[alert-success] HEL - William J. Long [/alert-success]
[alert-warn] UNIT II : ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD[/alert-warn] [alert-primary] Our First Poetry [/alert-primary]
[alert-primary] Our First Poetry [/alert-primary]
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Beowulf
Beowulf
is the first poem ever written in English. It is the most important
piece of Anglo-Saxon writing and the oldest epic still written in
English. It has 3,182 lines in it. It is in the damaged Nowell Codex.
Before it was written down in the 10th century or at the end of the 9th
century, it was told from person to person for hundreds of years. The
main stories in the poem are based on the folk tales of the primitive
northern tribes.
The poem is about Beowulf, the legendary hero of
the Geats, who is also the name of the main character. The story takes
place in Sweden and Denmark, both in Scandinavia. The story itself comes
from Scandinavia. It is now a national epic, just like the Iliad.
Deor's Lament
In
"Deor," we see another side of the Saxon minstrel not as a happy
wanderer but as a man with a heavy heart. The minstrel's only way to
make a living was to please his chief, and a better poet could come
along at any time and take his place. Deor has been through this, and
when he wants to feel better, he thinks of other people who have been
through worse. The poem is divided into lines called "strophes". Each
strophe is about a different hero who is in trouble and ends with the
same line.
The Seafarer
"The
Seafarer" has two parts. The first shows ocean hardships, but the sea's
call is stronger. The second part is an allegory in which the seaman's
troubles represent the troubles of life and the ocean's call is the
soul's call to return to God. Whether the last part was added by a monk
who saw the allegorical possibilities of the first or by a sea-loving
Christian scop is unknown.
The Fight at Finnsburgh and Waldere
These
two other old poems deserve mention. The "Fight at Finnsburgh" is a
fragment of 50 lines found in a book of homilies. It's a magnificent war
song that describes Hnaef's defence of a hall against Finn and his
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