ANTHOLOGY OF ENGLISH POETRY The Formative Or Anglo-Saxon Period 449-1066 Widsith. Deor's Lament. Optional Old English Poems Caedmon's Genesis A. 1. The Fall Of The Angels; Genesis B. I. Satan's Address To His Followers. Judith: 1. The Slaying Of Holofernes. The Dream Of The Rood. Cynewulf's Elene: 1. The Battle; 2. The Voyage; 3. Autobiographic Rune-Passage. The Phoenix. The Battle Of Brunanburh. The Battle Of Maldon. Verse or prose translations of these poems are contained in Cook and Tinker's "Translations From Old English Poetry." Ginn & Company, 1902. BEOWULF Optional Portions Beowulf's Fight With Grendel's Mother. I Similes 1. flota fami-heals fugle gelicost. ... 218. boat foamy-necked to a bird most like. 2. ligge gelicost leoht unfaeger. 727. a loathsome light most like to flame. 3. waes steda naegla gehwylc style gelicost. 985. each of the places of the nails was most like to steel. 4. Lixte se leoma, lēoht inne stōd, efne swā of hefene hādre scineð rodores candel. 1570-1572. The light gleamed, the light stood within, even as from heaven glitteringly shines the candle of the sky. 5. paet hit eal gemealt ise gelicost. that it all melted most like to ice. Phrases dær gelyfan sceal Dryhtnes dome sẽ pe hine dead nimes. 1608. 440-441. He whom death takes must give himself over into the keeping of God. Gæða wyrd swā hio scel. 455. Fate goes ever as she must. Fela sceal gebidan leofes ond lādes, se pe longe hēr on yssum win-dagum worolde brūceð. 1060-1062. Many pleasant and disagreeable things must he endure, he who long here in earthly life enjoys the world. Swā sceal man dōn, ponne he aet gūðe gegān þenceð longsumne lof, nā ymb his līf cearað. 1534-1536. As one shall do when he thinks to secure everlasting fame in ealle wyrd forsweop mīne māgas tō metod-sceafte, eorlas on elne; ic him aefter sceal. 2814-2816. According to predestination Fate has swept away all of my ancestors, valourous earls: after them shall I. Deað bið sella eorla gehwylcum ponne edwit-lif. 2890-2891. To each of earls death is better than an ignoble life. "Beowulf" is our one folk-epic: it is a collection of ballads in 3,182 lines extolling Beowulf's great fights with Grendel, Grendel's Mother, and the Fire-Dragon. According to Ten Brink the epic sprang into existence on the Continent soon after 512 A.D. It spread rapidly throughout the country of the Angles and was brought by them to Britain when they settled Bernicia, Deira, and Mercia. It probably received definite shape during the seventh century. The kernel of the epic is thoroughly mythical, pagan, and we are glad that this has not been destroyed by the Christian interpolation. As to the versification of "Beowulf," the normal line consists of two alliterative syllables in the first half-line and one in the second half-line. The following lines from the close of Fytte XII. of "Beowulf" will show the internal structure of Anglo-Saxon poetry according to Sievers' metrical schemes: D! tôrn | únlỳtěl. | pẫet wǎes tacen | sweōtōl, C. The following line is given to show type E. E. Lumigèndễ | láð. | Líc-sàr ge|bád. E. On the island of Seeland, Hrothgar, king of the Danes, built a hall and named it Heorot. For twelve winters a water-monster |