Halleck's New English Literature Part 7

"No enmity hast Thou towards anything... Thou, O Lord, bringest together heavenly souls and earthly bodies, and minglest them in this world. As they came hither from Thee, even so they also seek to go hence to Thee."

AElfric, 955?-1025?--The most famous theologian who followed Alfred's example in writing native English prose, and who took Alfred for his model, was a priest named AElfric. His chief works are his _Homilies_, a series of sermons, and the _Lives of the Saints_.

Although much of his writing is a compilation or a translation from the Latin Fathers, it is often remarkably vigorous in expression and stimulating to the reader. We find such thoughts as:--

"G.o.d hath wrought many miracles, and He performs them every day, but these miracles have become much less important in the sight of men because they are very common... Spiritual miracles are greater than the physical ones."

To modern readers the most interesting of Aelfric's writings is his _Colloquium_, designed to teach Latin in the monastery at Winchester.

The pupils were required to learn the Latin translation of his dialogues in the Anglo-Saxon vernacular. Some of these dialogues are today valuable ill.u.s.trations of the social and industrial life of the time. The following is part of the conversation between the Teacher and the Plowman:--

"_Teacher_. What have you to say, plowman? How do you carry on your work?

"_Plowman_. O master, I work very hard; I go out at dawn, drive the oxen to the field, and yoke them to the plow. There is no storm so severe that I dare to hide at home, for fear of my lord, but when the oxen are yoked, and the share and coulter have been fastened to the plow, I must plow a whole acre or more every day.

"_Teacher_. Oh! oh! the labor must be great!

"_Plowman_. It is indeed great drudgery, because I am not free."[32]

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.--This is the first history of any branch of the Teutonic people in their own tongue. The _Chronicle_ has come down to us in several different texts, according as it was compiled or copied at different monasteries. The _Chronicle_ was probably begun in Alfred's reign. The entries relating to earlier events were copied from Bede's _Ecclesiastical History_ and from other Latin authorities.

The _Chronicle_ contains chiefly those events which each year impressed the clerical compilers as the most important in the history of the nation. This work is a fountainhead to which writers of the history of those times must turn.

A few extracts (translated) will show its character:--

"A.D. 449. This year ... Hengist and Horsa, invited by Vortigern, King of Britons, landed in Britain, on the sh.o.r.e which is called Wappidsfleet; at first in aid of the Britons, but afterwards they fought against them."

"806. This year the moon was eclipsed on the Kalends of September; and Eardulf, King of the Northumbrians. was driven from his kingdom; and Eanbert, Bishop of Hexham, died."

Sometimes the narrative is extremely vivid. Those who know the difficulty of describing anything impressively in a few words will realize the excellence of this portraiture of William the Conqueror:--

"1087. If any would know what manner of man King William was, the glory that he obtained, and of how many lands he was lord; then will we describe him as we have known him... He was mild to those good men who loved G.o.d, but severe beyond measure to those withstood his will... So also was he a very stern and a wrathful man, so that none durst do anything against his will, and he kept in prison those earls who acted against his pleasure. He removed bishops from their sees, and abbots from their offices, and he imprisoned thanes, and at length he spared not his own brother.

Odo... Amongst other things, the good order that William established is not to be forgotten; it was such that any man, who was himself aught, might travel over the kingdom with a bosom-full of gold, unmolested; and no man durst kill another... He made large forests for the deer, and enacted laws therewith, so that whoever killed a hart or a hind should be blinded ... and he loved the tall stags as if he were their father."

SUMMARY

The Anglo-Saxons, a branch of the Teutonic race, made permanent settlements in England about the middle of the fifth century A.D. Like modern German, their language is highly inflected. The most flouris.h.i.+ng period of Anglo-Saxon poetry was between 650 and 825 A.D.

It was produced for the most part in the north of England, which was overrun by the Danes about 800. These marauders destroyed many of the monasteries and silenced the voices of the singers. The prose was written chiefly in the south of England after the greatest poetic masterpieces had been produced. The Norman Conquest of England, beginning in 1066, brought the period to a close.

Among the poems of this age, we may emphasize: (1) the shorter _scopic_ pieces, of which the _Far Traveler, The Wanderer, The Seafarer, The Fortunes of Men_, and _The Battle of Brunanburh_ are important examples; (2) _Beowulf_, the greatest Anglo-Saxon epic poem, which describes the deeds of an unselfish hero, shows how the ancestors of the English lived and died, and reveals the elemental ideals of the race; (3) the _Caedmonian Cycle_ of scriptural paraphrases, some of which have Miltonic qualities; and (4) the _Cynewulf Cycle_, which has the most variety and lyrical excellence.

Both of these _Cycles_ show how the introduction of Christianity affected poetry.

The subject matter of the poetry is princ.i.p.ally war, the sea, and religion. The martial spirit and love of the sea are typical of the nation that has raised her flag in every clime. The chief qualities of the poetry are earnestness, somberness, and strength, rather than delicacy of touch, exuberance of imagination, or artistic adornment.

The golden period of prose coincides in large measure with Alfred's reign, 871-901, and he is the greatest prose writer. His translations of Latin works to serve as textbooks for his people contain excellent additions by him. AElfric, a tenth century prose writer, has left a collection of sermons, called _Homilies_, and an interesting _Colloquium_, which throws strong lights on the social life of the time. The _Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_ is an important record of contemporaneous events for the historian.

REFERENCES FOR FURTHER STUDY

HISTORICAL

In connection with the progress of literature, students should obtain for themselves a general idea of contemporary historical events from any of the following named works:--

Gardiner's_ Students' History of England_.

Green's _Short History of the English People_.

Walker's _Essentials in English History_.

Cheney's _A Short History of England_.

Lingard's _History of England_.

Traill's _Social England_, Vol. I.

Ramsay's _The Foundations of England_.

LITERARY

_Cambridge History of English Literature_, Vol. I.

Brooke's _History of Early English Literature to the Accession of King Alfred_.

Morley's _English Writers_, Vols. I. and II.

Earle's _Anglo-Saxon Literature_.

Ten Brink's Early English Literature, Vol. I.

_The Exeter Book_, edited and translated, by Gollancz (Early English Text Society).

Gurteen's _The Epic of the Fall of Man: A Comparative Study of Caedmon, Dante, and Milton_.

Cook's _The Christ of Cynewulf_. (The _Introduction of 97 pages gives a valuable account of the life and writings of Cynewulf.)

Kennedy's_ Translation of the Poems of Cynewulf_.

Bede's _Ecclesiastical History of England and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_, I vol., translated by Giles in Bohn's _Antiquarian Library_.

Snell's _The Age of Alfred._

Pauli's _Life of Alfred_ (Bohn's Antiquarian Library).

Gem's _An Anglo-Saxon Abbot: AElfric of Eynsham_.

_Mabinogion_ (a collection of Welsh fairy tales and romances, _Everyman's Library_), translated by Lady Charlotte Guest.

Pancoast and Spaeth's _Early English Poems_ (abbreviated reference) ("P & S.").

Cook and Tinker's _Select Translations from Old English Poetry_ ("C. & T.").

Cook & Tinker's _Select Translations from Old English Prose_ ("C. & T. _Prose_").