[Text used: Kluge, _Angelsaechsisches Lesebuch_.
Prose translation: Kennedy, _The Caedmon Poems_, p. xvii.
The poem is interesting in that it is found in two texts, the
Northumbrian and the West Saxon. It is the only thing we have that was
undoubtedly written by Caedmon.]
Now shall we praise the Prince of heaven,
The might of the Maker and his manifold thought,
The work of the Father: of what wonders he wrought
The Lord everlasting, when he laid out the worlds.
5 He first raised up for the race of men
The heaven as a roof, the holy Ruler.
Then the world below, the Ward of mankind,
The Lord everlasting, at last established
As a home for man, the Almighty Lord.
_Primo cantavit_ Caedmon _istud carmen_.
6. The many synonyms (known as "kennings") make this passage impossible
to translate into smooth English. This fact is true in a measure of
all old English poetry, but it is especially the case with this hymn.