Halleck's New English Literature Part 8

SUGGESTED READINGS WITH QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

The student who is not familiar with the original Anglo-Saxon should read the translations specified below:--

Scopic Poetry.[33]--_Widsi_ or the _Far Traveler_, translated in Morley's _English Writers_, Vol. II, 1-11, or in C. & T.,[34] 3-8.

_The Wanderer_, translated in P. & S., 65-68; C. & T., 50-55; Brooke, 364-367.

_The Seafarer_, translated in P. & S., 68-70; C. & T., 44-49; Morley, II., 21-26; Brooke, 362, 363.

_The Fortunes of Men_, trans. in P. & S., 79-81; Morley, II., 32-37.

_Battle of Brunanburh_, Tennyson's translation.

What were the chief subjects of the songs of the scop? How do they reveal the life of the time? Is there any common quality running through them? What qualities of this verse appear in modern poetry?

Beowulf.--This important poem should be read entire in one of the following translations:

Child's _Beowulf (Riverside Literature Series)_;

Earle's _The Deeds of Beowulf, Done into Modern Prose_ (Clarendon Press);

Gummere's _The Oldest English Epic_;

Morris and Wyatt's _The Tale of Beowulf_;

Hall's _Beowulf, Translated into Modern Metres_;

Lumsden's _Beowulf, an Old English Poem, Translated into Modern Rhymes_ (the most readable poetic translation).

Translations of many of the best parts of _Beowulf_ may be found in P. & S. 5-29; C. & T., 9-24; Morley, I. 278-310; Brooke 26-73.

Where did the exploits celebrated in the poem take place? Where was Heorot? What was the probably time of the completion of _Beowulf_?

Describe the hero's three exploits. What a.n.a.logy is there between the conflict of natural forces in the Norseland and Beowulf's fight with Grendel? What different att.i.tude toward nature is manifest in modern poetry? What is the moral lesson of the poem? Show that its chief characteristics are typical of the Anglo-Saxon race.

Caedmonian Cycle.--Some of the strongest pa.s.sages may be found in P.

& S., 30-45; C. & T., 104-120; Morley, II. 81-101; Brooke, 290-340.

Read at the same time from Milton's _Paradise Lost_, Book I., lines 44-74, 169-184, 248-263, and _pa.s.sim_.

What evidence do we find in this cycle of the introduction of Christianity? Who takes the place of Grendel? What account of Caedmon does Bede give? What is the subject matter of this cycle?

Cynewulf Cycle.--_The Poems of Cynewulf_, translated by C.W.

Kennedy. Translations of parts of this cycle may be found in Whitman's _The Christ of Cynewulf_, and _The Exeter Book_, translated by Gollancz. Good selections are translated in P. & S., 46-55; C. & T., 79-103; and 132-142: Morley, II., 206-241; Brooke, 371-443. For selections from the _Phoenix_, see P & S, 54-65; C.& T., 143-163.

What new qualities does this cycle show? What is the subject matter of its most important poems? What is especially noticeable about the_ Andreas and the Phoenix_?

_General Characteristics of the Verse._--What is its usual form? What most striking pa.s.sages (a) in Beowulf; (b) elsewhere, show the Saxon love of war and of the sea? Instance some similes and make a list of vivid metaphors. What are the most striking parallelisms found in your readings? What conspicuous differences are there between Saxon and Celtic imagery? (See Morley, l, 165-239, or Guest's _Mabinogion_).

What excellencies and defects seem to you most p.r.o.nounced in Anglo-Saxon verse?

Prose_--The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_ and Bede's _Ecclesiastical History_ are both translated in one volume of Bohn's _Antiquarian Library_. The most interesting part of Bede for the student of literature is the chapter relating to Caedmon (Chap. XXIV., pp.

217-220).

In the _Chronicle_, read the entries for the years 871, 878, 897, 975, 1087, and 1137.

Alfred's _Orosius_ is translated into modern English in the volume of Bohn's_ Antiquarian Library_ ent.i.tled, _Alfred the Great, his Life and Anglo-Saxon Works_, by Pauli. Sedgefield's translation of the_ Consolations of Boethius_ distinguishes the original matter by Alfred from the translation. Selections from Alfred's works are given in C. & T.(_Prose_), 85-146, and in Earle's _Anglo-Saxon Literature_, 186-206.

For selections from AElfric, see C. & T. (_Prose_), 149-192. Read especially the _Colloquies_, 177-186.

What was Bede's princ.i.p.al work? Why has Alfred been called the "father of English prose"? What were his ideals? Mention his chief works and their object. What is the character of AElfric's work? Why are modern readers interested in his _Colloquium_?

Why is the _Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_ important?

FOOTNOTES TO CHAPTER I:

[Footnote 1: For special references to authors, movements and the history of the period, see the lists under the heading, _Suggestions for Further Study_, at the end of each chapter.]

[Footnote 2: School libraries should own books marked *.]

[Footnote 3: The abbreviation in parentheses after t.i.tles will be used in the _Suggested Readings_ in place of the full t.i.tle.]

[Footnote 4: Tennyson's _In Memoriam_.]

[Footnote 5: Florence Earls Coates's _Dream the Great Dream_.]

[Footnote 6: Shakespeare's _The Tempest_, Act IV., Scene 1.]

[Footnote 7: Morley's translation, _English Writers_, Vol. II., p.

21.]

[Footnote 8: Swinburne's _A Song in Time of Order_.]

[Footnote 9: Morley's _English Writers_, Vol. II., pp. 33, 34.]

[Footnote 10: _Beowulf_, translated by William Morris and A.J. Wyatt.]

[Footnote 11: Translated by J.L. Hall.]

[Footnote 12: Earle's Translation.]

[Footnote 13: Translated by Childs.]

[Footnote 14: Translated by Morris and Wyatt.]

[Footnote 15: Morley's translation.]

[Footnote 16: _Paradise Lost_, Book I., lines 61-69.]

[Footnote 17: _Paradise Lost_, II., 594.]