Hot in his breast:
Higū un-róte Sad in mind,
Mód-ceare mændon Sorry of mood they moaned
Mod-dryhtnes [cwealm]. The death of their lord.
It will be observed that the language is abruptly and rudely phrased.
The half-lines very frequently consist of mere tags or, as they are
called, _kennings_. Such conventional phrases were the stock-in-trade
of the gleemen, and they were employed to keep the narrative in some
kind of motion while the invention of the minstrel flagged. At least
half of the lines in the extract are kennings--_beorhtū byrnū_,
_hláf-ord leófne_, _higū un-róte_, and so on. Such phrases occur again
and again in Old English poetry. It will also be observed that the
lines are strongly rhythmical, but not metrical; and that there is a
system of alliteration, consisting as a rule of two alliterated sounds
in the first half-line and one in the second half-line.
With regard to the general narrative style of the poem, there is
much primitive vigor in the fighting, sailing, and feasting; a deep
appreciation of the terrors of the sea and of other elemental forces;
and a fair amount of rather tedious repetition and digression.
_Beowulf_, in short, may be justly regarded as the expression of a
hardy, primitive, seafaring folk, reflecting their limitations as well
as their virtues.
OTHER POETRY
=1. The Pagan Poems.= The bulk of Old English poetry is of a religious
cast, but a few pieces are distinctly secular.
(_a_) =Widsith= (_i.e._, “the far traveler”) is usually considered to
be the oldest poem in the language. It consists of more than a hundred
lines of verse, in which a traveler, real or imaginary, recounts the
places and persons he has visited. Since he mentions several historical
personages, the poem is of much interest, but as pure poetry it has
little merit.
(_b_) =Waldhere= (or _Walter_) consists of two fragments, sixty-eight
lines in all, giving some of the exploits of a famous Burgundian hero.
There is much real vigor in the poem, which ranks high among its
fellows.
(_c_) =The Fight at Finnesburgh=, a fragment of fifty lines, contains a
finely told description of the fighting at Finnesburgh.
(_d_) =The Battle of Brunanburgh= is a spirited piece on this famous
fight, which took place in 937. The poem has much more spirit and
originality than usual, contains some fine descriptions, and forces the
narrative along at a comparatively fast pace.
(_e_) =The Battle of Maldon= is a fragment, but of uncommon freshness
and vivacity. The battle occurred in 993, and the poem seems to be
contemporary with the event.
=2. The Dramatic Monologues.= These poems, which are called _The
Wanderer_, _The Seafarer_, _Deor’s Complaint_, _The Wife’s Complaint_,
_The Husband’s Message_, and _Wulf and Eadwacer_, appear in the Exeter
Book. It is unlikely that they were composed at the same time, but they
are alike in a curious meditative pathos. In Old English literature
they come nearest to the lyric. As poetry, they possess the merit of
being both original and personal, qualities not common in the poems of
the period.
=3. The Cædmon Group.= In his _Historia Ecclesiastica_ Bede tells the
story of a herdsman Cædmon, who by divine inspiration was transformed
from a state of tongue-tied ineffectiveness into that of poetical
ecstasy. He was summoned into the presence of Hilda of Whitby, who was
abbess during the years 658–80. He was created a monk, and thereafter
sang of many Biblical events. On a blank page of one of the Bede
manuscripts there is quoted the first divinely inspired hymn of Cædmon,
a rude and distinctly uninspired fragment of poetry, nine lines in all,
composed in the ancient Northumbrian dialect.
That is all we know of the life and works of Cædmon; but in the Junian
manuscript a series of religious paraphrases was unearthed in the year
1651. In subject they corresponded rather closely to the list set out
by Bede, and in a short time they were ascribed to Cædmon. The poems
consist of paraphrases of Genesis, Exodus, and Daniel and three shorter
poems, the chief of which is the _Harrowing of Hell_. Modern
scholarship now recognizes that the poems are by different hands, but
the works can be conveniently lumped together under the name of the
shadowy Northumbrian. The poems appear in the West Saxon dialect, in
spite of the fact that Cædmon must have written in his own dialect; but
the difficulty is overcome by pointing out that a West Saxon scribe
might have copied the poems.
In merit the poems are unequal. At their best they are not sublime
poetry, but they are strong and spirited pieces with some aptitude in
description. On the average they are trudging mediocrities which are
frequently prosaic and dull.
=4. The Cynewulf Group.= In 1840 the scholar Kemble lighted upon three
runic (or pre-Roman) signatures which appeared respectively in the
course of the poems called _Christ_ and _Juliana_ (in the Exeter Book)
and _Elene_ (in the Vercelli Book). The signatures read “Cynewulf” or
“Cynwulf.” In 1888 a signature “Fwulcyn” was discovered in _The Fates
of the Apostles_. This is all we know of Cynewulf, if we accept the
quite general personalities that appear in the course of the poems.
Yet an elaborate life has been built up for the poet, and other poems,
similar in style to the signed pieces, have been attributed to him.
_The Phœnix_, _The Dream of the Rood_, and the _Riddles_ of the Exeter
Book are the most considerable of the additional poems.
The Cynewulfian poems are much more scholarly compositions than the
_Beowulf_ or even the Cædmon poems. There is a greater power
of expression, less reliance on the feeble kenning, and some real
expertness in description. The ideas expressed in the poems are broader
and deeper, and a certain lyrical fervor is not wanting. The date is
probably the tenth century.
PROSE
=1. Alfred (848–900).= Though there were some prose writings
of an official nature (such as the laws of Ine, who died about 730)
before the time of Alfred, there can be little objection to the claim
frequently made for him, that he is “the father of English prose.” As
he tells us himself in his preface to the _Pastoral Care_, he was
driven into authorship by the lamentable state of English learning,
due in large measure to the depredations of the Danes. Even the
knowledge of Latin was evaporating, so the King, in order to preserve
some show of learning among the clergy, was compelled to translate
some popular monastic handbooks into his own tongue. These works
are his contribution to our literature. As he says, they were often
“interpreted word for word, and meaning for meaning”; but they are made
much more valuable by reason of the original passages freely introduced
into them. The books, four in number, are an able selection from the
popular treatises of the day: the _Universal History_ of Orosius;
the _Ecclesiastical History_ of Bede; the _Pastoral Care_ of
Pope Gregory; and the _Consolation of Philosophy_ of Boëthius. His
claim to the translation of Bede is sometimes disputed; and there is a
fifth work, a _Handbook_ or commonplace book, which has been lost.
The chronological order of the translations cannot be determined, but
they were all written during the last years of the reign.
We add a brief extract to illustrate his prose style. It is not a
highly polished style; it is rather that of an earnest but somewhat
unpracticed writer. When it is simplest it is best; in its more
complicated passages it is confusing and involved. The vocabulary is
simple and unforced.
Swa clæne heo wæs oðfeallen So clean [completely] has
on Angelcynne [-þ] swiðe feawa ruin fallen on the English nation,
wæron be-heonan Humbre þe that very few were there
hira þe-nunge cuðon understanden this side the Humber that could
on Englisc, oððe furðon understand their service in
an ærend-ge-writ of Ledene English or declare forth an
on Englisc areccan; and ic Epistle [an errand-writing]
wene [-þ] naht monige be-geondan out of Latin into English; and
Humbre næron. Swa feawa I think that not many beyond
heora wæron [-þ] ic furbon anne Humber were there. So few
ænlepne ne mæg geþencan be-suðan such were there, that I cannot
Thamise þa þa ic to rice think of a single one to the
feng. Gode Ælmightigum sy south of the Thames when I began
þanc, [-þ] we nu ænigne an steal to reign. To God Almighty
habbað lareowa. For þam ic be thanks, that we now have
þe beode, [-þ] þu do swa ic gelyfe any to teach in stall [any
[-þ] þu wille. place]. Therefore I bid thee
that thou do as I believe that
thou wilt.
_Preface to “Pastoral Care”_
=2. Ælfric= (=955–1020=) is known as “the Grammarian.” Of his life
little is known. It is probable that he lived near Winchester, and
he was certainly the first abbot of Eynsham, near Oxford, in 1006. A
fair number of his works, both in Latin and English, have come down
to us. Of his English books, two series of homilies, adapted from the
Latin, seem to have been composed about the year 990. A third series of
homilies, called _The Lives of the Saints_, is dated approximately at
996. Several of his pastoral letters survive, as well as a translation
of Bede’s _De Temporibus_ and some English translations of Biblical
passages.
Ælfric’s style is interesting, for it is representative of the
scholarly prose of his time, a century after Alfred. It is flowing and
vigorous, showing an almost excessive use of alliteration. In many
cases it suggests a curious hybrid between the poetry and prose of the
period.
=3. Wulfstan= was Archbishop of York from 1003 till his death in 1023.
In his prose, which survives in more than fifty homilies and in
his famous _Letter to the English People_ (_Lupi Sermo ad Anglos_),
he shows the effects of “style” to a marked degree. His _Letter_ in
particular is a fervid epistle, detailing with considerable power and
fluency the dreadful plight of the English nation in the year 1014. The
alliteration and rhythm are exceedingly well marked, much more so than
in the case of Ælfric.
=4.= The =Anglo-Saxon Chronicle= was probably inspired by King Alfred,
who is said even to have dictated the entries dealing with his own
campaigns. The _Chronicle_ has come down to us in four versions, all of
which seem to have sprung from a common stock. The four versions are
preserved in seven manuscripts, of which the most notable are those
connected with Canterbury and Peterborough. From the period of the
English invasions till the year 892 the books are fairly in accord.
At the latter year they diverge. Each introduces its local events and
miscellaneous items of news, and they finish at different dates. The
last date of all is about the middle of the twelfth century.
The style of the _Chronicle_ varies greatly; it ranges from the baldest
notes and summaries to quite ambitious passages of narrative and
description. Of the latter class the well-known passage on the horrors
of Stephen’s reign is a worthy example. We give a brief extract, dated
1100, just at the close of the Old English period, which is a fair
average of the different methods:
On þisum geare aras seo ungeþwærnes In the year arose the discord
on Glæstinga byrig in Glastonbury betwixt the Abbot
betwyx þam abbode Ðurstane Thurstan and his monks.
and his munecan. Ærest hit First it came from the Abbot’s
com of þæs abbotes unwisdome unwisdom: In that he mis-bade
[-þ] he misbead his munecan on [ruled] his monks in many
fela thingan, and þa munecas things and the monks meant it
hit mændon lufelice to him and lovingly to him and bade him
beadon hine [-þ] he [`s]ceolde healdan that he should hold [treat]
hi rihtlice beon and lufian them rightly and love them and
hi, and hi woldon him beon they would be faithful to him
holde and gehyrsume. and hearsome [obedient].
THE DEVELOPMENT OF LITERARY FORMS
From the time when it first appears till it is swamped by the
Norman Conquest Old English literature undergoes a quite noticeable
development. In the mass the advance appears to be considerable, but
when we reflect that it represents the growth of some five hundred
years, we see that the rate of progress is undoubtedly slow. We shall
take the poetical and prose forms separately.
=1. Poetry.= Poetry is much earlier in the field, and its development
is the greater. It begins with the rude forms of _Beowulf_ and
concludes with the more scholarly paraphrases of Cynewulf.
(_a_) The _epic_ in its untutored form exists in _Beowulf_. This poem
lacks the finer qualities of the epic: it is deficient in the strict
unity, the high dignity, and the broad motive of the great classical
epic; but a crude vigor and a certain rude majesty are not wanting.
It is no mean beginning for the English epic. The later poems of the
Cædmon and Cynewulf types are too discursive and didactic to be epics,
though in places they are like _The Battle of Maldon_ and _The Fight at
Finnesburgh_ in their narrative force.
(_b_) The _lyric_--that is, the short and passionate expression of a
personal feeling--hardly exists at all. The nearest approach to it lies
in the dramatic monologues, such as _Deor’s Complaint_. These poems
are too long and diffuse to be real lyrics, but they have some of the
expressive melancholy and personal emotion of the lyric.
=2. Prose.= The great bulk of Old English prose consists of
translation; and in its various shapes English prose adopts the methods
of its originals. We have many homilies, some history, and a few
pastoral letters, all based strictly upon Latin works. There are very
few passages of real originality, and they are short and disjointed.
Of historical writing we have the rudiments in the _Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle_. On the whole, the development is very small, for the prose
is bound by the curse of imitativeness.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF LITERARY STYLE
=1. Poetry.= We have once more to distinguish between the earlier
_Beowulf_ stage and the later Cynewulf stage. In the earlier period
the style is more disjointed, abrupt, and digressive, and is weighted
down by the reliance upon the kenning. In the later stage there is
greater passion and insight, less reliance upon the stock phrases, and
a greater desire for stylistic effects.
=2. Prose.= In spite of its limited scope, Old English prose shows
quite an advance in style. The earlier style, represented by the prose
of Alfred, is rather halting and unformed, the sentences are loosely
knit, the vocabulary is meager, and there is an absence of the finer
qualities of rhythm and cadence. By the time of Wulfstan the prose
has gained in fluency. It is much more animated and confident, and it
freely employs alliteration and the commoner rhetorical figures.
But within this development both of prose and poetry there was
already the seed of decay. During the last century of the period the
poetical impulse was weakening; there is little verse after the time
of Cynewulf. The prose too was failing, and the language was showing
symptoms of weakness. The inflections were loosening even before the
Norman Conquest, and the Old English vocabulary was being subtly
Gallicized. The Norman Conquest was in time to put an abrupt finish to
a process already well advanced.
EXERCISES
1. Examine the style of the following poetical passages. Point out
examples of kennings, and mention the purposes they serve. Comment upon
the type of sentence, the use of alliteration, and the nature of the
vocabulary. Compare the style with that of the _Beowulf_ extract
given on page 4.
(1) Us is riht micel, For us it is much right
That we rodera weard, That we the Guardian of the skies,
Wereda wuldor-cining, The glory-King of hosts,
Wordum herigen With our words praise,
Modum lufien. In our minds love.
He is mægna sped, He is of power the essence,
Heofod ealra The head of all
Heah-gesceafta, Exalted creatures,
Fréa Ælmīhtig. The Lord Almighty.
Næs him fruma æfre To him has beginning never
Ór geworden Origin been,
Ne nu ende cymth Nor now cometh end
Écean drihtnes, To the eternal Lord,
Ac he bíth á ríce But he is ever powerful
Ofer heofen-stolas. Over the heavenly thrones.
CÆDMON.
(2) Nis tháer on thám lande There in that land is not
Láth geníthle, Harmful enmity,
Ne wop ne wracu, Nor wail nor vengeance,
Weá-tácen nán, Evil-token none,
Yldu ne yrmthu, Old age nor poverty,
Ne se enga death, Nor the narrow death,
Ne lífes lyre, Nor loss of life,
Ne láthes cyme, Nor coming of harm,
Ne syn ne sacu, Nor sin nor strife,
Ne sár-wracu, Nor sore revenge,
Ne wædle gewin, Nor toil of want,
Ne wélan ansýn, Nor desire of wealth,
Ne sorg ne sláep, Nor care nor sleep,
Ne swar leger, Nor sore sickness,
Ne winter-geweorp, Nor winter-dart,
Ne weder-gebregd Nor dread of tempest
Hreóh under heofonum. Rough under the heavens.
_The Phœnix._
2. Comment briefly upon the style of the following prose extract. How
does it compare with modern English prose?
Ðu bæde me Thou
for oft engliscera gewritena. hast oft entreated me for
And English Scripture, and
ic þe ne getiðode ealles swa I gave it thee not so soon,
timlice ær ðam þe þu mid but thou first with
weorcum þæs gewilnodest æt me deeds hast importuned me
thereto;
þa ða þu me bæde for Godes lufon at what time thou didst so
earnestly
georne [-þ] ic þe æt ham æt þinum pray me for God’s love that I
should
huse gespræce. And pu ða swiðe speak to thee at thy house at
home,
mændest þa þa ic mid þe wæs and when I was with thee great
[-þ] þu mine gewrita begitan ne moan thou madest that thou
couldst
mihtest. Nu wille ic [-þ] þu hæbbe get none of my writings. Now
will
huru þis litle nu ðe wisdom I that thou have at least this
little,
gelicað. And pu hine habban wilt sith knowledge is so acceptable
unto
[-þ] þu ealles ne beo minra boca thee: and thou wilt have it
rather
bedæled. God luvað pa godan weorce than be altogether without my
and he wyle big habban æt us. books. God loveth good deeds
and
will have them at our hands
[of us].
ÆLFRIC, _Introduction to the Old Testament_
3. What appears to you to be the reasons why in Old English poetry
appears before prose?
4. Mention some of the effects of translation upon both the poetry and
the prose of the Old English.
5. “Old English prose is much nearer modern English prose than Old
English poetry is to modern English poetry.” Discuss this statement.